These guys wore shorts and shirts, no hats or helmets and you could see, straight out, they were hot.
I sat down on the arm of the couch and watched.
Some official looking guy threw a yel ow flag.
“What’s that mean?” I asked.
Bobby explained someone did something bad but I wasn’t listening, al the players were pissed off and getting in each other’s faces.
I pushed Bobby over and sat down ful y on the couch.
Twenty minutes later, Bobby looked at me. “Don’t you need to get to work?” he asked.
Shit!
“Shit!” I said, jumped up and ran to the coffeepot. I made Bobby a coffee, made one for me and did the getting ready business.
It was nippy and not the normal, bright, sunshiny Colorado day. I put on a fitted heathered gray t-shirt, a wool, aubergine, ribbon cardigan, jeans and my high-heeled black boots. Hair back in a ponytail, minimum makeup, spritz of fancy perfume and ready to rol .
We swung into Fortnum’s way late.
No one noticed.
Mom was on the couch, Lottie next to her and I gave them both a kiss and went behind the espresso counter to help Duke and Tex with the line of customers.
“I see you’re stil alive,” Duke said, obviously stil feeling crotchety about my recent troubles and deciding to blame it on me.
I felt the best course of action was not to answer.
It proved not to be the best course of action.
Duke stared at me a beat, then turned to the CD player, yanked out Tex’s Steppenwolf and put in Charlie Daniels.
Normal y, this was indication of a throw down. Once a CD was on, it was on and the only reason you were al owed to turn it off was if it wasn’t some of Duke’s country or some of Al y, Indy and Tex’s rock ‘n’ rol .
I held my breath waiting for Tex to react.
Tex wasn’t biting.
This was weird, Tex always bit.
Both Duke and I stared at him.
“Are you okay?” I asked Tex.
He turned to me, “Gonna ask your mother to dinner and I want your blessing.”
My mouth dropped open.
Duke made a sound like someone punched him in the gut.
“Wel ?” Tex asked me.
I struggled to find my voice.
“Um… you two are consenting adults, you don’t need my blessing.”
“Don’t want you and your sister playin’ snotty tricks on me like those brats on TV,” Tex said.
I blinked.
“The brats on TV are usual y kids, not adults approaching thirty like Lottie and me.”
His bushy eyebrows hit his hairline.
“Wasn’t very adult, pul in’ each other’s hair and having a fuckin’ catfight on the floor, Loopy Loo.” He had a point.
“You have my blessing,” I said.
Then I smiled liking the idea of Tex dating my Mom.
He scowled.
“What? I said you have my blessing,” I told him.
“Now I gotta ask her.”
I looked at Mom, she was watching us. Or more likely, watching Tex. She looked away the minute she saw me looking at her.
I looked back at Tex. “I think she’l say yes.”
“Yeah?” he looked uncertain.
I did my best not to laugh.
It didn’t work.
“Shee-it,” Tex said, turning away from me.
The door opened and Daisy strol ed in, her hair barely tamed by two pigtails sticking out the sides of her neck. I left Tex to his worried thoughts and Duke to his pissed off state of mind and walked out from behind the counter.
Daisy waved to me and then looked to Lottie.
“You ready, Sugar?” she said to Lottie.
“What’s happening?” I asked.
“Daisy’s going to take me to Smithie’s, show me some moves, make sure I get my Porsche,” Lottie explained.
“Mom’s gonna come with us.”
I thought about Mom hanging out at Smithie’s watching her daughter practice strip routines.
My family.
Then I turned to Daisy.
“Would you mind swinging by our apartment building?
Ada might want to come. With Mom out of the house, she doesn’t have much company and she might be bored.
She’d probably like to see your moves.”
This was weird, but this was true.
“No problem, darlin’,” she said to me then looked to Tex and cal ed, “Tex, you playin’ bodyguard?”
“Fuck yeah,” Tex said.
“Let’s go,” Daisy ordered and off they trotted.
Jane came in ten minutes later, Al y ten minutes after that.
Ten minutes after that, my cel rang and I flipped it open because it said, “Eddie cal ing.”
“Hey,” I said.
“You okay?” he asked.
Uh-oh.
“Should I not be?”
“With you, Chiquita, it’s a crap shoot.” Wonderful.
I strol ed from behind the counter, letting Al y deal with the customer there so I could deal with Eddie. He took my ful attention at the best of times.
I stood at the window, looking out.
“How’s your day?” Eddie asked.
“I hit the snooze button, like, ten times, then Bobby introduced me to soccer and I got to work way late. Now, I’m at Fortnum’s, Tex asked for my blessing to date Mom and then Daisy came in and gathered up Mom, Lottie and Tex to go to Smithie’s so she could teach Lottie how to strip. They’re swinging by to pick up Ada, just in case she wants to go.”