Page 12 of Shielded

“Mom, what are you doing here, really? You’ve never shied away from an argument in your life. Go talk to Enrique. Maybe this is all some big misunderstanding.”

She holds her gaze toward me and shakes her head. “It’s not, and I deserve it.”

“Or… you made a mistake with dad because you two weren’t right for each other and now you’re hypersensitive about everything Enrique does because you don’t want someone to treat you like you treat people.”

She narrows her brows and sighs. “Maybe you should get a therapy degree. You’ve got so much advice to give.”

“Maybe,” I groan, standing from the table. As I do, her phone screen lights up. It’s Enrique.

My mother flips the phone onto its face and goes about her day. I’m sure a sane person would let that go, but I know Enrique. He wouldn’t cheat on my mom. He wouldn’t cheat on anyone.

I grab the phone from the table and slide the call to answer.

My mother goes ballistic. “Young lady, give me that phone right now.”

I grin.

I hate that Perry is seeing this side of me, but he’s familiar with toxic hostage negotiations so I assume he’ll be fine.

He stands between my mother and I, and though I know I’m in the wrong, he doesn’t point it out. In fact, he holds her back away from me. Not physically, but his body blocks me away as I sneak into the bathroom and lock the door. I put the phone on speaker as Enrique talks.

“Evelyn, where are you? I saw you drive by the house. I was getting worried.”

“Oh, hey Enrique. It’s Siren.”

“Siren… what’s up? Everything okay with your mom?”

“Yeah, everything is good. Mom saw you in the driveway with a younger woman a bit ago and her crazy got activated. Can you reassure us all that you’re the nice guy we know you are?”

My mother is pounding at the door screaming. “Stop this, Siren, or I swear…”

Well Mom, just do it. I’d love to see what happens.

Enrique clears his throat. “I was. I sold my golf clubs today to pay for an upgrade on the honeymoon. I was going to surprise your mom today.”

My mother’s voice drains, and I hear a heavy thud outside the bathroom door as though she’s sliding down to the floor.

“You’re so sweet, Enrique. Sorry to bother you. I’ll have Mom call you back.”

“Please do. Sorry for the confusion,” he says. His tone is always so genuine and kind.

“It’s all good. Can’t wait for the wedding!”

“Me too. Talk to you later. There’s a client walking in.” The line disconnects and I stare down at the screen. At first, I hated Enrique. I was so afraid he was going to try to replace my father, but that didn’t happen. It couldn’t happen because they’re two really great people.

My dad is the strong, silent type. He likes to work on his motorcycle and avoids confrontation at all costs. When he does talk though, he’s really genuine and everything he says is well thought out. Enrique is very much the same, except he likes my mom’s crass mouth. I think he finds personal achievement in figuring her out.

I open the bathroom door to see my mom and Perry sitting on opposite sides of the hallway in silence.

Perry shakes his head and narrows his gaze as though I might have another spanking coming. I’m tempted to leave now to get it, but there are more pressing matters… I suppose.

“I told you he wasn’t cheating.” I slide down onto the floor next to Perry and stare toward my mom waiting for her answer. Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll be self-servicing.

She looks away and back again. “People lie, Siren. Why would he ever be honest about it?”

I stare at my mother. We both know Enrique isn’t that guy. I can hear it in her voice. “Mom, what’s really wrong?”

She drags in a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “I don’t know. I was fine until this afternoon, then all of the sudden I saw Enrique with that girl, and I felt sick, like I wasn’t worthy of a man like him.”

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