Page 118 of The Auction
“You’re not the first drunk we’ve hosted on this couch,” she laughed.
I fell back against the couch cushions and lifted the glass up for her to take. She took it and pushed the hair off my face.
“That’s nice,” I said, without really thinking. “Feels like something a mom would do.”
“Hmm. Well, they teach you that in mom school,” she said.
“Did your mom teach you?” Because I was super curious about this mom school thing.
“No,” she said. “I didn’t really have a mom growing up.”
“Me either!” I said, a little too loudly.
“Yeah, but I had a really cool dad. Until he died.”
“My dad sucked,” I burped. “Then he died, too. How did you get so lucky then?”
“I have Jake,” she told me. “He was my friend. Then he was my husband. Then he wasn’t. Long story. Anyway, now he’s just…the love of my life.”
“I had Creed, but he left,” I whispered. Tears rushed to my eyes and I didn’t even have a chance to stop them. “Andhe was a jerk, but he also gave me a phone and a cat…huh, AP!”
I tried to sit up, but Mrs. Talley settled a hand on my shoulder.
“April said you left a bunch of dry food out for him.”
Right. I did. Still, it would be his first night alone. That wasn’t cool. Didn’t make me a very good mom, I suppose.
Figures.
“And is that all Creed gave you?”
I shook my head. “No, he said I could be a nurse if I wanted. And he gave me a debit card, which doesn’t sound like much, but it meant I was…free. And I could even leave if I wanted, but I didn’t want to.”
“Because you fell in love with him?” Mrs. Talley guessed.
“So much!” I confessed. “Like all the way. Because he isn’t really ugly and he takes care of me. And he’s super badass but also he takes care of me. And we really liked sex together…oh shit, I shouldn’t have said that. I’m ssoorry, Mrs. Talley.”
“It’s okay. I like sex with my husband, too.”
I burped again. “That’s gross.”
She laughed. “I suppose it is to you.”
“He left me, though.”
“Jackson said he took a job to help you make it through the winter.”
I shook my head and it was weird, but I could hear my hair. “He took a scary job. He didn’t want to. He wanted to be done, but he went back. He shouldn’t have gone back. He should have talked to me and I would have told him not to go. I would have told him there was another way.”
Mrs. Talley did the hair brushing thing again andnodded like I was making sense, even though I probably wasn’t.
“He definitely should have talked to you. Communication in marriage is key.”
“That’s what all the podcasts say!” I said. I closed my eyes because the room was spinning a little. “I didn’t tell him I loved him, though. Too scary because I’ve never really done it before. Loved someone. I should have done that. Said something. Maybe he wouldn’t have left.”
“You can tell him when he gets back.”
I heard the words, but I was already drifting off. I shouldn’t have had the vodka. Or the beers. Being drunk didn’t really make me feel better about anything.
