Page 38 of Cody

I walked into the living room where Mom was getting set up for her usual evening routine of watchingThe Golden Girls,and every once in a while, an episode or two ofFriends.Laughing the night away was her method of winding down for the day. I noticed that she had her cup of tea and a small plate of snacks already arranged on the small, round table next to her recliner. Mom was a creature of habit, and I knew that for the next few hours she wouldn’t move unless she had to go to the bathroom.

I smiled upon seeing her settling down into her chair with a satisfied sigh. There was a colorful throw laid over the back in case she felt cold. Already dressed in her pajamas, she raised the footrest of her chair and picked up the remote.

When she noticed me in the room she paused from turning on the TV and smiled. “You look pretty tonight, honey.”

“Thanks.” I smiled and sat down in the chair on the other side of her. I had a few minutes before Cody would be there to pick me up. “Cody didn’t tell me where we were going for dinner, so I thought this was a safe bet.”

After trying on several outfits, I’d finally decided on a casual, yet pretty, white dress. Large, dark blue, cloth-covered buttons lined the form-fitting bodice, which was sleeveless and scooped low over the top of my breasts. I knew it would draw Cody’s eyes to my cleavage, but I didn’t care. I liked his eyes on me.

Since it was a plain dress, I’d added a trio of vintage bracelets that I’d been lucky enough to find on Etsy the year before. They were dark blue and made out of Bakelite. The seller had contacted me later when she’d found hoop earrings that were almost the exact same color as the bracelets, and together they looked like a set.

“Are you letting your hair grow long?” She set the remote down on her lap.

“Mom, I’ve always had long hair.”

She snickered. “You consider it to be long when it reaches your shoulders.” She had a point. “I haven’t seen it past your shoulders in years.” There was a slight pause when she took a sip of her tea. “So another date with Max, huh?” There was a pleased twinkle in her eyes.

Hadn’t she heard me say earlier that I was having dinner with Cody? “I haven’t been on a first date with Max,” I explained. “Dinner last week was to discuss the plans for my coffee shop. He’s making some pieces for me.”

“Max is a nice man,” she said.

But he wasn’t the man in whom I was interested. Our conversation opened the door for me to ask questions without revealing that little secret. “He is,” I agreed. “They all seem nice. Cody stopped and helped me out with my tire the first day I got home.”

“By ‘they’ you mean King’s friends?”

I nodded, hoping that she’d continue without prompting. I was curious about Cody.

“Max, Cody, Cramer, and Lincoln were in the Marines with King. They formed a tight bond.”

“I imagine that kind of thing is common. Did they serve in the same unit together?”

“Honey, I don’t know much about their histories. You have the perfect opportunity to ask Max all the questions you want tonight.” She reached for a cookie.

“I’m not going out with Max tonight.”

Her eyes grew round with surprise. “Then who with?”

“Cody asked me to dinner. We ran into each other at the church today. He and Max were taking down a dead tree.”

She made a face. “Yeah, that old tree was struck by lightning a while back. The first company we hired to remove it took the money and ran. Took months to get that back so we could hire King and his guys.”

I threw caution to the wind, hoping Mom wouldn’t read more into it. “What can you tell me about Cody?”

“I know he’s a good man. They all are.” Her hesitation suggested that she was mulling over how much she wanted to say. She took a deep breath and added with motherly caution in her tone, “I know he likes the ladies.Ifthe gossip I’ve heard is correct.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her warning. Mom didn’t want me to get hurt. “I know all about his reputation, Mom. He’s been nothing but up front with me about it.”

She looked surprised, but relieved. “Oh. Then you know not to get your hopes up for anything long-term with him.”

“Mom, I’m not sure I want a long-term relationship with anyone right now. I just became single. There’s nothing to stop me from playing the field.” I avoided her eyes by looking down and smoothing my hands over my skirt.

She made a clicking sound with her tongue as she set her cup back down on the saucer. “I know you, honey, and women are different than men. Some men think with their, um, penises, and women think with their hearts.”

At hearing my mom say the word “penises,” I couldn’t contain my laughter, which she ignored.

“Cody doesn’t just date one woman for a while and move on.Ifthe gossip I hear is true,” she stressed again, giving him the benefit of a doubt. “He dates several women at the same time. I’m sure he sleeps with them too.”

I hated everything my mom was saying, even though I already knew all of it. My thoughts drifted to the night when he’d walked into that restaurant with Tina. Had he taken her home and fucked her? Remembering how skilled a lover the man was, I didn’t want that image in my head.

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