Unspeakable (36 page)

Brody and I had just finished Sunday dinner with Anne. I put the last of the dishes in the dishwasher when Brody asked if I wanted to take a drive with him.

“Sure. Where are we going?”

He shrugged a shoulder and grinned at me.

I knew where he wanted to go. Our spot. The one on his aunt’s property to look at the stars together. We went there at least once a week. The tent and generator were long gone, so we took a blanket to lie on. The night sky calmed him, whether from a long week of exams, too much homework, or the stress of constantly seeing Jaden in the halls at school. He’d go to the little spot on the field and watch the night sky. I’d been the only one he’d ever taken with him. He said, “You get it,” and he was right. I understood.

Some nights we’d go and lie on the blanket, holding hands and talking quietly, and sometimes we’d go and not say anything at all, just hold hands and look at the sparkling sky. That night, I had something I needed to talk to him about.

“Brody? I need to tell you something.” I rolled on to my side so I could look at him. “You know how Ralph owns the car lot?”

“Yeah.” He turned his head toward me.

“Well, he’s been out of town a lot the past month, and he’ll probably be out of town most of next month, too. He wants to add on to his business, so he’s spending time researching and visiting different car lots and looking at properties where he might build one.”

“Okay, what does that have to do with us?” Brody rolled to his side and laid his hand on my hip.

“I told my mom I broke up with Jaden and that I’ve been dating someone else,” I said in a rush.

Brody tensed. “What’d she say?”

“Not much. She said if it made me happy, she’s okay with it.” Brody’s hand tightened on my hip. “She never liked Jaden quite as much as Ralph. I think she saw his domineering side one too many times, even though he tried to hide it. She wants to meet you.”

Brody stiffened next to me. “What about Ralph?”

“We’ll do it on a day he’s out of town. She agrees that we shouldn’t tell him for a while. He’s still hung up on Jaden. They act like they’re the ones dating.” I rolled my eyes.

Brody laughed. “When does she want to meet?”

“Tomorrow. Dinner at my house.”

“I’ll be there.” He smiled at me before pulling me toward him for a kiss, and then another, and another, and another. My head spun and my stomach filled with butterflies. It was intoxicating.

Brody rang the doorbell at precisely five o’clock the next afternoon. I’d warned him not to come early. My mother hated that. I couldn’t count the number of times I’d heard her complain, “If I invite someone over at five, I don’t want them showing up at four.” So when Brody was neither early, nor late, he’d automatically earned a gold star.

I’d been looking out the window, waiting for him to arrive, and answered the door as soon as the bell chimed. It wasn’t like I was nervous for him to meet my mother. I was petrified. Brody smiled his crooked smile as soon as he saw me and my insides melted and, along with them, some of my nervousness. After all, who could look at that face and not like him? Then he opened his mouth, all the sweet nuthin’s came spewing out, and most people were hooked. You had to have a heart made of stone not to be affected by Brody’s charm. Or maybe I was biased.

I looked at the flowers he was holding and raised an eyebrow.

“These aren’t for you,” he said with a grin. “This is for you.” He lowered his head and touched his lips lightly to mine. I breathed him in. His subtle scent filled my nose and peppermint filled my mouth.

Flowers or a kiss? The kiss was definitely the better deal.

When he lifted his head, I ran my tongue over my lips. His eyes followed the motion. I gave him a small smile and looked up at him out of the corner of my eye. His gaze traveled over me. “You taste good,” I whispered. He smirked. “I want a piece of gum.” I stuck out my hand.

He laughed. “How do you know I have gum?”

“Because you taste like peppermint. Your toothpaste is spearmint.” I smiled, waiting for my stick of gum.

“How do you know what kind of toothpaste I brush with?” He gave me a funny look, and I laughed.

I leaned close to him, and he lowered his head so I could whisper in his ear. “Because you’ve had your tongue in my mouth enough times I’ve learned your taste. And it’s spearmint.”

“Huh.” He reached in the pocket of his buttery soft, leather jacket and pulled out a piece of gum.

“See? Peppermint,” I chirped and stuffed it in my mouth. “C’mon.” I took his hand and led him into the kitchen where my mother was flitting around from place to place, baking this and stirring that. You’d have thought she was a great cook by looking at her. In truth, everything she cooked usually came from a box or a can. She was just really good at using spices to make things taste homemade.

“Mom? This is Brody. Brody, this is my mother.”

“Hello, Mrs. McKenna. It’s a pleasure to meet you. These are for you.” Brody handed her the bouquet of roses and lilies. His voice didn’t quiver or shake. He didn’t stammer or stumble over his words. He seemed completely at ease, not nervous at all, unless you looked at his hand holding mine. He had me in a death grip. I was afraid I was going to lose a finger from lack of blood flow.

