it was to talk to her. As long as you weren’t grilling Audrey about her problems, she could be a blast to sit on the phone with. I couldn’t help but smile at those sparse memories.
“His name is Corey.”
“Wait….” She sat back putting a finger to her lips, as if the move helped her think. “The Corey that runs that bar and works with the Inn?” Of course my mother remembered him—he was probably a god in her mind, since he was the one serving the liquor.
“Yes, that one.”
An approving nod and smile brightened her attitude. “He is downright sexy, but I have never liked him.”
“Why not?” This was a surprise.
“He always cut me off after a couple drinks. My bet is your grandmother got to him and told him to treat me like a goddamn child.” She huffed disapprovingly.
Corey gained even more respect in my mind. He seemed to be close to my Gram—this I knew. But it took a real professional to take on my mother’s snake charmer ways, that slithered easily when there was something she wanted. Liquor was one of those things.
“Corey also has to follow laws and if you would have left the bar and caused an accident—that’s on him.” She rolled her eyes, brushing me off with a wave of her hand.
“Wrong, he’s just a sexy bartender that wasn’t man enough to stand up to her.” Her—being my grandmother.
My blood began to boil in an unexpectedly defensive way.
“Corey isn’t just a bartender; he is a business owner and a respectable person.” My harsh warning tone made my mother’s eyes raise in curiosity. It was rare that I ever talked back or raised my voice to her. If I was being honest—I was a little taken aback by the outburst, but I held my ground. Corey deserved better than being trashed by my hot-mess of a mother.
“Whoa—sorry, didn’t realize you were in love with the guy. I didn’t even know you two were an item.”
“We’re not. He’s my friend. I’m just not going to let you trash talk my friend, who absolutely doesn’t warrant it.”
Her hand made its way up to her mouth, and she immediately started biting her already jagged nails. The frail frame and baggy jumpsuit started bouncing from her shaking leg, while her eyes darted around. I knew what this was—I’d seen it before, more times than I could count.
Mother dearest hated confrontation and dealing with anything that might get her into an argument about reality. Growing up, I accepted her crazy stories as normality and kept all personal life complications to myself. She’d always asked but hated the responses. Watching her now was viewing an internal struggle between the carefree druggy and motherish instincts. The maternal senses were there, I could practically hear the reproaches rolling around in her mind about Corey right now.
He’s too old for you. Make him work for the goods. You deserve better. Don’t settle for looks the way I did with your father. Make sure you’re being safe—if you know what I mean. Don’t go for a man that makes you feel anything less than the best woman on the face of this planet. You’re priceless, Danielle—don’t forget that.
Except, those words would never come out. Sometimes, I found myself wishing she would yell at me about certain things and argue with me about others. Just be my mom. It was a pointless wish at this point. Asking her to care on a deeper level, would be like asking my dad to come home. It would be a waste of time because it was never going to happen.
I felt myself sinking into the same sullen pit I had always dwelled in when it came to thinking about my stellar parents.
“Fine, you’re not dating, but you’re definitely sleeping with him. So come on, spill—how is he?”
My mouth dropped at how casually she brought up something as personal as my sex life. The only person I shared that information with was Gabby, but even she didn’t know about Corey yet. Never before have I talked about that sort of thing with mom and I didn’t plan to start now.
“What makes you think we’re sleeping together?”
She shot me a dubious look. “Because you are. Now don’t hold out on me. What’s the sex like?”
“Mom!” I scolded, but she once again rolled her eyes at me.
“Oh don’t mom me, if it bugs you so much, don’t think of me as your mom now.” Well, then when can I think of you