He lifted a hand and flicked out his fingers.
Then he watched her turn and walk away until he couldn’t see her anymore.
Then he turned and walked away thinking, fuck me, forty-three years of life, I finally find The One, I’ve known her for two and a half decades and when we finally connect, she lives in fucking Texas.
He was belting himself in his SUV when his phone at his ass rang. He pulled it out, looked at the display, grinned, hit the button and put it to his ear.
“Angel,” he muttered.
“Told you I’d call,” Dusty replied.
Mike burst out laughing.
*
Clarisse walked out of her room to go to the kitchen to get some chips.
On bare feet, she walked down the carpeted halls but stopped dead when she heard her Dad’s voice sounding funny talking on the phone.
“You home safe, Angel?”
Angel?
Who was Angel?
“Good,” Clarisse heard her Dad say softly. “What?” he went on. “Yeah. They’re home. Got home about fifteen minutes ago. You settled in?” A pause then another weird, soft, “Good.” Silence for a while then a slightly surprised, “You’re gonna work now?” Pause then, “What time is it there?” Another pause then, “You do that a lot?” Pause then a low chuckle and, “It clears out your head, darlin’, then do it.” There was some silence before more soft chuckles then, “You come back, you do that, honey. But I’ll expect you to bring a large-sized vase, not try to fork some of that medium shit on me.”
That was so her Dad. He got ticked when she cursed but she heard him do it all the time when he didn’t think she was listening.
Her ears pricked up when he kept talking.
“In a bit, gotta help No with his homework. You want, I’ll call you later.” Pause then low, soft and really weird, “That’s a definite plan, sweetheart.”
“Jesus, Rees, you eavesdroppin’ on Dad?”
Clarisse whirled and saw her brother standing behind her staring at her like he always stared at her. Like she’d been beamed there from a different planet.
She narrowed her eyes, put one finger to her lips and with her other hand in his chest she shoved him down the hall, turning him into his room. Once she got him inside, she closed the door behind her.
Then she turned back to her brother and hissed, “I think Dad is talkin’ to a woman.”
No blinked at her.
Then he asked, “So?”
“So?” Clarisse asked back.
“Yeah? So?” No mostly repeated.
“Dad’s talkin’ to a woman!” she exclaimed but quietly.
“Uh…he is a single guy,” No informed her of something she already knew.
“So?” she shot back.
“So, Rees. Shit. Seriously? You think he’ll be cool spendin’ the rest of his life with you and Scary Movie Friday Night until you get married or something? I mean, he’s a guy. Girls at school say he’s a hottie. Hotties nail babes. It’s the way of the world.”
Clarisse’s torso swung back and suddenly her mouth tasted funny and not in a good way.
No grinned. “I hope he’s gettin’ himself some.”
Clarisse leaned forward and hissed, “Don’t be gross.”
No crossed his arms on his chest and his grin got bigger.
“You know, Dad nailin’ Mom is how they got me and you.”
“Ick! Don’t be gross!”
“It’s true.”
“I know it’s true, No. That doesn’t mean we have to talk about it.”
“Bet Mom’s shit in bed. All bitchy and uptight,” No muttered and Clarisse didn’t know a lot about these things but she still reckoned this was true. This was because their Mom was bitchy and uptight.
Then a thought occurred to her.
“What if this woman Dad’s talkin’ to is bitchy and uptight?”
No shook his head. “No way. Dad is not stupid.”
“He picked Mom,” Clarisse pointed out.
“This is true,” No muttered then stated, “Still, he dated Keira Winters’s Mom before she got married to Mr. Callahan and I’ve met her. She’s totally cool.”
It was Clarisse’s turn to blink before she whispered, “What?”
“Dad dated Mrs. Callahan before she was Mrs. Callahan.”
“He did not.”
“He so did.”
She couldn’t believe this.
“How do you know that?”
No shrugged. “Dylan saw them together at Frank’s. Told me. I thought it was cool. She’s a Mom but she’s still pretty. And she’s gotta be cool because Keira’s totally cool. Not to mention, she nailed down The Lone Wolf and made him a family man and everyone knew that was impossible. Dad bein’ in there before Mr. Callahan is also totally cool.”
Clarisse stared at her brother.
Unfortunately, he kept talking.
“And Brittany’s Mom is single now that her Dad took off with his secretary and lives in Atlanta. And Brittany’s friend Kayla told me Brittany heard her Mom tellin’ her friend she would kill to date Dad. Says she goes to J&J’s all the time just to see if she can catch his eye.”