Page 22 of Beach B!tch
Dean pulled my hand away from my face, bringing my gaze toward him. His eyes were tender and his voice flowed over me like a warm blanket, soothing away my hurts. "How about we make a list? Write down some things you want to try, and you and I will do them. See what you like."
I don't know how he did it, but he said all the right things at the right times. His idea sounded like the best thing I'd heard lately. Well, except for this morning when he said he wanted to be with me. That was pretty awesome.
I leaned all the way in and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you. That sounds perfect," I whispered to him.
"Jesus, you guys gonna make-out right in front of me? That's just cruel! I was this close to getting Brinley to stay the night with me." Stefan broke the moment. Dean and I looked over to find him with a big grin on his face and his thumb and forefinger half an inch apart.
I looked back at Dean and dished out my own teasing. "Is he always like this?"
"Only when there's a pretty girl in the room," Dean answered.
"Bleghhh..." Stefan made gagging noises and we all burst into laughter.
"Come on, Brin, let's get out of here. I think we've worn out our welcome." Dean grabbed my hand and stood up, dragging me up with him.
We made our way to the front door, and almost made it out, when it was pushed open from the outside. A small, dark-haired woman rushed through and slammed it shut with her foot. She only took two steps into the room before she stopped and whipped her head up, realizing all three of us were looking at her. She looked down at Dean holding my hand, our fingers still intertwined.
Then she was rushing forward again, stopping in front of me. She reached up as high as she could and wrapped an arm around my shoulders and turned me in the opposite direction. My hand was wrenched away from Dean's as she led me back into the living room. She was small, but deceivingly strong.
"Well, hello there. I'm Beth, the mom of these two boys. I'm so happy to meet you. Come sit down with me. What's your name, honey?" She rattled off her introduction and had me back on the couch before I knew what was happening. For having been so lonely the last half of my life, I sure was being manhandled quite a bit the last few days. I wasn't used to all the touching, or to all the kindness.
Dean came back in the room and rolled his eyes though the small smile on his face made me think he wasn't too upset his mom had me cornered.
"I'm Brinley, a friend of Dean's. It's lovely to meet you," I managed to get out. Oh God, I was meeting the mother now too?
"It sure looks like you're friends." My head whipped up to see what she was implying, but she kept on talking like she didn't mean anything. "It's so nice that you dropped by. Are you staying for lunch? I've got plenty of food here. We can fix up some sandwiches and get to know each other. Whadya say?" She clasped her hands together to keep them contained on her lap.
I looked over to Dean for some help, but he shrugged a shoulder, like this tiny tornado of a woman was par for the course and there was no stopping her. I didn't want to offend her, and she seemed really excited for me to stay...
"If you're sure I'm not imposing, I'd like to stay for lunch, yes," I answered, giving her an out if she only meant the lunch invite as proper etiquette.
"Oh, wonderful!" She clapped her hands together and jumped up off the couch. She grabbed my hand and yanked me up, surprising me again with her force. "Come on. Let's go make the sandwiches in the kitchen. You boys go find something to do. We need girl talk, so don't interrupt us in the kitchen, you got me?" She gave Dean and Stefan the evil eye until they backed out of the room and left us alone.
She pulled me toward the kitchen and I swallowed down the butterflies. I didn't know how meeting up with Dean this morning for a training session led to meeting his brother and his mother and now having a girl talk session with her. I wasn't good at these things!
"You can go right here and wash your hands while I get the food out." Beth had led me over to the sink before she opened the fridge and started tossing food onto the counter. Once we both washed our hands, she gave me instructions for building mile-high sandwiches. I couldn't imagine someone being able to eat one of those things, but figured following her lead was in my best interest.
"I've been a single mom to those boys for so many years, and let me tell you, they've been the best years of my life. But I must admit, it is nice to get some girl time, so I hope you don't mind I forced you in here with me. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and all that." Beth smiled at me and I felt my anxiousness ease. She seemed pushy, but I didn't think she meant any harm.
"I don't mind at all. Although, I've got to say, I don't do the girl talk thing much myself either." I finished spreading mayo on all the top bread slices.
"Oh no! Really? Why not?" Beth looked both aghast and curious as she put the bread slices on all the sandwiches.
"Well, my mom died when I was a baby. And I never had a lot of girl friends in school. Mostly just teammates, but we were focused on volleyball, not sleepovers and parties," I admitted, feeling inadequate for not having normal social skills.
"Oh honey, I'm so sorry to hear about your mom." Beth laid down the knife she was going to cut the sandwiches with, and wrapped me in a hug instead. The top of her head didn't even come to my shoulders, but the hug felt nice. Motherly. I patted her awkwardly on the back until she let me go.
"We'll have to fix that then. We'll get together lots and have girl talks on the regular. That's the only way to get through life. And it's certainly the only way to get through dating a man. You need your girlfriends to stay sane!" Beth finished cutting all the sandwiches and handed me my plate. "Come on, let's get the boys."
We all sat around their kitchen table and ate. I was a little concerned with the white bread and the processed meat. Don't even get me started on the mayo. But I figured showing my crazy about food wasn't a good idea right then. Let them get to know me first before I sprung my neuroses on them.
I picked at my sandwich, sitting back and watching their dynamic. They laughed, teased, and shared their daily, little happenings with one another. You could tell they were close and had been for a long time. There was love in every interaction. It was fascinating for me to observe. As good manners dictated, they didn't let me sit there mute for long.
"So, Brinley. Tell me. How did you and my oldest son meet?" Beth asked me with a smile and wink.
All eyes went in my direction, and I felt the flush creep up my cheeks. Here was the interrogation part of the family gathering this afternoon. Oh, the joy.
"Yeah, how did ya' meet this ugly brother of mine?" Stefan joined in, giving me a wink for good measure.
