Page 8 of Colby
“Your mom invited me to have dinner with you.I didn’t think I was going to make it as the ship only just docked about two hours ago.”He smiled at her mother before speaking again.“Thank you, Charlotte, for inviting me to have a meal with the two of you.I can’t wait to try this place.”
“Doesn’t your brother own this place?”Emma wasn’t happy that her mom didn’t tell her about their unwanted guest, and she was going to take it out on him for being here.“Jack is the name of your brother who owns this place, isn’t he?”
“Yes, he does, but he’s been so busy that none of us have been able to get in to eat again.”He picked up the menu and asked what they were having.“I know that the fried chicken is really good.I’ve had the mashed potatoes too.”
As he went on about the menu and the things on it, she looked around the room.It was really busy, and she wondered how her mom had gotten a table.She was just about to ask her about it when Jack came out and hugged his brother and told her and her mom how glad he was to see them.She asked about the table.
“I keep one open in the event one of the family wants to come by and be seated.Since you work for us in a way, I wanted to make sure that you three were as welcome as I could make you.And dinner is on me.”They all protested, but he was pretty insistent about it.“Just let me serve you guys my favorite and you’ll have a good time.”
The first thing that was brought out to them was the corn chowder.It was so good that she could have eaten enough for her dinner and been satisfied.There were also warm rolls that went with the table as well as an endless supply of iced tea that she and her mom dearly loved.Colby drank water all night, and she wondered why when there were other things to drink on the menu.
After the soup, which was really good, they had a nice creamy dressing on a bed of lettuce.There were other things in the bowl along with the lettuce, cucumbers, and thinly sliced boiled eggs.She loved the small tomato pieces as they seemed to absorb the dressing and make them taste better.Along with the homemade croutons, the salad was perfect as it could have been made.
The platter of chicken was next.And what a platter it was.There were at least nine pieces of crispy fried chicken that looked like the entire chicken had been brought to them.In addition to that, there were bowls of green beans with bits of bacon and onion in them, corn and mashed potatoes—her new favorite veggie—as well as gravy and corn bread slices.She was on her second piece of chicken when the platter of meat was refilled, and they brought out more cornbread as well as fresh glasses of tea.She was stuffed by the time they asked if they wanted desserts.
“I don’t think I could eat another bite.”Colby asked if there was any cherry pie left, and that’s what he had.Mom ordered a dish of ice cream to clean her palate with, and she had a cup of hot tea.The perfect end to a wonderful dinner.Jack came out to see them again when their dirty plates were taken away.“That was the best meal I’ve had in weeks.Thank you so much for it.The chicken was to die for, I swear.”
“It’s the favorite of everyone that comes in and tries it.It’s just our grannie’s recipe that I’m using, and so is the gravy.I love real chicken gravy with chunks of chicken bits in it.”They all agreed, and Jack hugged his brother again before hugging her and her mom.It was the perfect ending to awonderful night, she thought.“Anytime you want to come in and have a comfort meal, just let me know.I really do have one table that rarely gets used unless it’s family.”
She was going to take him up on that, too.As they were leaving the restaurant, she realized that she was dead on her feet.Emma had gotten a great deal done today, being that it was her day off, and wasn’t looking forward to driving tomorrow because she was so full tonight.However, she knew that she’d be on the road again in the morning with no ill effects from tonight.It was just good food that had filled her up.And she loved it.
“I was wondering if we could have some time to talk.”She told Colby that she just wanted to go to bed and not have to be worried about mates tonight.“I wasn’t going to mention that, but I’d like to offer you a ride on the boat tomorrow.We don’t have anyone going out until the day after tomorrow, and I thought that you might enjoy it.”
“I have to work.”He nodded as if he knew she was going to say that.“I really do have to work.I get Tuesday off this week, then I’m off on Saturday again.Those are my only two days off unless they need me to fill in.”
“Then maybe I can travel with you again.I really did enjoy that.”She was tempted to say no; she had enough on her mind, but the thought of being alone tomorrow was just too much after spending some time with her mom and Colby.“I promise not to bother the radio again if you’ll talk to me.We really do have a lot to talk about, and even if you don’t want me as your mate, I have shared my magic with you, and we should at least talk about that.”
“I don’t have any magic.”He said that she did and could prove it to her.When he told her to think of something she wanted to wear, she nearly passed out when her clothing changed to sweat pants and an old comfy t-shirt that she’d had forever.All she could do was stare at him open-mouthed until he closed her lips together by using his fingers.He didn’t make fun of her either, which she was grateful for.“I didn’t know that there was anything to do with magic.I mean, I’m getting a hard lesson in it with my rig.Parker, the grand witch, made it so that I have a lot more room in my rig, and I even have a full-sized shower with a king-sized bed, but I never thought that I’d have anything like that.”
“I can do that as well.Change my clothing, I mean.It’s usually the first bit of magic that we notice when we have a mate.There are other things as well.When you were handed the basket of teas with sugar, it didn’t have the kind that you liked in it until you thought about it.Then all the tea was your favorite kind.I’ll remember that for the future.”She told him that she could get her own tea, thanks.“You’re bristling again.Just go with the flow, please.I’m trying to be nice to you, but it’s hard when you’re biting at me again.”
