I had no words. “Um…”
“Oh.” A bright laugh came from the hallway. The inflatable chair was picked up and lifted before Malinda’s flushed face was seen. “Happy parents’ weekend, Samantha!” She shoved the chair behind her and waded through everything else.
Her arm was thrown up, and I had a second’s notice before she crossed the room’s threshold, grabbing me in the tightest bear hug I’d experienced in a long time.
She rocked me back and forth, smoothing a hand down my hair. “You look surprised. Good.” She pulled back and patted me once on both shoulders with her hands. “Mission accomplished. I wanted to have you wake up with a delight. Now,” she leaned forward, took a sniff, and wrinkled her nose, “I see I really did beat you to the punch. You need to brush your teeth, honey.”
“Malinda,” I started.
“Nope. I won’t have it. Mom…” Her voice faded. “Well, maybe Mama Malinda? I don’t want to push you. I’m sorry. Malinda is just fine.”
She was hurt, and I was a dipshit.
“Sorry.” But I couldn’t bring myself to say the mom word.
And Mama Malinda was Logan’s nickname for her. Knowing I couldn’t appease her that way, I hugged her once more. This time, it was me who held her for a moment longer than necessary.
She melted and murmured under her breath, “Oh, sweetie.”
The tears were there. I heard them in her choked voice, but she cleared her throat and stepped back.
Wiping at the corners of her eyes, her smile never wavered. It was from ear to ear. “Thank you for that. I do love you, my new daughter.”
“Should I…” Summer was still studying the pile of gifts in the hallway. She was clutching her shower caddy in one hand, and a robe hung over her other arm.
“You must be Summer?” Malinda didn’t give her any choice.
Summer looked a little alarmed, but Malinda swept her up in a hug similar to mine. She released Summer right away though and started grabbing the items one at a time.
“It’s so nice to meet you. Here. Let me grab all of these and get them out of the way.” She grabbed the flowers first and passed them to me as she said to Summer, “I’m Malinda, by the way. I married Samantha’s father.”
Summer started helping, putting her robe and caboodle down. As I put the flowers on my desk, she brought the balloons over. Malinda passed by her, starting with the bags of groceries.
Summer said, going back to help bring in the rest of the food, “I’m Summer. It’s really nice to meet you.”
“You can call me Mama Malinda.” She paused next to me, her hand resting on my shoulder. The touch was gentle. “That’s what Logan calls me, and it’s stuck. I like the nickname. I even got Mason to call me that one time.”
“You did?” I asked.
She nodded to me. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes gleamed from excitement. “I about choked on my coffee that morning, but I think he wanted to shock me. He did that usual face when he thinks something’s funny, but he doesn’t want to show it.” She mimicked him, standing like a statue, letting the corners of her mouth lift up and drop back down immediately. Her face was stoic before she broke out laughing. “You know how he is. He looks like a pissed off robot half the time.”
Summer was bringing in the last of the groceries, and she burst out a laugh but muffled it, coughing over it. “Wha—never mind.” She gestured to the hallway, reaching for her caboodle again. “I’ll be back in a bit.” She paused, grabbed clothes from her closet, and disappeared, shutting the door behind her.
“Is my dad coming, too?”
Malinda waved that off. “He was worried about that scene, catching any of the girls too early in the morning, if you know what I mean. My word, Sam.” She blinked several times at me, pressing a hand to her chest. “Your roommate is gorgeous.”
“Oh.” I laughed. “She used to be a model.”
“I had no idea. You talked about her, and Logan said she was gorgeous, but I didn’t realize how beautiful she was. That’s a relief.”
I started to pick at the bags of groceries. If my nose wasn’t deceiving me, I could smell some coffee somewhere. I asked, reaching for another bag that seemed heavier than the others, “Logan? Relief?”
“Well, yeah.” She plopped down on my bed. “I know you’ve had a hard time with girls being jealous of you. I was a little worried about how your roommate would handle your looks and your closeness to Mason and Logan. Not a lot of girls could handle that, but she seems like a very self-assured girl herself. That’s a relief for you.”
Aha! Coffee and a coffeemaker. Mama Malinda was my new favorite person.
I pulled the maker out of the bag and got right to work getting it set up.
“Samantha?”
“Huh?” I paused and looked over at her.
She fixed me with a look.