Anything but Minor - Kate Stewart Page 0,64
to work out, but she was trying, and together, we made total fools of ourselves as better equipped dancers circled the floor around us.
It didn’t matter. My mother’s smile and nervous laughter, which I’d finally learned came from her, made it all okay. And when she got too tipsy to drive, I called an Uber for us both. I sat in the backseat with my drunken mother, a virtual stranger, as she spoke to him.
“You’re a nice looking man,” she cooed as he looked back at her. He was, in fact, a very nice looking man with sandy brown hair and blue eyes. He looked a few years younger than her, but not by much. “My daughter says I need to get back on the horse. Are you a capable horse?”
I burst out laughing as he eyed her from the front seat and joined in with a chuckle. I looked over our driver and gave him a disapproving eye. “What are your credentials?”
“Abe, I’m forty-eight, divorced, and I just started Uber this week. You’re my best fare yet.”
My mother, who apparently had no filter after five glasses of wine, looked at him in the mirror. “Well, Abe, I’m Penelope and this is my daughter, Alice.”
“Pleasure to meet you both,” he said with humor.
“Mom, we need greasy food,” I muttered, feeling uneasy from the alcohol. I’d gotten a little sauced up a few weeks ago with Kristina and had discovered a cheeseburger helped immensely.
“I know just the place,” Abe said as he turned into a breakfast diner and parked the car. He turned in his seat and addressed my mother directly. “Allow me,” he said as he opened her door and we both exited with giggles. I couldn’t believe the difference in her, but I supposed somewhere deep she’d always wanted permission to feel again. I wasn’t surprised when we ordered another Uber after dining a little loudly in the breakfast house, and Abe pulled up again to greet us minutes later. He’d been waiting. I was sure of it.
On the way home, I watched as Abe and my mother spoke, often crossing the same words or reactions to the conversation, and smiled as I looked down at my textless phone. Rafe and I didn’t have that type of connection. We didn’t finish each other’s sentences, we simply accepted each other’s differences, and the dynamic was just as powerful, maybe even more so. If he chose to throw us away, it wouldn’t be because we didn’t work. In truth, I didn’t see anything else working better. I saw no one else but him.
No end, Alice. No end.
My heart was breaking with each minute that passed. I felt a hot tear trail down my cheek. If we were over, I would have the heart scar to prove it happened. Once upon a time, Alice Boyd had an intimate affair with the stuff dreams are made of. Though brief, it had been beautiful and real.
Alice: I am a nerd, Rafe. I totally am. XO
It was the best night of my life.
“Rafe,” I heard whispered in a raspy voice as Melo-dee joined me at the bar, uninvited. Andy’s bar was home to me in a way, and being amongst my teammates tonight had driven home the point even more so.
We’d completely shut out the Yellow Jackets, and in our victory, the team decided a perfect night ender would be a private party at the bar. Everyone was there, including Dutch, who eyed me with suspicion when I told her the vacancy next to her at the game had to do with Alice visiting her mother. I could see her disapproval and knew without a doubt she thought I was full of shit.
And in a way, I was.
“How’s it going, Melo-dee?” I said without looking her way.
“It could be better,” she chimed back without regard to my fuck off demeanor and uninterested tone. “Your place or mine?”
“You know I’m with Alice. You’ve seen me with her,” I reminded, my voice full of disdain.
“I don’t see her here,” she said as I turned on my stool to finally look at her. Melo-dee was beautiful with long dark hair and dark blue eyes. Her curvy body was bursting out of her short, red dress and begged for any sort of attention it could get. I had no right to judge her, not in the least, but suddenly she repulsed me.
“I’m not the type,” I said as I picked up my beer.
“Since when?”
“Since I met my game-changer,” I