“Hello, Brody. It’s nice to finally meet you. Thank you for the beautiful flowers!” My mom fingered one of the blooms before smelling a rose. I smiled to myself. Brody just earned his second gold star of the night. “I’ll just put these in water, and we can sit down and eat. Willow, hang up Brody’s coat.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Taking Brody’s jacket, I went to hang it up in the hall closet. I could hear the steady cadence of his voice as he talked with my mother.

“May I help with anything, Mrs. McKenna?” he asked.

May I help with anything? Wow, he’s really pouring on the charm tonight.

“No, thank you. I think I have it under control,” my mom answered.

“C’mon, Brody, you can help me set the table,” I handed him the plates and led him to the dining room. “May I help with anything, Mrs. McKenna?” I said in a teasing, singsong voice when my mother couldn’t hear us.

Brody chuckled and shrugged a shoulder. “Gotta suck up to the woman who brought my soul mate into the world.”

“Aw, Ace, you make my heart go pitter-patter,” I teased, fanning myself with my hand.

He smirked. “I’ll make other things go pitter-patter later.”

“Tease.”

“Here we are.” My mom carried the pot roast into the dining room.

“Oh, Mrs McKenna, that looks heavy. Let me help you with that.” Brody darted to her and lifted the platter out of her hands.

“Thank you, dear.”

Dear? Whoa, Brody just earned his third gold star of the night, and we haven’t even sat down to eat yet. The big schmooze.

Dinner went great. My mom was talkative and asked Brody a million questions. He answered them all without a hint of annoyance. I was the one becoming annoyed.

“Mom, stop interrogating him like you’re a member of the KGB or something.”

“I don’t mind,” Brody said with a smile.

“So, what are your plans after graduation, Brody?” My mother dabbed each side of her mouth with a linen napkin.

“College, ma’am.”

“And what will you study?”

“Medicine.”

Really? How did I not know that? I guess I was too preoccupied about us being separated to ask.

“Ah, a doctor!”

“Actually, I’m going into medical research.”

“Still, a very respectable field. Willow is going to study education.” She said it like I’d be skimming scum off mud puddles. She thought I was wasting my life on teaching. There were so many more prestigious occupations I could have, especially with my grades. Blah, blah, blah. I didn’t care about prestige. I wanted a job that made me happy. “You’ve been accepted at a college?” my mom asked Brody.

“Yes. The University of Michigan.”

My heart did a nosedive like it did any time I thought about where we’d be going to college, so very far away from each other.

“Very nice,” my mom said, nodding. And Brody earned his fourth gold star of the night. “Willow is going to State.”

Not in this lifetime.

Brody looked at me and nodded. I gave him a tight smile.

And so it went throughout the evening. Question after question.

After Brody left, my mom said, “He’s a very nice young man. Seems to have a plan for his life. That’s important. I like him a lot.”

I smiled. “I like him a lot, too.”

“I know. I can see it in your eyes. You both have the look.”

“The look?” I asked.

“The look, you know, respect, admiration, friendship, love. I can see it when you look at one another. I’m happy for you.” She tapped the end of my nose with her finger. “Few people find a relationship like that.”

And Brody earned his fifth gold star. Five out of five stars. He had sufficiently won over my mom. I breathed a sigh of relief.

We lay on a blanket on the roof of Brody’s Jeep, wrapped in a quilt to keep warm, snuggled together, sharing body heat.

“The stars are pretty tonight,” I whispered.

“Mm-hmm.”

“I love coming here. Soon, it’ll be too cold.” I shivered.

“I know. I usually go to the planetarium in the winter. It’s not the same, though.”

“Do you want to come over and watch a movie? Ralph isn’t home this week.”

Brody turned his head and looked at me. His face was so close our noses nearly touched. “Your mom won’t mind?”

“No. She’ll probably be upstairs reading anyway.” I scooted forward and kissed him. His lips were cool against mine, but when his tongue slipped into my mouth, it was warm and tasted sweet. It sent my body into overdrive. Every time he touched me, my body reacted in ways that surprised me. But it was more than just physical. It was raw emotion. We didn’t hold anything back. We opened our bodies, hearts, and souls to each other and connected in a way that was beyond the physical.

I’d never given much thought to the idea of soul mates. I never knew if I believed there was only one person in the world meant for me. But Brody answered those questions. We connected in a way that I knew he was my other half. There wouldn’t be anyone else that would touch all of me the way Brody did.

“You’re freezing. Let’s go. We’ll get a movie on the way to your house,” he said when he ended our kiss.

“Okay,” I agreed reluctantly. I didn’t want to leave. Brody’s aunt’s property was my favorite place. It was the only place we were truly alone. We spent hours there talking and learning about each other.

And other things… those were good, too. Yeah.

I’d never been happier than I’d been the two months I dated Brody. It was bliss.

“When you jump for joy, beware that no one moves the ground from beneath your feet.”

~ Stanislaw J. Lec