Wilson Mooney Eighteen at Last (8 page)

“
Hey—it’s important to
me,” I told him.

“
What? Can’t a guy smile
at his girl? Especially after he gives her a limo ride she’ll never
forget,” he teased as he picked up his shoes and tossed them into a
basket underneath one of the wooden loveseats. He wrapped his arms
around my stomach. Nuzzling his face close to my ear, he let out a
guttural moan. I felt his entire body push against my
backside.

“
Yeah, right; I know
exactly what happens when you give me your smile. I end up in a
helicopter thousands of miles above frozen cities and uninhabited
wilderness,” I teased before I winked and handed him my
shoes.

“
Now come on—didn’t I make
up for it with the limo ride? I didn’t know you were so terrified
of heli—”

“
Maxi, is that you?”
Nancy, Max’s mother called out as she came around the corner from
the dining room. Her brilliant green eyes met mine, and at once, I
fell in love with her all over again. The love she exuded from
every pore of her body made me feel like I was right where I
belonged.

“
Wilson, sweetheart—come
here, birthday girl.” She waved her hands toward me as she held her
arms out. I let her give me a welcome that, up until today, had
always been reserved for my grandma. “You know, Frank is so excited
to hear about your ride in Ol’ Tweety. Quite frankly, I’ve never
liked riding in that death trap,” she continued as I slipped into
her open arms. She pulled me close and squeezed lovingly. She
smelled like a meadow of wildflowers and felt like the delicate
sunbeams that tickled across my skin on a warm summer
day.

“
Happy Birthday, sweetie,”
Nancy said as I felt one of her hands rub circles across my back
and the other catch the back of my head.

“
Thank you, Nancy,” I
mumbled across her shoulder.

Her maternal love flooded
over me, extinguishing all the times my mother’s deliberate acts of
abandonment burned my defensive heart. Nancy was so
good
at being
mom
that I instantly
ached when she let go. Her hand slid across my shoulder as she held
her other arm out for Max to join our intimate moment.

“
Ma, you were right,” Max
mentioned as he slipped next to her and kissed her on the
cheek.

“
Well then, maybe next
time you’ll listen,” she smiled at him before messing up his hair.
“I see you still didn’t get your hair cut.”

“
Aw, come on. Can’t
admitting you were right be enough to keep you from giving me
static about my hair?”

“
Well, just remember, I
didn’t just fall off the turnip truck. I’ve been around longer than
you think,” Nancy smiled before letting go of Max and
me.

Max grabbed my hand before he turned
and asked, “Where’s dad?”

“
He and Camille went over
to the Randohs’. Greg blew a circuit breaker or something when he
plugged in a new plasma TV he gave Pam for Christmas. And, well,
you know Greg—he can’t change a light bulb without screwing it up,”
Nancy laughed as she patted Max on the shoulder and pulled at his
collar. “They should be here any time.”

Max smiled before he cleared his
throat; he was just about to say something when the door
slammed.

“
Helloooo! We’re baaaack!”
Frank bellowed. My heart pattered at the sound of his
voice.

“
Hey, Dad,” Max said at
the same moment Nancy announced, “We’re in the family
room.”

I wanted to soak up the moment Frank
strolled in and saw his son. As generic as their acknowledgement of
each other was, it still was so much more than I’d ever
had.

I never heard my dad
speak. Hell, I never even laid eyes on him. According to my late
grandma, my mom had a one night stand with the spawn of
Satan.
Hello, then what does that make
me—half German, half hellion?
When I was
little I would run into the bathroom every morning and check my
forehead in the mirror, worried about waking up with horns bursting
from either side of my forehead. Years later, I discovered ‘spawn
of Satan’ was only a figure of speech for a real
asshole.

Frank turned the corner with Camille
trailing behind. His eyes lit up and Camille jetted past him to get
to Max first. She hugged him like she hadn’t seen him in years.
Standing on her tiptoes, she rocked him back and forth.

