Page 106 of August
Spreading her legs a bit, Myra placed her hands on her thighs and rubbed them over her jeans, trying to deal with the clamminess that came with her nerves, and when Elisa began walking over toward her, she swallowed, expecting her to sit down next to her, take her hand, and deliver the bad news. Instead, Elisa just pushed Myra’s knees together with her own legs and straddled her hips.
“I just wanted you to hold me,” Elisa said and leaned into her.
Myra wrapped her arms around her and softly rubbed Elisa’s back under her shirt as she pressed her face to Elisa’s chest, breathing her in. At least for right now, this moment, everything would be okay. Even if Elisa said that this would be the last time they’d hold each other, right now, Myra had Elisa in her arms.
“AJ didn’t want to talk to me.”
“Babe, I’m sorry.”
“He slammed the door in my face. Adele heard it, so she came out of her room, and we talked. I told her about what happened, and she said that she was fine with it. She wants me to be happy.”
“Well, that’s good, at least.”
“Yeah, I think so.” Elisa rubbed her hands under Myra’s shirt, over her shoulders and back. “I tried to get him to talk to me again, but he had gone out the back door without me knowing. Then, I saw Archie’s car pulling into the driveway, and I just couldn’t deal with that. He would’ve just thought I was there to accept his guest house arrangement or asked questions I wasn’t prepared to answer, so I told Adele to tell AJ that I’d be back tomorrow and left him a voicemail that he could call me to talk about this when he was ready.”
“Will your ex be home tomorrow?”
“No, Adele said he’s golfing. He’ll be gone all day. She told me that he has a date tomorrow night, too, and that he’s been staying out until the next morning on dates now that the kids are around more.”
“Is that a good thing? Like, is he just keeping them away from the random women he’s been bringing home?”
“I think it’s a good side effect, but really, it’s because he doesn’t want to be a parent or anything resembling one now that, in his mind, they’re adults and able to take care of themselves.”
Myra kissed the spot between Elisa’s breasts and asked, “What can I do, babe?”
“You’re doing it right now,” Elisa replied. “I still have a lot on my mind. Do you think we can just sleep tonight? I doubt AJ will come here without calling first, given what he saw this morning, but I don’t want to–”
“You want me to stay over?”
“Will you?” Elisa asked her. “If you want to be at your place tonight, I understand. I think Buster will be fine going there. I don’t want to leave him alone for the night, but I’m not sure if you want a dog in your house.”
“We can stay here. I think you should be here in case AJ comes home, and maybe I shouldn’t.”
Elisa looked down at her and said, “No, we’re not doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“That thing where we hide from my son because he’s acting out.” She cupped Myra’s cheeks. “I hid who I was and what I wanted for far too long. I’m not doing it anymore, Myra. I’m happy. You make me happy. I’d like you to stay tonight. If AJ pops up, he’ll have to deal with it and act like the man I raised.”
Myra smiled up at her and replied, “Okay.”
CHAPTER 32
Elisa packed a bag because this time, she wasn’t going home without talking to her son, and not knowing how long that might take, she wanted to be prepared to stay at one of the two hotels on the outskirts of the small community where she could find a room at the last minute should she need it. She would not be staying in the guest house even if Archie Senior wasn’t there to see it.
“Are you sure?” Myra asked.
“I won’t let him talk me into anything. He won’t even be there, remember?”
“I know. I meant about AJ.”
“What about him?” Elisa asked as she stuffed pajama pants into her roller bag.
“Just that he might not be ready to talk. He kind of ran out on you twice yesterday and didn’t return your call or two texts you sent before bed.”
“I know,” she said with a sigh and sat on the bed. “Still, I want to be there in case hedoeswant to talk. It’s not just me and my stuff that he’s struggling with. It’s the Wendy thing, too. Not only did he get rejected by the girl he likes, but his sister is dating the girl, and she’s going to a different school away from him, so they’ll be apart for the first time. Adele has always been able to handle almost anything. AJ is more sensitive to stuff like this. I don’t know why. His father doesn’t have a sensitive bone in his damn body, but AJ–”
“It’s because ofyou,” Myra interrupted her with a smile. “It’s not a gender thing. It’s a mom thing. You raised him right, babe. He takes after you.”
