Page 71 of Crash

“I’m Jocelyn, Vivienne’s mother,” she says with a tinge of an accent, offering me her cheek instead of her hand. Like the gentleman my parents raised me to be, I bend down and give her a small kiss.

“I’m Luke Clark,” I say. She nods and gives me a genuine smile. She’s a beautiful woman with a wide smile and eyes the color of milk chocolate.

“Jacob’s brother,” she says, and I nod. “Can I talk to my daughter?”

Vivienne huffs at the request. “I’m not you. I can speak for myself. I don’t need permission from Luke to do anything.” Jocelyn’s head rolls back but doesn’t respond directly to the sharp rebuke. Her lips thin out as she finally looks away from me towards her daughter.

“Can I talk to you, Vivienne?” she asks.

“No,” is all Vivi says. She turns and we walk to the back room. She hands me my coat and we quickly put them on.

As she’s putting on her hat, her mother walks into the room and speaks. “I’m doing the therapy,” she says.

As Vivi adjusts the knit hat on top of her head, she addresses her mother, her voice hostile. “Really? Like I suggested years ago? Did you run to your husband to tell him I’m trying to tell you you’re crazy? Is he going to come here and accuse me of trying to break up his marriage? If you can call what you two have a marriage. My point is, I don’t care. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m out and I won’t be back.”

“Jocelyn, get out before I put you out,” Mrs. Etienne says.

“She is my daughter, Gabrielle. You have two daughters. Do you need mine too?”

I take off my coat so I can be ready to break up the fight, but Vivi steps between her mother and aunt.

“She’s the only mother I’ve ever known. Thank god for my aunt.” She turns to me and says, “Let’s go, babe.”

“I left him!” her mother yells. Vivi falters to a stop at those words, but she doesn’t address her mother again. She straightens her back as we walk out the back door.

“I’m going to talk about it with you,” she says once I get behind the steering wheel. “I really am, but not right now. I’ve really been looking forward to today. I just want to get the hell out of here before she comes out.” She reaches over and takes my hand. “I don’t think I would have been able to handle it like I just did if I didn’t have you, Luke.” She smiles at me, a smile filled with love and gratitude. As strong as she is, she’s incredibly sensitive, I’ve come to realize, but she’s so open. I never have to guess with her.

“Luke loves Vivi,” I say.

“Vivi loves Luke,” she says back.

CHAPTER 41

VIVI

“Oh my god!” I groan as I climb onto Luke’s back. “This must be what it feels like to be ninety years old.” I can’t see him, but I know he just rolled his eyes at me. He grabs the grocery bags and walks to the front door as if I weigh nothing.

“I can’t believe you, Vivienne,” he says, trying to sound annoyed.

“I had a great time, though,” I say as we finally walk through the front door. The dogs come running, sniffing at us.

Luke walks to the kitchen and sets the bags on the counter, all with me still on his back.

“Hey, you two,” Sandy says. She’s all dressed up in a short black dress, with a bubble skirt. She dresses it up with her pink diamond necklace and earrings.

“You look hot, Dee. You have a date?” I ask.

“I do, and it’s with the most handsome guy. There he is now,” she says as Jake comes out, dressed in a navy-blue suit, white shirt, and no tie. She runs her hands over the suit jacket.

“I’m not even going to ask why you’re carrying your woman around,” Jake says.

“Hey! I’m not his woman. That’s sexist. I’m a woman who happens to be in a relationship with him,” I say.

“Which makes you my woman,” Luke says as he reaches around and slaps me on the butt. “And I’m carrying her because she fell about a hundred times today. When she said she wanted to go ice skating, I assumed she knew how, but she’s never even been on ice skates before today.”

“But I’ve always wanted to try it, and now I have. I want to go again soon. I loved it. This big hot guy held my hand all day and picked me up every time I fell. Not a bad way to spend the day,” I tell everyone.

“Hey, remember when you two hated each other?” Jake asks, but he put hate in air quotes. “Anyway, time to go, baby. We don’t want to be late to your boss’s engagement party.”

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