“
I’ve really missed you,
and I’m so glad you brought Wilson,” she said as she let go of him,
wiped her eyes, and then flung her arms around me.

“
Oh! Good to see you too,
Camille,” I managed to utter as she squeezed me tighter.

“
Happy Birthday.” She
lowered her voice to a rumble in my ear before she continued, “Did
Calvin come with you guys?”

I looked at Max to save me
from the corner Camille was pushing me into.
Why is she asking me?
It’s not like
I’ve known her more than one day of my life.
But Max couldn’t save me; he’d gotten trapped into a
conversation with his father.

“
No, maybe you should talk
to Max,” I whispered back. Camille stiffened then let go of
me.

“
I’m sorry, you’re right.
I’m just glad you guys are here; now I won’t be the only one who
has to deal with all the
Calvin
drama
from my father.”

“
Oh, there you are,
Wilson. What’da think about flyin’ in Ol’ Tweety? Nancy told Max
you’d probably hate it, just like her. Can’t get that woman to fly
anywhere with me,” he boasted.

“
Oh, Frank!” Nancy tossed
her hands in the air. “Now, Wilson, don’t you listen to him. He
knows my rule—he can take me anywhere in the world just as long as
we are in an automobile or a commercial airliner. That’s not too
much to ask, is it?” Nancy went over to Frank and slid her arms
around him before he bent down and gave her a kiss
hello.

My heart swelled with so much envy. I
had to face the fact that my life would never be a Hallmark moment.
All I ever wanted was a set of parents who loved each other more
than any of their vices. I never thought it was too much to ask for
a mom who loved me and a dad who would be proud to call me his
little girl.

“
Wilson, were you
comfortable in my car? Now don’t be shy, go on and tell me, which
transportation did you like better—Max’s helicopter or my limo?
Frank pointed at Max, “Don’t say anything, no coercion allowed.”
Max stiffened; his lips pressed firmly together.

Well let’s see—I was
terrified in the helicopter and we made out in the back of your
limo; it’s really a no brainer.
I looked
over at Max, gave him a little smirky smile, and answered Frank, “I
loved the limo ride. Thank you so much for such a great birthday
surprise. It was amazing.” I couldn’t contain the smile beaming
inside.

“
See, your momma was
right, women like the elegance of a limo above the exhilaration of
a helicopter,” Frank said to Max.

“
Got it,” Max
mumbled.

“
Well, maybe you’ll start
listening to some of the advice your ol’ man and mother give you;
unlike that brother of yours.”

“
Alright, Dad, I heard
you.” I could feel Max was starting to get tense. “Where’s Dan?” he
changed the subject.

“
Denver. His parents
didn’t think Christmas Eve was enough time, so he’s going to stay a
couple more days with them,” Camille volunteered.

“
You didn’t stay with Dan
and his parents?” Max prodded.

“
I wanted to see you guys.
And besides, two days was plenty with Dan’s family.” Camille popped
Max in the chest.

“
Now Dan—he’s a work
horse,” Frank spat before he resumed talking about Calvin. “If I
could just get your brother to learn that, in order to keep a job,
you must first actually show up.”

“
Frank, let’s not get
started again. The kids just got here, and they’re probably
hungry.”

Funny, I hadn’t thought about food
until Nancy mentioned it. I was just too excited about being there.
Our vacation had finally started. Max reached for my hand, and I
could feel he was still mired in the words Frank drizzled across
him about his brother.

“
Fine, why don’t you
ladies go in the kitchen? Max and I will stock the fireplaces,”
replied Frank.

I could see Max’s jaw clench and his
eyes narrow as he lowered his head. I smiled at him before he
kissed me and watched me walk with Camille and Nancy into the
kitchen. My heart bolted into my stomach when I looked back and he
was still standing there, alone. Nancy looped her arm through mine
and pulled me.

“
Oh, Wilson, I hope you
don’t mind Camille and I taking you from Maxi.” Nancy tightened her
hold on my arm.

