by V. Vaughn
I smile as I picture my mother with her deck of tarot cards, asking when she'll hear from me again. "The cards never lie."
"You've got that right, little girl. So what's your big news?"
It always freaks me out a little that she can make the deck of cards give her glimpses into my life. "Didn't your reading tell you?"
"You know the cards give me ideas, and I recently got a really big one. But I'm not sure if I've got it right, because surely you'd have told me by now."
"Well, it did happen kind of fast, and nothing was official until—"
"Jayden Rose! You better spit it out before I yank all my hair out!"
I laugh at the way I've fallen back into teasing my mother as though I'm still in high school. "Rosemary, I'm getting married."
She lets out an ear-piercing scream that makes me pull the phone away from my head. And then she begins with the questions. "When is the wedding? Where is it? And goodness, who is this boy? Do I know him? Oh gosh, I bet he's as sexy as all get out." She pauses long enough to hear my laughter. "You better start talking before I start asking more questions."
"His name is Alex. He's a firefighter. Is that sexy enough for you?"
My mom lets out a noise like a siren. "Ring that bell, baby."
I chuckle. "He's the most amazing man, Rosemary. He looks at me as if I'm the only woman in the world he ever wants to see."
"Aww, sweetie." She lets out a dreamy sigh. "That's how it's supposed to be."
I can see her face as she pictures the same thing happening to her. I say, "We're getting married at the end of September in a little town called Smokey Falls." I purposely leave out the state so that she can't find me easily, and I quickly stop her planning wheels from turning when I say, "I would have sent you a save-the-date card, but I don't have an address for you. I'm going to need it for the invitation, though."
"I see."
She's quiet for a moment, and shame burns in me, because I know how badly she wants to help me. She's waiting for me to ask, because the last time she pushed her way into my life, I didn't talk to her for almost a year. It would be so easy to let her do what she's always done, but it would undo all the work I've done to give her clear boundaries. I bite my lip to keep from caving.
Finally, my mother says, "Smokey Falls. That sounds lovely."
Relief floods through my veins that she's going to let this go, and I jump on the chance to keep this conversation pleasant for both of us. "Alex is calling me for dinner, but I wanted to let you know the news."
“Congratulations, honey. I'm really happy for you. Now send me a picture of the ring and that man. You hear me?"
"I will. Promise."
"Okay. I hope you're planning—" She clears her throat. "I mean I'd love to hear—if—" Guilt practically strangles me, because my mom is trying so hard not to push. I wait her out until she finally says, "Go have your dinner. Love you, Jayden."
"I love you too, Rosemary."
When I hang up the phone, I hold it to my chest for a moment and wonder if I want to cry or pat myself on the back. My emotions are a mess when it comes to my mother. The little girl in me wishes I'd just told her to get in her car and come here. But the adult in me knows it would cost me dearly. I've worked hard since I left home to feel as if I'm capable of making my own decisions. And most days, I'm sure I can. Until I talk to my mom. Somehow, her voice makes the old insecurities come rushing back. I swallow down my doubts and straighten my shoulders to walk out and enjoy dinner — and dessert — with a man who thinks I'm capable of just about anything. The way it should be.
Three
"Dave, Jayden brought macaroni and cheese!" Carol says as she takes the casserole dish from me. "I'm going to go put this in the oven to keep it warm."
I give Alex a knowing smile as his mother leads us into his family home. I had the foresight to not bake the pasta so that it wouldn't dry out in the inevitable hour it will be warming up.
We step into a home that is cozy and cluttered with pictures and knickknacks the way homes that have been in a family for decades are. As Dave gets up from the couch to greet us, Alex leans in and whispers, "Brilliant call on the casserole. I don't care what anyone says. You are so much more than a hot body."
Heat rushes to my cheeks as I slap at him, because I know his parents, as werewolves, heard him. He pulls me into a hug I pretend I don't want. "I'm not sure I can say the same for you, buddy."
Alex growls in my ear. "Good thing you like that about me."
"Alex," warns his mother as she comes back out from the kitchen. "Stop embarrassing Jayden like that and go fix her a drink."
Dave grins at me. "Good to see you, Jayden."