“I’m sorry.I feel like I’m in over my head with a lot of things lately.I don’t want someone in my life who is going to order me to stop doing what I love.And I worked very hard for my license to drive the bigger trucks.”He said that he knew that and would never presume to tell her what to do with her life.Only to make room for him in it.“I don’t know, Colby.I have so much going on right now.We’re trying to sell off our old house, and then there is the house we have now, in addition to me driving all the time.I just don’t see us having any time for each other.And I won’t give up my time to be with my mom to be with you.”
“I’m not asking you to do anything like that, am I?I mean, not once did I say that you had to quit your job, either.You just assume that’s going to happen and are fighting the battle without me ever doing anything to you about it.”Colby looked so frustrated that she wanted to cry.It wasn’t her fault that they were mates, and now he was pissed off at her.“Look, maybe we’d be better off staying apart for now.That way, you can think of something nice to say to me when I’ve done nothing wrong to you since I met you.I’ll talk to you later.”
When he walked away, she felt a little tenderness in her heart.Rubbing the area that was hurting, she felt tears roll down her cheeks.He’d just left her, and all she could think about was that she was going to miss something big if he didn’t come back.Before she could call for him, her mom asked her if she was ready to go home.She looked like she was upset with her as well.Damn it, this wasn’t her fault.None of it was.
Fighting with herself on the way home, she didn’t talk much to her mom.She seemed to be all right with that, and when they got to the house, it didn’t help her temper much when he mom got out of the car and walked to the house on her own.No one was playing fairly with her, and she didn’t care for it.It was then that she realized that it was all on her, and she was the only one who was upset with herself.Her mom could have just been tired and wanted to go to bed.Stomping her way into the house, she was in her room when she heard her mom tell her good night.Christ, she needed to have her head examined.She was off her noodle.
~*~
Colby was so pissed off at himself for treating Emma the way that he had that he needed to cool off before going home.Instead of going to the condo where he was renting, he made his way to the boat to hang out there for a little while.He still had plenty to do, and clean up was his job when they came back from a trip.
He had the sheets in the washer when he started mopping the floor in the galley.Hardly anyone spent any time in there besides him and the staff, but the floor needed a good scrubbing.Tomorrow they were all off, and he was going to give the boat a once-over so that it would be ready for the next trip out.Pulling the sheets out of the washer and putting them in the dryer, he figured that he could get a good start on cleaning the rooms when he realized that he wanted to be with Emma instead of cleaning the boat and washing towels and sheets.
“What is wrong with you?”He never talked to himself before, not until he met Emma, but tonight, being all alone in the big boat, he knew that no one was around, so he could talk himself out of being upset with her while he was at it.“You’re in love with her, that’s what it is.”
Was he in love with her?He’d never been in love before, but had seen his brothers when they had found their mates.He remembered seeing his grandparents loving one another in the kitchen once and had been so happy to know that they still had affection for each other after all this time.They were the most loving couple that he’d ever met.Nothing like his parents had been.
When he’d been just a little boy, his parents had dropped them off at their grandparents’ house one Thanksgiving and hadn’t returned for them.Just dropped off nine kids, all of them under the age of seventeen, one day, like they were nothing but rubbish they wanted to get rid of.And come to find out, that’s just how they felt about them, too.Too many kids, and they blamed that on them.Like it was their fault that they’d had them.
Going to the house, hoping against hope that they’d be there just having some alone time, everything that they had ever owned, toys, clothing, and coats had been sold off so that they could have a ‘fresh start’ someplace that didn’t involve them having to take care of all the kids anymore.Not that leaving them behind had netted them enough money for the lifestyle that they’d wanted.No, every few months or so, they’d be calling Grannie and begging for money.Like they had a right to do that after leaving two elderly people with all those mouths to feed, clothe, and take care of all the time.
Sitting at the galley table, he thought about how hard it must have been on his grandparents, too.Not only did they care for them and make sure they had plenty to eat, but when someone came along and needed a hand up, they were there for them as well.They’d also made sure that they were able to go to college when the time came.One of his brothers was an attorney, and two of them were doctors.They’d done all that for them without a word of hate toward their parents, too.
Colby decided that he was going to go and visit his grandparents tomorrow and tell them how much he loved them for what they’d done for them.He was also going to take them out to dinner so they’d not have to do anything about that meal, too.Hell, he should get everyone together sometime soon and see about getting together as a family around them.They were in their nineties right now, and he knew that they’d be around for a good deal longer, but he wasn’t going to wait.He wanted to spend as much time with them as they would allow him to.
The beds were all made up, and the kitchen polished to a high shine when the sun was coming up.His plan had been to only clean a little tonight and spend the rest of the morning getting things squared away, like making the beds and sweeping the carpets.Just as he was heading out, one of hisstaff showed up to help him get it ready for the next trip, and he told her that he’d gotten it all done and was going home to take a nap.She seemed so excited to hear that he did a little dance on the way to his car.Next time he’d be getting help, he thought, and that would balance it out for the others, too.
