by E A Price
But this suit… well, he had worn it on one of his dates with Crystal. True, she had hated the suit immensely and called it stuffy and boxy and boring, but it reminded him of her. The movie stub had been from their date.
When Maris found it, he told her she could throw it away – it was just a stub after all, but she had smoothed it out and carefully placed it in an envelope and placed it in one of his photo albums. She didn’t have to do that, but she did.
Martha sighed. “I take it things aren’t going well with your mystery lady.”
Clay grunted. He should have known that accepting his sister’s coffee invitation was a bad idea. But, the office had still smelled of Maris, of her delicate, delicious scent, and he needed to get out of there. He was about to try and find a way to get out of the upcoming conversation when a depressingly familiar face appeared.
“Oh, don’t we know him?” asked Martha peering over at the handsome young man. “From the caribou herd,” she added in a quieter voice. “He’s James or Jack or…”
“Jason,” rumbled.
Yep, say his name and the man appeared. Jason smiled at them.
“Clay,” he said. “Martha, how nice to see you both. We are so looking forward to your mother’s day barbecue.”
Clay looked up sharply at his sister who rolled her shoulders unconcernedly. Apparently, members of the caribou herd were invited to their mother’s day barbecue. He probably shouldn’t care about that – he wasn’t planning on going anyway – but it still pissed him off. Clay didn’t want to go because that event would just remind him of the first kiss he shared with Maris, but he didn’t like the idea of Jason being there. Would the unworthy male share his own kiss with her?
“I’m glad to hear it.” She took a sip of her coffee and scrunched her nose. “Ugh, they used soy milk for my drink. Excuse me; I must go change this.”
She took her drink over to the counter, and Clay glared at Jason.
Jason’s smile seemed to take on Joker level proportions. “It’s so important for our herds to become closer – given our imminent business deal. I have certainly been getting as close as possible to a certain herd member. She keeps begging for more…”
Clay leaped to his feet, and Jason stumbled backward a couple of steps. Clay’s expression must have been pretty fierce because Jason certainly looked worried. Good, thought his beast furiously. He was ready to show the arrogant dick just how angry he was when Martha appeared, looking at the two in confusion.
“Clay?”
He unclenched his fists, and Jason’s smirk returned, realizing Clay wouldn’t pulverize him in front of his sister.
“See you at the barbecue,” taunted Jason. It wasn’t much of a taunt, but his tone was undoubtedly mocking.
“What was that about?” asked a baffled Martha.
“Nothing, he was just being vulgar about a herd female.”
“Oh.” She thought about that for a moment. “So it’s about Maris then.”
Clay’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “What makes you…”
“I admit I saw you two in the office talking and I may have overheard you ending your relationship, none too kindly either,” she added with a disapproving frown. “At first I was surprised, but when I think about it, I don’t know why I would be. You’ve always had a soft spot for her, and she is lovely and sparky and just what you need.”
“I can’t be with her,” he said dully.
“Why not?”
“She’s…” he scrambled to find his reasons again, though none were very clear to him. “She’s seeing that, that, boy!” he grumbled disdainfully.
Martha’s frown deepened. “Are you sure? Ariel doesn’t believe that to be the case, and I always thought she was very level-headed when it came to men. That slimy young man hardly seems like her type.”
“Doesn’t matter anyway. I can’t mate her. I promised Crystal.”
Martha sniffed, took a delicate sip of her coffee, and then blurted rather loudly, “Baloney!”
A waiter appeared next to her with a confused expression. “Do you want me to bring you some baloney?” she asked.
“Oh no dear,” said Martha with a chuckle, but before she could move on she added, “but, actually I’d quite like a piece of your peach pie. What about you, Clay?”
“The same.”
The waiter scurried off to fetch their pie.
“Peach?” inquired Martha. “I thought that was your least favorite of all the pies. In fact, you specifically told me it was your least favorite, and you even put it under chess pie.”
Clay shrugged, and a ghost of a smile crossed his face. “Maris loves it; she’s been feeding me peach jam, jelly, soda, and cakes for weeks now.”
“I really must know that girl’s secret,” said Martha approvingly, “she gets you to be happy, she gets you to eat peaches… Now, where was I?”
“Baloney?” he prompted wryly.
“Yes, baloney. I was there when we lost Crystal. She didn’t want you to be alone, and she wouldn’t want you to be miserable.”
“Crystal was wonderful,” he mumbled.
“She was. But it appears you think Maris is, too.”
He opened his mouth to say something, and she quickly filled the quiet moment before he could. “Crystal knew she was dying, and she also knew how much you loved her. When you kept promising her you would never love another, she told you over and over that she wanted you to find someone and be happy.”
“But I promised her…”
“Clay, you’ve been alone and unhappy for so long, don’t you think you’ve suffered enough? It’s up to you of course, but I rather think that it isn’t just your happiness that is at stake here.”
Clay picked a thread of his decades-old suit. No, it wasn’t just about him.
Twenty-Eight
Marla came into the kitchen wearing her pink robe. She blinked on finding Maris sitting at her kitchen table.