"Good to see you too," I say.
Carol takes my arm and begins to walk us toward the kitchen as she says, "I got a new lemon vodka I can't wait for us to try."
Ice cubes rattle in glasses, and I glance over at Alex behind the small kitchen island where he makes drinks for all four of us. Dave opens the fridge, and it's probably to get a tray of fruit, cheese, and meats to snack on before dinner. While Carol does all the preparations, she loves to have the men wait on the women as if we're to be taken care of. Alex thinks it's her way of keeping Dave in line, but I find it charming and respectful of the hours she spends taking care of her family.
Carol takes me out to the back deck, and we sit on cushioned chairs amongst dozens of flower pots blooming with color. I notice the birds, which give us a show as they take turns at the dozens of feeders nearby.
"My gosh," I say. "I don't know how you do it, but your flowers are so beautiful."
"Thank you, dear." She gazes out at the expansive lawn, which along with the multiple bird feeders contains lavish gardens of perennials. Just beyond is a small meadow with wildflowers and reseeding annuals like cosmos and black-eyed Susans. "It's a good flower year. It must have been all that early rain we had followed by such warm days." She lets out a sigh. "It's truly the most perfect year for an outdoor wedding. I'm so excited you want to do it here."
"Why wouldn't I? The meadow full of flowers makes the perfect backdrop for our ceremony, and you have a yard already decorated for a reception. It's like you knew this was my dream location."
The sliding screen door scratches as Dave opens it and comes out with the tray of food, and Alex, with the drinks on his own tray, is behind him.
Dave says, "Carol, you need to tell Jayden the wildflowers story."
She chuckles. "Maybe it was Alex who knew he would be having a wedding." She reaches for the drink her son offers her. "You know all the other werewolves' mothers are green with envy."
I smile, because she's told me more than once that her friends wish they could plan a wedding since it's not something werewolves do.
"You're not going to tell that story again, are you?" asks Alex. "It's embarrassing."
"Even better," I say. I lean toward Carol. "Tell me."
"Well…" Carol smiles as if she has a juicy secret. "When I first moved into Dave's home as his new mate and I saw the field, it didn't have wildflowers. I decided it needed them so I could go and cut some anytime I wanted. I purchased thousands of seeds and sprinkled them all over the meadow. It took a few years, but eventually it became the beautiful natural-looking display of color it is today."
She pauses, and we both take a sip of the spiked iced tea. "Delicious," I say before she goes on.
"I told Alex the story one day, and apparently I gave him an idea. He knew my favorite flowers were sunflowers. One year about two weeks before Mother's Day, he told his daddy that he wanted to get me special flowers. Dave gave him some money to buy them, and Alex went to the local feed store to purchase a big bag of sunflower seeds with the plan to spread them all over the meadow to add sunflowers to the mix. He was only eight, mind you, but he spent an entire day sprinkling those seeds."
I look at Alex, who rolls his eyes as I say, "Aw, that's so sweet."
"He was a sweet boy," says Carol. "Every day af
ter he'd thrown the seeds, he'd go check to see if they'd sprouted. But they never did."
"It was horrible," says Alex "I couldn't figure out what I'd done wrong. And I was so disappointed that I had nothing for Mom on Mother's Day."
"He didn't want to tell me, but you know how mothers know something is wrong. I pressed him until he told me."
I give Alex a sympathetic smile. "I know a little bit about how persistent mothers can be."
Carol says, "When he told me that the flowers hadn't grown yet, I insisted that in two weeks' time, they were probably only sprouts, and we trekked out to the field to check. And do you know what we found?"
Alex groans.
"Sunflower seed shells!" Carol laughs. "My goodness, there were so many. That's when he told me it had been a twenty-five-pound bag. What my little boy, Alex, didn't realize was that because he hadn't buried the seeds, he'd turned the meadow into a feeding ground for the local birds."
"Oh, Alex." I reach over and take his hand as I imagine him as a disappointed little boy.
"But you know what?" Carol sweeps her arm out toward the yard at the dozens of feeders and a couple birdbaths. "He may not have given me the sunflowers, but he gave me something even better."
