Page 57 of High Side
“Oh my God, the dog hair. Sadie, what the hell? Do you just walk in here and drop all your fur on the bed when it’s shedding time?” She knew that was the only reasonable answer, because otherwise the answer was that she was a marginal housekeeper, and that couldn’t be it…right?
Brittany was off meeting her mom downtown to do some food shopping before they drove up, so she couldn’t even ask her girlfriend. Brit was not a neatnik, but she was pretty clean. Surely she would have said something.
She just swept the comforter off and went to stuff it in the washer. She would put a pretty quilt on the bed for now and close the door, then present the comforter as an “if you need it choice”.
“God, Sadie. I am meeting the mother. I’ve never met the mother before…well, unless you count meeting Liz, which had been weird as hell, and—” She stopped and blinked, then grabbed her phone and hit “Mom.”
“Hey, baby girl. How’s it going?”
“I’m meeting Brittany’s mom today!”And I’m scared she’s going to think I’m old and weird and scary and…
“Wow. That’s momentous, right?”
“It is. I want you to meet her soon. She went to school at Western, so she’d get a kick out of coming to see you. After the season is over.”
“Sure, honey. You nervous?” Ah, her mom knew her well.
“Scared out of my goddamn mind, Mom.”
Mom’s laughter was soft, and it flowed over her like the river did, easing her panic. “Baby, you’re smart, capable, employed, adventurous, and you have the greatest capacity of love in history.”
“You forgot to tell me I’m pretty,” she teased, even though her cheeks were on fire.
“Right. And you’re the prettiest. Such a cute little lady.”
She hooted, because her mom knew what to say. “Delicate. Like a wilting violet. That’s me.”
“Yep. My delicate baby. I miss you. Are you coming home anytime soon?”
“About three weeks? Does that sound good?” That would be the end of the high rafting season, and she and Brit would both have a few days off in a row.
“Perfect. I’ll tell Dad, and he can start planning his cookouts.”
“Cool.”
“How’s your ankle?”
“Pretty much all healed. A twinge once in a while.”
“Excellent. Keep it that way. Now. Take a deep breath. Clean what you can, but give yourself ten minutes to get Zen before they get there.”
“Right.” That was smart, because she was about ten miles outside of Zen right now. “Okay. This is a plan. I’m going to go. Tell Dad I love him, and I’ll see you guys soon.”
“I will. Love you, baby girl.”
“Love you too, Mom. Later.”
She hung up and went to make herself a huge glass of iced tea and sit under the fan for about an hour. She could do that.
Which, of course, meant she dozed off. She woke up when Sadie started barking and whining. Oh, holy shit. They were in the driveway.
Okay. Okay, God. She stood up, spilling tea all over the floor and Sadie, and damn near going ass over teakettle. “Fuck! Goddammit.” She skidded through the tea, almost going down again, and Sadie came to lap at the tea, which had artificial sweetener in it, so she had to grab Sadie and pull her away. She slipped again, kind of doing the splits, which was when Brit walked in with her mom.
“Uh… Kylie?”
“Grab the dog?” So she could try and put her pelvis back together and clean up and then drown herself in the river.
“Best two out of three?” Brittany’s mom asked, then came to haul Sadie away. She could see where Brit got her capable bone.