I shook my head no; everything moved
so quickly, and honestly, I was so enthralled with her and how she
included me in her world—I was hooked. Nancy was so amazing, I just
wanted a piece of that. There was something about her that filled
the gaping holes my bio-mom had left in my soul.

“
You know, Wilson, my
brother keeps his life very private from the family. He isn’t the
type to bring just
anyone
around,” Camille mused. My mouth dried up, crisp
as a sun-drenched desert, and suddenly I couldn’t
swallow.

“
Really?” I
choked.

Nancy shot a glance my way as she
busied herself with pulling sandwich fixings out of the huge,
stainless steel refrigerator.

“
Yeah, as a matter of
fact, we simply stopped asking about it. His father and I figured
he would eventually bring home someone special, when he was
ready.”

I pushed my fingers to the edge of the
black granite countertop and slid them across the bull-nosed
finish—anything to keep my hands busy—and my eyes diverted from the
both of them. I could tell they were protective of Max, and I
didn’t blame them. Joanie would do the same for me.

“
Well, umm—” I didn’t know
what to say to that.
Is she telling me she
thinks I’m the one for Max?

“
When Maxi told me he was
bringing you to dinner that night…” Nancy stopped. I noticed she
swallowed hard; I couldn’t tell if it was from disappointment or
something else. My heart bounced, and without fail, I felt my body
begin to ripple and struggle to keep from crying.

Oh my God, he totally
keeps details of me away from his family. I wouldn’t blame them if
they had gigantic red flags. Here I am—a girl with no family and
some pretty crazy baggage—with a guy who has everything any girl
would want.

“
Mom, are you getting
choked up again?” Camille teased. Her brown wavy hair, tamed as
much as a head of curls could be, bounced against the sides of her
face.

“
Oh, now stop it,
Camille.” She came over to me and grabbed my hands. My heart
wrenched, hoping to feel anything but fear at her words.

“
Don’t scare the poor
girl,” Camille announced as she took Nancy’s place making the
sandwiches.

I froze. What was going to
come out of Nancy’s mouth? Was every hope and desire I pinned on
her going to be obliterated in a moment’s time? Max was
her
son—a boy she raised
to be a perfect man, in my eyes. Maybe, just maybe, I wasn’t the
type of woman she expected him to bring home.

“
Ever since you and Max
have been together…” Nancy choked on the last words and I couldn’t
catch what she said. She pulled me against her chest. She held me
tight, as if she was saying goodbye forever. Suddenly I felt her
take a deep breath, and as she let the air out of her lungs, she
finished the end of her statement. “You make him so happy. Thank
you for bringing my Maxi back.”

I stiffened and cold
chills ran through my bones.
What does she
mean by that? Because I never got the impression he was ever gone.
What am I supposed to say? Max doesn’t say much about his family,
and considering my family is such a raw subject for me, our
conversations don’t revolve around that.

I opened my mouth to respond but
thought better of it and answered her by nodding my head up and
down. Suddenly I was in unchartered waters with the veiled
information Nancy was willing to drop in my lap. It wasn’t until
Camille piped up, spewing something Max had never shared with me in
the month we’d been dating, that made my heart thrash.

“
Mallory really messed him
up,” Camille let the words slip from her mouth, obviously without
thinking. She shot a look at Nancy.

What was I supposed to do,
act like I didn’t hear it? It was clear as day, and obviously it
was information Max
never
shared with me. So I played it cool.

“
Yeah, Mallory,” I said in
the most casual, unexcited tone I could muster.
All I have to do is keep cool. I can do this.

I didn’t care what sandwiches Camille
was making. My appetite had disappeared, and suddenly nothing
mattered to me more than the words that were going to follow the
information she’d just churned out about some girl named Mallory.
Instantly I felt my butterflies kamikaze-diving into the curdling
acids exploding in my stomach. There was no saving them—one by one
they were drowning, helpless.