Page 29 of Unrealistic Expectations

This urge to protect her was new, but it was much more comfortable than the fear that he would get too scared and break up with her. This need to keep her from harm actually made sense.

“Hello, Mrs. Gallagher—”

Jessica opened the door wider so he could step through, but her mother didn’t budge. “Please, call me Laurie.”

Once he got closer to her, he realized that the cocktail teetering in her grip was definitely not her first. She must have noticed that he was noticing her outfit, because she said, “Do you like my outfit?”

“It’s—uh—it looks—well ventilated.”

Laurie’s face dropped, but Jessica choked back a laugh, and he was glad he’d said it. Maybe his lack of carnal interest would mean that Laurie wouldn’t hit on him.

“Jessica didn’t say anything about expecting a visit from you. What brings you to L.A.?”

Galvin had never met Laurie before, but he’d definitely met people like Laurie. He didn’t know her, but he knew that she would love it if he asked her about herself, and he would never have to answer any questions about himself as long as he flattered her a little and kept her talking.

“Well, Jessica never invites me to visit.”

He bit back a biting response about how he didn’t think Jessica needed a day-drinking buddy who would hit on her boyfriend. He didn’t know for sure that Jessica even wanted her mother to think that Galvin was her boyfriend, and Laurie hadn’t actually done anything awful yet. She was just made up entirely of vodka, cheap perfume, and bad vibes.

“I just hadn’t seen my little baby in so long.” Laurie turned to Jessica then and squeezed her face between her hands, cramming the stem of the cocktail glass against Jessica’s ear.

The look of distress on Jessica’s face became worse, and Galvin scrambled for any idea of what to do. “You know what? I could use one of those cocktails.”

Laurie looked at him and let go of Jessica. Her face lit up so quickly, he would have thought he’d asked her if she wanted an extra million dollars. “You’ll join me for a cosmopolitan?”

“Yeah, why not? It’s a Saturday. Let’s turn up.”

When Laurie danced her way to the kitchen, he locked eyes with Jessica, mouthing, I’m sorry.

She just shrugged and rolled her eyes. It was going to be an interesting afternoon.

—

Jessica had never worked with anyone who had killed their mother, but she understood the impulse toward matricide. She’d definitely walked clients through the process of cutting a toxic parent out of their lives before. But, for some reason, she’d never been able to do it herself. Whenever Laurie turned up on her doorstep—always unannounced—Jessica let her mother into her life to wreak her particular form of havoc.

Every time she was around her mother, she felt like a helpless child who didn’t have any say about where they lived and when they moved. Her mother’s whims felt like the weather. She couldn’t do anything to change it, so she might as well batten down the hatches and hold on.

When her mother had shown up this morning, Jessica had panicked and texted Galvin. Over the past few weeks—despite trying to keep her emotional if not physical distance—she’d come to rely on him being around and available. In a lot of ways, she’d spent more time with him recently than she’d spent with Luke during the last year of their relationship.

As soon as she’d sent the text, she worried that she’d overstepped a boundary. They were only fake-dating and hooking up. This wasn’t a deep, emotional connection. Despite repeating that to herself over and over, she’d sent the text.

And he’d come.

When her mother opened the door and Jessica saw the look on Galvin’s face, she was immediately embarrassed. Her mother looked like a horrifying, biker chick nightmare, and it made Jessica feel exposed. Her mother had always dressed as though more skin meant paying the rent, and it often had. But Jessica had noticed early on how none of the other mothers wanted to be friends with Laurie, and that made it much harder for Jessica to make new friends.

Laurie, for her part, had never seemed to notice. Or, if she did notice, disdain about the way she dressed and flirted with pretty much everyone just made her amp up the town bike image she tried to cultivate even more.

But then Jessica saw a sort of understanding dawn on Galvin’s face, and his charming public persona came back over him almost immediately. He even accepted her mother’s offer of a morning cocktail and took a small sip every time Laurie turned her scrutiny on him—which wasn’t very often because Laurie was on about how much Jessica sucked as a person today.

“I thought when you got rid of that boring guy, you’d find someone fun.” Laurie had never liked Luke, and the feeling had been mutual. It didn’t seem like Laurie was a fan of Galvin’s, either—which really spoke well of Galvin’s character—even though he was doing his level best to be a good sport. Her mother exclusively liked bad boys.

Over the years, she’d tried to understand how her mother had turned out the way she had, but she wasn’t objective enough to diagnose her with anything.

“I’m not sure why you care, Mother.” Laurie hated when Jessica told people they were mother and daughter. She thought that she looked young enough that they could be sisters. And they might—if not for Laurie’s pack-a-day smoking habit. “It’s not like you ever stay in L.A. long enough to form an educated opinion about me and any of my boyfriends.”

Laurie snorted. “You’ve only ever had one.” She motioned at Galvin. “This one’s better, but he’s way too good-looking for you. He’ll definitely cheat.”

Jessica’s stomach tightened even more. She felt hot and sweaty and like she was about to throw up everywhere. Her mother was always making snide comments about her looks. When she was younger, it was all about how she should show some skin if she wanted boys to like her. Now, it was all about how she should wear more makeup and stop dressing like an old lady. Maybe her mother wouldn’t have come here, insulting Jessica and generally making herself a nuisance until Jessica gave her enough money to go away for six months, if she’d cut her out of her life.

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