Page 70 of Olivia's Only Pretending
Ernie had on a leather jacket and scuffed-up cowboy boots. His hair was dark, and so were his eyes.
Mom laughed, all twirly and flirty at something he said.Had she laughed like that with Jeff? Or was she nervous tonight?
She tucked her hair behind her ear while she waited for her turn to play.
“He seems fine, guys. She doesn’t seem as comfortable as she did with Jeff, maybe, but the night’s still young,” I said. “We’ve seen. Let’s go.” I had a hammering fear that we were on the verge of getting caught.
“I’ve barely heard anything from him,” Lucy said, facing her ear in their direction. Early 2000s pop was pumping through this golf course. All we could hear was Michelle Branch.
There was a lull between songs, and we all leaned forward.
“Oh, yeah, I don’t watch much TV. I spend most of my free time on my bike,” Ernie explained.
“I’ve never been on a motorcycle. Did you ride yours here?” Mom asked.
“I did. We could take a spin after we finish up here,” he said.
Lucy looked at me with wide, worried eyes and nostrils flaring. She popped right up.
“No!” I squealed.
Gracie yanked on Lucy’s sweater. “Get down!”
A sharp pop of a golf ball ricocheting off a windmill’s metal blade filled my ears. I barely had time to react as I watched it soar in the air before it smacked Lucy in the face, sending her tumbling backward.
Gracie and I screamed in unison, scrambling to the ground where Lucy lay, clutching her head. While people ran toward us, feet pounding across the turf, my eyes locked with Mom’s across the way. Confusion wrinkled her forehead before it gave way to wide-eyed panic as she ran toward us.
The hospital room was bright with fluorescent lighting. Lucy crinkled the paper on the bed as she twisted on the exam table, adjusting the ice pack she held to the right side of her forehead over her eye. Mom was standing beside her, rubbing Lucy’s back in the way she used to when we were young girls sick at home.
“Well, Miss Rhodes, your pupils and reflexes appear normal. Your memory, as well. With a hit to the head like this, our main concern is concussion, but you seem to be in the clear,” thedoctor said, his blond hair swooping into his eyes as he read the charts. “Bruising is expected with swelling and a knot like you’ve attained. I’d recommend you keep icing it for the next twelve hours. I have some paperwork here for you to take home that lists the signs of concussion to watch for, as well as some instructions on treating pain and swelling.”
“Okay, thank you,” Lucy said, taking the paperwork he handed her.
After the doctor left, my sisters and I started to grab our purses and stand up to leave.
Mom held out her hands, saying, “Wait, a minute, girls.”
We froze. The sounds of people shuffling around the hallway and voices murmuring at the nurses’ station filled the room. Mom crossed her arms, her signal she had something to say and it was serious.
“I know that I never dated while you three grew up. I honestly just didn’t have the time, or after a long day on my feet here”—she gestured toward the Sweet River ER around us, where she nursed for decades—“I didn’t have the energy. But now, I think I want some fun. Some romance. And you are going to have to deal with it. I don’t need you spying, or snooping, orworrying.”
“We want you to date, Mom!” Gracie interjected. “You deserve some fun.”
“It’s not that we don’t want you to date—” I spoke up, before she cut me off.
“I know you girls are excited for me. I don’t question that. The problem is you need to cut the apron strings,” Mom said, making a pair of scissors with her fingers.
Cut the apron strings.A couple beats of silence.
“As your mom, so many pieces of me and my life have been communal. I’ve shared it all. My food is your food. My workplace, your second home. My bed? You still crawl in it whenyou’re scared. I get it,” Mom said, taking a deep breath, lips pressed together. “But this part of my life is just for me, okay? I’ll share it over margaritas, like you girls do. Wait to hear about my date until then. No more hiding in the bushes.”
I chewed on my lip. “I tried to stop them.”
Lucy and Gracie immediately gasped in response.
“Olivia Marie!” Lucy shouted through laughter. “You Goody Two-Shoes!”
“Mom, she was hiding in the bushes right along with us!” Gracie pointed at me.
