Page 23 of Good Time Boyfriend
“Why did Maureen and her husband go to the bar? I assume it was on a weekday? What about the kids?”
“It was their date night. Elizabeth and Ashley babysat.”
Elizabeth was my second oldest stepsibling, and Ashley was her wife. They had two kids of their own, and everybody always babysat each other’s kids. They didn’t usually need an actual sitter, unless the entire family was going out without the kids. Which had only happened once.
“Okay, I’m going to go call Maureen and yell at her. The family does not need to go stalk that bar. Or Heath.”
“We just want to get to know your boyfriend. I mean, they left him alone for a whole year.”
Guilt ate at me, but a phone conversation with just my mom was not the time to bring up the fact that I had made up an imaginary boyfriend so they would get off my back. If anything, it was now worse, but there was no coming back from that.
At least not right now.
“Please tell Maureen to leave it be. And I will do the same. In fact, tell everybody. I guess I’m just lucky enough that the younger kids aren’t old enough to get in.”
“Oh, they are. They just can’t be served alcohol. It’s not a twenty-one and over club. They serve food. Including those avocado egg rolls I want to try.”
Now my mouth was watering thinking about those avocado egg rolls. I was going to have to try them tonight, but still, this wasn’t over.
“Mom. I love you all. But you guys need to give me some space. I know you want me to be happy, and I am. I love my job. I love my friends. Addison’s back in town.”
“I know, baby. I’m so glad she’s back. Because when you didn’t have her, you just had us. And while we are many, I want you to have friends. I want you to be happy. I love you.” She paused, and I swallowed hard, knowing my mom was wiping away tears. She was emotional and loving. While my family was slightly overbearing, okay a lot overbearing, they loved me. But they were far too much for me. Hence why I had made up a boyfriend.
“I know that when I married William, things changed. It was just the three of us for so long. And when we lost your dad, it was the two of us and we had to figure out life on our own. But your dad loved you so much. Just like I do.”
I sat down at the end of my bed, playing with the shoes on the ground near me. I had been in the process of deciding between heels and flats for the evening, and now I just wanted to curl up and hold my mom.
Because while I had lost my father, she had lost her husband. And yet she put me first always. Even when she found William.
“William is the best stepdad ever. And he never begrudged me the fact that I didn’t want to change my name. That I wanted to keep a part of Dad. I get that he’s amazing. And the top five, they never looked at me as anything other than their sister. They never begrudged me the fact that I didn’t look like them, I didn’t have their last name, or I was the new baby of the family.”
“Of course not. You are family. Even with a different last name. Womack is still my middle name though, you know.”
“I do. Although Alice Womack Johnson is a bit long.”
“Alice Marie Womack Johnson. Thankfully I just use initials when I’m signing papers, but the longer papers that need everything official? It takes me hours.” She joked.
“I do need to head out and meet Addison. It’s her night off.”
“And since your boyfriend owns a bar, I guess weekends are pretty much filled with that?”
I cleared my throat, because again, the lies came back to bite me in the ass. I needed to do better. I needed to be better.
And I would.
Once I figured out what to say.
“We went hiking last weekend. He doesn’t have to close every night, they have a full staff, and his co-owner Ace does it too. They alternate. I think he actually works fewer hours than I do sometimes during my campaigns.”
My mom laughed on the other end of the line. “That doesn’t actually fill me with confidence since my baby girl works twenty hours a day.”
I heard the sarcasm, so I rolled my eyes. “Not too many. Paisley doesn’t work me hard.”
“Not sure about that, but I know that young lady works even harder than you do.”
“Yes, she does. And we’re a good team. Just like me and Addison.”
“I hope that you have fun tonight. Maybe more fun than you usually have,” she said with a laugh, and I rolled my eyes again. “And maybe get Paisley out of the office. I know she runs that matchmaking company, but seriously, my girls need to start dating. Although you have Heath, and when you finally bring him around we can decide if he’s good enough for you.”