“Darling, what are you doing here? Did we have plans for breakfast?”
Maris shook her head, and her mother kissed her forehead.
“Well, since you are here, I’m making pancakes for George, would you like some? Wait, you don’t have any modeling jobs coming up do you?”
“No.”
“Good, pancakes it is.” She frowned at Maris. “Darling, are you okay?”
Maris shook her head and wiped her cheek before a traitorous tear had the opportunity to escape.
“What happened?” cooed Marla, sitting down and taking Maris’ hands.
“It’s just a guy…” she sniffled, frankly feeling like she was overreacting, but not being able to stop herself.
“Clay,” murmured her mother.
Her cheeks heated in surprised embarrassment. “How did you…”
Marla gave her a patient, if mildly smug, look. “I saw the way he was looking at you when we had lunch together. He wasn’t happy that the young caribou male was interested.” Her expression turned sad. “Perhaps I should have said something, but my interference in your love life has never ended well.”
“Mom…”
“No, it hasn’t. I pushed you to try and be with Branch or Harlan, and that didn’t end well for you, and then I stayed out of it when I thought something would happen with Clay and now look where we are! I just want you to have a better life than I’ve managed to provide, but no matter what I do I don’t seem to make it better…”
“I know about my dad,” interrupted Maris to stunned silence. “My real dad,” she added as if it needed qualifying.
“What do you know?” Marla asked quietly.
“I know that my dad is a complete douche who tried to force you to get rid of me.”
Marla gave her an agonized look. “Who told you that?”
“Your mom did. When I turned eighteen, I went looking for her. You and George were on vacation. She told me that you ran away so you wouldn’t have to.”
Marla’s eyes started filling with tears. “I’m sorry.”
Maris moved to her mother and hugged her. “Why are you sorry?”
“For so many things, darling. I was a fool who fell for a man who didn’t love me. He didn’t want either of us. But he tried to pay me to get rid of you because he was scared we would ruin his mating. He gave my mother money to try and force me to give you up – she tried too, the evil old cow. But I knew I wanted you from the start.” Marla stroked her cheek. “I just wish I could have been a better mother.”
“Mom, you know I love you. Why do you think I bought you that mug?”
Maris pointed over at the ‘World’s Deerest Momma’ mug featuring a mother and baby deer – they didn’t make one with reindeer. It was a silly mug, with a silly motto, but Maris honestly felt that sentiment for her mother. Marla loved the cup and drank her herbal tea from it every morning.
Marla giggled. “Oh darling, I know I’ve made a lot of mistakes but seeing what kind of woman you’ve grown into makes me think that at least I did a few things right, and honestly given the way things have turned out I have no regrets. Although things turned out terribly with your father, I can never regret being with him because of you.”
Maris smiled.
“You truly are the best thing I ever did. I was so afraid for so many years that someone would find me and take you away from me. It was such a relief to find George.”
“George?”
“Yes, I told him everything, and he sought out your father and had him sign an agreement. He agreed never to try to seek you out, and we agreed we could never acknowledge that he was your father.”
“I didn’t know,” murmured Maris, feeling a tad guilty about all the times she made fun of his penchant for wearing corduroy.
“I’m sorry you never met your father.”
“I’m not – he sounds like a dick,” snorted Maris vehemently.
“He was, well, is. I made a lot of mistakes, but I did everything I could to try and make your life better.”
“I know, and you did. Do you think I was ever unhappy?”
“Well…”
“Okay, maybe when you were dating a loser.”
Marla smiled. “Lucky I found George…”
“Do you love George?” Maris had always thought she mated him to make their lives easier. Because he was wealthy and steady, and ready to take care of them.
Marla frowned. “Yes, of course.”
“Even though half of the herd are mean to you and think you’re a gold digger, and he’s constantly grumpy and…”
Marla laughed. “Oh darling, those things are nothing. He’s the first to admit he isn’t perfect, and I’m the first to admit, I’m not either. But he’s kind and generous and sweet to me. We’re happy together, in spite of what other people may think, and very much looking forward to his retirement…”
George shuffled into the room and grunted. “I don’t know about that.”
“Nonsense, we’ve already decided to travel more and take up golf…”
George grimaced, and Maris chuckled at his expression.
“Everything okay?” he asked warily. He looked ready to run if either of them started sobbing.
Maris wiped her face. “Fine, everything’s fine.”
Marla frowned at her. “I’m sorry, darling, I got a little bit sidetracked, you were telling me about your relationship with Clay.”
George groaned and walked out the room, muttering something about checking for the paper. Relationship talk clearly wasn’t in his wheelhouse. Maris doubted that he ever had to talk to Marla about that kind of thing – no, her mother undoubtedly did all the talking for the both of them.
“It’s okay; I am actually feeling a little happier.”
Marla looked at her doubtfully.
“But I’d probably feel even happier still if you made me peaches and cream French toast instead of pancakes.”
Her mother smiled. “Coming up, darling.”
