care of your…” Hailey looked at me with a grin. “…baby.”
Mom beamed up at Hailey. “Won’t you join us for coffee?”
“I’d love to, but unfortunately, I need to get back to the office.
The bigwigs are in town, and the whole office is standing on their
ears to please them.” Hailey looked at me then. “It was nice to see
you all.”
“Great to see you, too,” I said numbly as I watched her turn and
walk away. Then I turned and looked at Kalen. “You jackass.”
She pretended not to notice as she took another shrimp and
looked at it. “Do you think they know that they’re being netted
and taken away from their families? Only to end up on our plates.”
Her eyes grew watery as she laid it respectfully on a lettuce leaf.
“Nap time.” Mom gestured for the check. “We’re taking you
home and putting you to bed.” Mom sounded like she did when
we were children.
Kalen did in fact look like a child as she burrowed deeper into
her bed and clutched the blankets under her chin. Mom stroked
her hair lovingly. “You may be having a baby of your own, but
you’re still my baby,” she said as she switched off the lamp.
I followed Mom out of the room, and before shutting the door,
I whispered, “tit mouse.”
“Up yours” came Kalen’s reply from the darkness. I smiled.
That was the sister I knew and loved.
“Shannon, honey, I don’t know how to work Kalen’s coffee
maker,” Mom said, eyeing the Brew Station. “Would you make
us some, please?”
I did as she asked while she took a seat at the kitchen table.
“Just friends, huh?” Mom said with a chuckle.
“Unfortunately so.” I leaned against the counter and folded
my arms.
“I don’t think so,” Mom said with a shake of her head. “That’s
not what her eyes say, nor yours.”
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Robin Alexander
“Well, her mouth says it just wants to be friends.” I filled
Mom’s cup and set it on the table.
“That woman is crazy about you, and you can be a total tool
when you’re sick.”
I whirled around and looked at Mom. “Where did you learn
that term?”
“Kalen. That’s what she calls Todd when she’s mad at him.
You need to ask Hailey out again.”
I filled my cup and joined Mom at the table. “I can’t,” I said
as I stirred cream into my coffee.
“Why not?”
“Because I’m a weenie, and I don’t want to hear her tell me
that she doesn’t want anything serious again.”
“Oh, honey,” Mom said with a knowing smile. “It’s already
serious.” I told her about how Hailey acted when Marci called,
and Mom rolled her eyes. “You’re missing all the cues. She may
be saying she doesn’t want to be serious, but what she’s really
saying is that she’s scared.”
“She’s basically admitted that before.”
“I know you’re scared, too, given what you’ve told me about
her past.” Mom took a sip of her coffee and grimaced. “Cream,
pass the cream. I’d forgotten about New Orleans coffee being so
strong.” After she added a considerable amount of cream, she took
a sip and sighed. “She adores you, Shannon. Ask her again.”
I left Kalen’s and bought flowers, not for Hailey, but for
Marvin. He was grinning like a schoolgirl when I presented them.
“Thank you for taking care of me, and one night when you’re
free, I’d like to take you to dinner.”
Marvin batted his eyes. “If you were a man, I’d take you in
the back and have my way with you.”
“Umm, thanks.” I backed away a step.
He reached out and grabbed my arm. “Come back here. Let
me look at this hair.” He fingered the ends of my strands and
made a face. “It grows so fast, you need a trim, little monkey. I
had a cancellation. You walked in at the right time.” My hair was
washed, and I was sitting in his chair before I knew what hit me.
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Pitifully Ugly
“So,” Marvin began with a grin. “Did Hailey take good care
of you?”
I nodded. “She did—”
Marvin planted his fingers firmly on the top of my scalp.
“Don’t nod, never nod when I’m cutting your hair.”
I nodded again out of reflex.
“Do you secretly want to be bald?” Marvin asked as his eyes
went round.
I was tempted to shake my head to really send him over the
edge. “No, I’ll be still.”
Marvin exhaled loudly and went back to work. “No movement.
Did she stay with you that night? Because she said she was.”
“She did and the next night, too.”
“Oh, she’s so sweet.” Marvin smiled as he moved around me.
“I bet she’ll say yes if you ask her out again.” Marvin let the
comment hang in the air, then rolled his eyes when I sat there
looking like a scared rabbit.
“Here’s where I’m at. I’m too afraid to ask and too afraid not
to.” I fought the urge to shrug, keeping my head still as Marvin
clipped and snipped. “I think she wants more, too, but if I push
her and she backs away again, I…hell, I don’t know what I’d do.
Chase or run, it’s all so frustrating, but I have to do something or
I’ll lose my mind.” When I looked at Marvin in the mirror, he was
sporting a toothy grin. “What?” I asked, annoyed that he found
my dilemma amusing.
“I don’t suppose that either of you realizes that you’ve basically
been,” he held up his fingers and made quote marks, ‘“courting’
each other. You’re on a collision course with love, and one of
you has to make the next move to advance to the next level.” He
leaned down and pressed his face against mine, catching my eyes
in the mirror’s reflection. “It’s gonna have to be you.”
Marvin went back to trimming as I mulled what he had to
say. As I thought back on my previous relationships, I’d always
been the passive one, waiting for someone else to make the first
move. I’d made a first move with Hailey once when I kissed her
in the courtyard only to have her withdraw a few days later. This
game of tug-of-war was making me weary. I kept waiting for a
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Robin Alexander
pull from Hailey’s side of the rope, but all I got was a few brief
jerks.“She’s afraid, she’s admitted that, and you are, too, but I’m not
so sure it’s rejection. I think you’re more afraid of what’s going
to happen between the two of you when things go well.” Marvin
cocked his head and winked.
I swallowed hard. He was right. It was time to confront the
niggling fear that I kept tucked away in the recesses of my mind.
“My dad…was unfaithful.”
Marvin rested his hands on my shoulders and sighed.
“Sweetie, I’m sorry.”
“Kalen never knew, just me and Mom. I think that’s why I’m
so shy, and she’s just so out there. I was so afraid that someone
would take the place of my mom. Like Dad would move her out
and bring someone else in.” I smiled ruefully. “I used to cling to
her leg whenever we had company. If she was going, I was going,
too.”Marvin looked as though he would cry. “Hailey cheated on
her husband. She told me.”
“I know in my heart that things can be good between us, but