Page 66 of On the Rocks

I glanced at the window next to the door as we broke apart. It was dark. My mother usually left a light on if she was still awake. “She might have fallen asleep already. I’m later than I told her I’d be.”

“Well, someone took their sweet time getting dressed.”

“I know. How long does it take you to do up the buttons on a dress shirt?”

Aiden growled next to my ear. “What are you going to do now?”

“Probably go inside and text all my friends, telling them Aiden Callihan kissed me.”

“Guess I should go and tell all the guys on the team I just scored.”

I laughed. “Is that what you did back then?”

“Obviously.”

“Boys,” I said, rolling my eyes.

He bussed my cheek. “I’ll pick you up in the morning?”

I nodded. “See you then.”

“Have a good night.” He backed down the steps, the corner of his mouth tugging into a smile as he turned, climbing into the car. I watched him drive off before I took out my key, unlocking the door. It was awkward juggling my keys, shoes, and clutch, but I did my best not to stumble into the table in the front hall in the pitch black.

Once I was inside and the door had closed behind me, I dropped my shoes and felt along the wall for the light switch, giving it a flick. My jaw dropped as the living room lit up, my eyes almost bugging out like one of those cartoons on TV when the character has been whacked over the head with a hammer. Because there sat my mother, Bonnie freaking Newport, sucking face with some man on the sofa like she was sixteen, not pushing fifty-five.Holy shit.

What twilight zone had I just walked in on?

“Oh!” A tittering laugh filled the room as my mother and said mystery man jumped apart, shooting to their feet and stumbling around, adjusting their clothing like they were kids who had just gotten busted by their parents. “Cora! You’re back already? I didn’t expect you home so early.”

Clearly.

“It’s almost midnight,” I said, putting my keys down. I didn’t know where to look, or not look, or what to do. Was it too late to call Aiden and just leave the way I came?

“You’re right. It’s late,” a voice said. A familiar voice. “I guess the evening got away from us.”

“It did,” my mother said, giggling in a way I’d never heard before.

I frowned, getting my first good look at the man I’d been awkwardly trying not to stare at. “Mr. Cranson?”

“Hi, Cora,” he said, his face breaking into a kind, if slightly embarrassed, smile. “Nice to see you again.”

“Um…you too?”

No freaking way was my mother making out with my high school English teacher!Aiden was never going to believe this.

Hell, I barely believed it.

Mr. Cranson had taught me three of my four years in high school. In the years since then, he’d grown a beard and gone mostly grey, but hearing his voice took me back to long discussions about some of my favorite books. His classes had always been the highlight of my year, and he’d been one of the reasons I’d planned on going to college for teaching. To say he’d been a great teacher was an understatement, but to find him on the couch, kissing my mother…well, that was something else entirely.

I laughed uncertainly. “So, what’s, uh…What’s going on here?”

My mother stepped forward, taking Mr. Cranson’s hand. “Oh, honey, I’d wanted to talk to you about Henry and me before something like this happened. But you got in late the other night, and you were so busy running around with Aiden, getting the reunion sorted. It didn’t feel like the right time.”

Henry! Oh.Oh. This was serious.

My mother took a deep breath, looking right at me. “Cora. Henry and I have been dating for a few months now.”

“A few months?” I asked. Of all the ridiculous things I’d worried about, my mother dating again hadn’t even been on the list. But I supposed it should have been. It had been a long time since we’d lost my father. And honestly, I was just so relieved it wasn’t a health issue. “That explains why you’ve been a little weird and evasive every time we’ve talked lately.”

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