She was still sad about Clay – that ache wasn’t going to go away overnight, but at least she wouldn’t worry half so much about her mother now. Though, given her mother’s legendary poor hand-eye coordination, perhaps she would talk her out of golf. There was a squash instructor, and a tennis instructor, and a badminton instructor who could all testify that Marla was not someone who should have a bat or a racquet in her hand.
“It’s the mother’s day barbeque on Sunday, darling; you will be there won’t you?”
“Yes, I will,” murmured Maris.
Her memories flickered back to the first kiss she shared with Clay, and then to their second kiss, and every other kiss since, and she considered that even if Clay never talked to her again, she had no regrets about any of them.
Twenty-Nine
Maris sipped at her soda and tried not to grimace at the blackened piece of meat on her plate. Harlan was no barbeque king – in spite of what his apron proclaimed. Thankfully, Mal had now taken over the grill and all the herd members had breathed a sigh of relief.
She scanned the herd, keeping her eyes peeled for a certain male. But he wasn’t there and the only people who paid her any mind were Alden – currently hovering around Mal trying to procure her a burger that didn’t resemble charcoal, and Jason who was sadly making his way toward her.
Dang it. If she knew he was coming she might not have bothered attending. No, that wasn’t true. It was a Mother’s Day event – of course she would be there for her mom. Though, she may have to leave a little early.
“Maris,” cooed Jason.
“Hello,” she muttered, not at all friendly-like.
“You look…” his eyes took a long, almost pornographic ogle up and down her body, “lovely.”
Chelsea who had just arrived at the buffet table sneered and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like ‘strumpet.’
“Surprised to see you here,” he said, not at all bothered by the daggers in Maris’ eyes. “Perhaps the two of us could…”
“Here’s your burger, Maris,” said Alden, handing her a plate and casting a reproachful look at Jason.
“Thanks,” she mumbled.
Jason gave him an insincere smile. “Thank you, why don’t you run along?”
He tried to take her arm and she pulled away from him. “Don’t,” she warned.
However he seemed as impervious to warnings as his gel hardened helmet-like hair would be to a building falling on it.
“Come now, sweetheart, no need to play hard to get anymore.”
More like impossible to get.
He grasped her wrist and she hissed at him, her beast stamping her hooves. “Don’t touch me!”
“Get your hands off the woman I love!” growled an irritated voice.
Maris, Jason and Alden – who had been working up the nerve to tackle Jason – all froze. Actually the whole herd froze as Clay barreled towards them.
“What?” cried Chelsea, the first to unfreeze.
Clay ignored her and pushed Jason away from Maris, sending him sprawling into the buffet table. She had to say, he wore potato salad very well.
Jason snorted derisively as he got up and brushed coleslaw off his jacket. “The woman you love?”
“She’s my female,” declared Clay gruffly. He slipped an arm around Maris who gaped at him in astonishment.
“Uh, Clay, have you lost your marbles?” she whispered.
The whole herd was watching in rapt fascination.
“About time, Uncle Clay,” called Ariel.
Clay let out grunt which was met by answering grunts from their herd. Maris considered that maybe she was the one who had lost her marbles.
“Really,” sneered Jason, “then why did she kiss me?”
“I did not kiss you!” denied Maris hotly.
Clay peered down at her unhappily. “I saw you two kissing.”
Maris frowned at him. “You did? Why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you let me explain?”
“I was an idiot, and I’m sorry, but..”
“Clay, I did no
t kiss him. This lunatic turned up at my house late at night and tried to force himself on me.”
“What?” Branch rumbled furiously and the caribou alpha who had been standing near him took a cautionary step away.
“That’s disgraceful,” piped up Branch’s mate, Mira.
“She was asking for it,” scoffed Jason.
Branch didn’t have to throw the punch. Before he could even curl his fist, his sister beat him to it.
Martha shook her hand and scowled down at Jason who had been knocked clean off his feet.
“You are no longer welcome at our barbeque, young man.”
Maris gazed at Clay. “Did you really mean it when you said you loved me?”
“Yes I did.”
Without further ado, he pulled her closer and kissed her like he hadn’t seen her for a hundred years. Around them, the herd started whooping joyously, and Maris dropped her burger.
*
“I had no idea Martha had such a powerful right swing,” commented Maris.
“I did,” Clay admitted grimly. “When I was a kid I put her hamster in my radio controlled car and sent him on a long journey. She was not pleased.”
The caribou herd had been unceremoniously kicked out, and all plans of a business arrangement quashed.
Maris handed him the soda. They were sitting on the hood of her car, as they had done all those years ago. They were older, the car was a little more modern, the soda was now peach and now he was certain that he loved her and wanted her to be his mate.
“I thought you were putting together a deal with the caribou – won’t Branch be annoyed about that?”
The caribou alpha told them in no uncertain terms that he wanted nothing more to do with them. Though, it was a little hard to make out what he was saying as he was virtually running away at the time. Half of their own herd mates were sporting very unfriendly expressions at the time, and the caribou alpha wasn’t taking any chances.
A few of their herd mates had been surprised about Clay’s declaration, but while there were rumblings among the females, both Mira and Martha put those females in their place, and the herd had been accepting. Maris may not currently be a popular herd member, but she was still herd.