Part 13 (2/2)
”Hanging out at Kylie's house. Studying, she said.”
”Ha,” June laughed. ”On Friday night? What do you suppose they're really doing?” Beatrice wandered over to the doggie bed in the corner of the kitchen and June told her she was a good girl.
”Eating junk, calling boys, practicing dance steps, plotting things... But Kylie's mother is home tonight so they can't get into too much trouble.” She smiled as she looked at June, her elderly mother. June was sixty-three, kept her short hair a dark auburn color, still wore a size ten and her eyes sparkled with mischief. She'd worked hard all her life and it had kept her in excellent shape, except her feet gave her fits; she'd used them well, cleaning and waitressing, and sometimes they screamed in protest, but she was in excellent health and fitness otherwise. She looked her years, but beautifully so. She would be termed a handsome woman. ”What are you building over there?” Riley asked from her place at the breakfast bar.
”I'm making a meat loaf,” June said. ”I'm so b.l.o.o.d.y sick of turkey. Aren't you?”
”G.o.d, yes. But you got a lot of mileage out of it,” Riley said. ”Why don't we have a gla.s.s of wine?”
”Perfect idea,” June said.
”So... Adam's coming to dinner?”
”Not tonight. He stopped by after school yesterday to put the trash on the curb because apparently I'm too feeble to get it there.” She laughed, washed her hands and wiped them on the towel.
”What are you going to do with that meat loaf, then?”
”Well, I'm going to eat some. With mashed potatoes. I could share some with you, if you're interested. Then I suppose I'll freeze it, but I'm d.a.m.n sure not eating another bite of turkey. At least until Christmas. But obviously I haven't had enough of mashed potatoes yet.” She opened the refrigerator and pulled out a chilled bottle of white, already opened. ”It's not as fancy as your preferred label but will this do?”
”Certainly,” Riley said. June poured them each a gla.s.s and Riley took a sip. ”Has Adam seemed to be awfully busy lately?” she asked June.
”I don't know,” June said. ”I talk to him almost every day. I haven't needed him for anything. Just the lights, which he finished this week. I hate doing the lights...”
”I've hardly talked to him,” Riley said.
”Do you need him for something, Riley?”
”Well, no... But we usually talk longer than a minute. He hasn't been to dinner since Thanksgiving.”
”He took some leftovers on Friday night, I think. He said that should do it for him.”
”I think something is going on with him,” Riley said. ”And I should probably tell you-” She took another sip of her wine. ”Emma's back in town.”
”I know,” June said. ”She got back a few months ago, right?”
”I gave her a job,” Riley said.
”Good for you! I hope to see her one of these days. I haven't gone looking for her-I'm sure she needs time to adjust to being back. I'm so glad she's free of that terrible mess. Does she seem well?”
”Oh, yes, beautiful as ever,” Riley said, though the words did curl her lip. ”Listen, I suspect Adam might be seeing her.”
”Oh? And why do you suspect that?”
”He's seeing someone and he's mysteriously silent about it. And completely unavailable.”
”Well, then...”
”Well, then?”
June put down her winegla.s.s. ”Riley, I want you to leave Adam alone.”
”So he is seeing her!”
”Riley, you're not going to interfere. You're going to say nothing, do you hear me?”
”You can't tell me what to say!”
”I just did and I don't think you want to mess with me on this.”
Riley slammed her fist on the breakfast bar. ”Why are you in the middle of this? You seem to know what's going on well enough that you're telling me what to do! What to say!”
”I know about as much as you do. When Adam wants us to know more, he'll fill us in. Until then, you'll leave it alone.”
”Did he tell you he was seeing her?”
June shook her head. ”He told me she was back, that he ran into her and had a gla.s.s of wine with her one evening, gave her your business card and even though there's a good chance you'd work her to death, he hoped Emma would call you about a job. He had all faith you would do right by her. She'd be in a good work environment with fair pay. And I have absolutely no doubt that's what you did.”
”I don't want her with Adam!”
”I think if you voice your opinion to Adam, you're going to get nothing but trouble. Telling him who he should or shouldn't date is overstepping your rights as a sister. You'll p.i.s.s him off. You'll p.i.s.s me off, for that matter.”
”I don't entirely trust her,” Riley said.
”Then you'll keep your distance. What the rest of us do is up to us, not you. Besides, what makes you think Emma is ready to be seeing any man? Hasn't she been through enough with a man?”
”Well, of course,” Riley said. ”But why are you acting like you know if you don't know?”
”I said he didn't tell me,” June said. ”Of course I know. I've always known.”
”Known what?” Riley demanded, getting p.i.s.sier by the second.
June took a breath. ”Adam has been in love with Emma since she was fifteen. I threatened him with murder if he went near her before she was eighteen. You were too busy minding your own romances to even notice, which I considered a good thing. But Adam did all he could to steer clear of Emma. And we both remember what happened when Emma was eighteen-she went away to college. And never came home.”
”And you think-”
”That my son hasn't found a woman who makes him completely happy in all that time? I've met a dozen perfectly nice women in the last fifteen years. A couple of them seemed to be around for a long time. That Natalie, remember her? She was looking at bridal magazines, but Adam was barely intrigued. No, Riley, in fifteen years, he hasn't said a word and I thought he was just going to live out his days as the bachelor uncle. Then he told me Emma was back and I saw a spark. He didn't say much after that and I didn't ask but I know my son. The woman he's wanted since he was a boy is back. And if you say one word, I'll make you sorry.”
Riley was struck silent. ”Well, jeez,” she finally said. ”Mama bear.”
June narrowed her eyes. ”He's ent.i.tled to take his time and have his privacy. We both owe Adam that much. He's been wonderful to us.”
”Does he really need your protection?”
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