Page 76 of This Memory
“It’s true. She makes life so miserable for poor Hope and Liam. Did you know that Liam no longer allows Judith to come to the house because she upsets Hope so much when she does? The poor woman is fightingcancer, and my sister still wants to take jabs at her about how she’s raising her child. It just boils my blood!
“Someone needs to put her in her place, and Lord knows I’ve tried, but she ignores me. Our mother is probably rolling over in her grave at the things Judith does and says. And I swear she’s trying to take over Betty Lou’s spot as town gossip. Apparently, she’ll be writing a column inMoose Happenings. I told Mayor Browning I thought it was a bad idea, but he said they have to at least give her a chance.”
I screwed up my face. “That’s going to be a disaster.”
She nodded. “So, tell me about you and Gavin.”
My cheeks heated as I smiled.
“Oh my,” Mom said as she fanned herself. “I can feel the heat coming from those cheeks of yours.”
I laughed. “You already know I had a crush on him in high school. The whole thing back then was forgiven, and we agreed to be friends…but things have progressed.”
Her brows rose. “Do tell.”
“All due respect, Mom…you’re my mother.”
“So?” she replied with a shrug. “I’m also a woman. Is he any good in bed?”
My mouth fell open.
“I hope so, because you’ll need some manly attention during this pregnancy. I can’t remember which month it is that the hormones go crazy. Your poor father. I would practically jump on the man. As a matter of fact, we had sex a lot in the storage room while I was pregnant with you.”
I felt my stomach lurch. “Mom, please stop.”
She waved me off. “There’s nothing wrong with talking about sex. Oh! You’re going to want to learn some different positions for when you get bigger. And I hope he’s willing to do oral; that’ll be great for when you’re feeling like a beached whale.”
I jumped up from my seat, knocking the chair over. “Mom!”
“What? I’m just being honest with you.”
“You’re talking about Gavin giving me oral sex.”
I heard a strangled sound come from the doorway—and looked over to see Gavin standing there, his face white as a ghost.
“I…I… I don’t know what to do right now.”
My mother stood. “Gavin! What a wonderful surprise. I was just telling Brystol—”
“Please, God, no,” I whispered.
“That the time is going to come when you have to get creative with lovemaking, because her stomach will be in the way. Oral sex is going to be your best friend.”
I looked down at the floor and prayed it would open to swallow me whole.
“That’s…good to know,” Gavin said, rubbing the back of his neck, his cheeks now blazing.
“And don’t be afraid to get jiggy with it. She’s not a porcelain doll.”
Glancing at the back exit, I wondered if I could run and hurdle over the boxes in the way to get out.
Gavin cleared his throat. “Get jiggy with it?”
Spinning around, I quickly made my way over to Gavin instead.
My mother started to say something else, and I pointed at her. “Stop! For all that is good in this world, please stop talking.”
Putting her hands on her hips, Mom said, “Sex is a very natural and wonderful thing. I don’t see why we can’t talk about it openly.”
