Page 49 of Knight

He pauses for a moment and changes his expression to a more contemplative one. “Not to be a jerk, but I don’t want to see him hurt. While I’m thrilled for him, frankly I’m worried about him if this doesn’t work out. I think he’s fallen hard and fast. Is she even ready for a relationship?”

It's a fair point. I shrug, “There’re no guarantees. If you’re asking me as her daughter, I think she’s ready. I like that it happened very naturally. Just two people who met and were attracted to each other. Kind of old school. No fix-up, no dating apps, nothing contrived. They also spent a lot of hours on the phone getting to know one another before their first real date. I think they’ve done it the right way.” I look at them outside laughing. “They’re kind of cute together.”

Hayden asks, “Is it weird to see your mother with a different guy than your father? Did your parents get along?”

“Yes”, I answer right away. “They got alongreallywell. They had a good marriage. That’s why his death was so hard on her. I can’t speak for my sisters, but I’d say it’s weird to see her with someone else, but not bad weird. Just different weird. We don’t want her miserable. He seems to make her happy. That’s what we want.”

I continue, “He’s literally the most affectionate man I’ve ever seen. They can’t keep their hands off of each other. Did you notice that he’s always touching her? Even when they were eating his hands were on her leg. I assume you all saw what they looked like when they came back outside earlier. Look at them now.”

Everyone else looks outside. They’re practically licking the marshmallows off of each other.

“This is really strange for us”, Trevor adds. “Dad was not like this with our mother. They were never affectionate with each other. I don’t ever remember them kissing. I don’t think they were really in love. We’ve never seen him like this. He’s totally smitten.”

Reagan nods. “I think we should all be happy that our parents are happy. My mother is the fucking best. She deserves this. Watching her these past three years was painful. She barely made it out the door to my college graduation, and now she’s literally sucking a marshmallow off of a hot guy’s lips, looking like she’s two seconds away from tearing his clothes off. I’m all in for this.” Reagan is most definitely a big supporter of this relationship.

Trevor gives her the evil eye. “Please don’t ever call our dad ahot guyagain.”

She stares right back at him. “You’re his mini-me, you should be happy.”

“There’s nothing mini about me, sweetheart.” He winks at Reagan, and she rolls her eyes.

Hayden interrupts. “So, I think we all agree it’s a good thing?”

We all nod yes. I look up at Payton and he, eventually, reluctantly nods.

The evening ends with us all enjoying the s’mores by the fire. Everyone needs to be up early the next morning, so we all say our goodbyes.

Mom is driving me home before she returns to Jackson’s for the evening. Trevor and Hayden live near Reagan and Skylar, so they offered to drive them home. She asks, “Did you have an okay time, sweetie?”

“I did. They’re all really nice. Even Trevor.” She smiles. “Looks like you had a good time. You certainly made sure that Jackson was clean of marshmallows.”

She bites her lip and scrunches up her face. “You could see that?”

“We wereallwatching you guys. You’re adorable. The boys said that Jackson wasn’t like that in his marriage.”

“Yes, he’s mentioned it wasn’t a very loving marriage.”

“Does that worry you?”

“No. They were very young and put into a bad situation. If anything, I feel bad for them. All I know is how he is with me, and he’s amazing with me.”

“I guess. So, what’s the deal with Hayden? Why was he nervous around me?”

She laughs. “Oh, I almost forget to tell you. You have quite the reputation at the medical school.” Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. People know what happened. She knows what happened. She’s going to be so disappointed in me.

I’m afraid of the answer. “W-what reputation?”

“Only that my pride a joy is known as a bit of an anomaly. Being so hot and the number one student in her medical school class. It’s apparently a very unlikely combination.” Fucking phew. I thought that was going a different way.

“Whatever. My looks shouldn’t matter. I worked the hardest of anyone in my class, and people always have to mention my looks. Sometimes it hurts more than it helps.”

“What does that mean?”

I look out the window. “Nothing. I’d just rather be judged on my brains. I didn’t work my ass off my whole life for nothing. My looks shouldn’t matter.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yep. Just a bit of a sore spot for me.”

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