Dave says, "When we realized what had happened, I decided to make the best of it. I knew the birds figured out this was a great place to find food, so I took Alex on an emergency trip to get a bird feeder for Carol."
"It was a fabulous gift, because I love the birds." She gives Alex a loving smile. "Every year, I look forward to getting a new feeder."
Carol does love the birds. She has field guides on her coffee table and can identify every feathered friend that pays a visit.
"That's the best story ever," I say. I gaze at Alex as my heart pulses with love. "I got a good one, didn't I?"
"I did pretty well for myself too," says Alex as he smiles at me with the same love. He leans in to give me a quick kiss. When pulls away, his phone rings. Being a firefighter he can't let it go to voicemail, and he lifts his hip to dig his cell out of his pocket. "It's the station," Alex says as he frowns and answers the call. I watch as his confused expression turns to a smile. "We'll be right there."
"Oh my," says Carol. "This is exciting."
"What?" I ask, suddenly eager to have the incredible hearing werewolves do.
"It sure is," says Dave.
"Bring her by for dinner," says Carol. "I'll set an extra plate."
"Who?" I ask as my annoyance grows.
Alex grins at me. "It seems your mother is at the station, insisting on meeting me."
"What?" My chest tightens with my panic, which quickly turns to anger. And my first thought is she'd better approve of Carol's yard for the wedding, because no way am I backing down on that one.
"Oh dear," says Carol, and I realize her concern is probably due to the scowl on my face.
"Jayden?" asks Alex.
I shake my head. "It's nothing. I'm just surprised." Although I shouldn't be, and I want to kick myself for being so stupid. Rosemary probably had a good idea where I was when I called. Giving her the town name was all she needed to locate me.
Alex stands up and holds out his hand. "Let's go get her."
I let out a sigh of acceptance and turn to Carol. "We'll be as quick as we can. Thank you."
She waves her hand in dismissal. "It's nothing. I'm excited to meet your mother."
"I'm sure she's excited to meet you too," I say with as much enthusiasm as I can muster. Suddenly my drink looks irresistible, and I grab it to down on the way out, because my fairy tale wedding just found its villain.
Four
"Talk," says Alex the moment we get in the car. "What aren't you telling me about your mother?"
My seat belt clicks into place as I think of how to explain things to him. I know that I'm a bit irrational concerning my mother, which is why I haven't told Alex much. But since he's about to meet the woman, it's time to give him some background. "First of all, you need to know I call her Rosemary."
Alex gives me a concerned glance before he looks in the mirror to back up the car.
I ask, "Did you ever have a friend who everyone loved? And you find yourself feeling jealous even though you know the person everyone else sees is not who they really are?"
"Your mom makes a good impression."
"Yes. You're going to think she's great. And in a lot of ways, she is."
"But she's not great to you?" The engine revs when Alex steps on the gas to speed up on the main road.
"Yes. No." I let out a heavy sigh. "I'm not explaining this right." I think about why people find Rosemary so charming. "She can be amazingly kind and generous. She's funny, and when she talks to you, she makes you feel as if she really cares what you have to say."
"Doesn't she?"
"I suppose she does. Until she doesn't."
"I don't follow."
I think about the story Carol told me earlier. She was so concerned about Alex's distraught state that she didn't care about her Mother's Day gift that went wrong. But Rosemary would have. While I doubt Carol was disappointed, if she had been, she never would have done anything to make Alex feel worse. But my mother wouldn't have been able to hide her feelings. I think about the fact that Carol is at least ten years older than my mother, and as if a light bulb flips on my head, I suddenly think I understand why my mother might act so childish. "Rosemary doesn't have the self-sacrifice gene a lot of mothers have, and it may have to do with the fact she had me when she was sixteen, because I'm not sure she ever really grew up."
"That's young, and without family, it had to have been hard for her not to have anyone to lean on."
Alex knows that I grew up without a father or grandparents. "She had me," I say. But as soon as the words come out of my mouth, I realize that a child you need to care for isn't exactly the support Alex means. It makes me think about the way Rosemary always managed whatever difficulty was thrown our way, and while she would get upset at first, she was always quick to rebound with a positive attitude. Of course she had a strong desire to prove to everyone she had her act together. She gave me the lecture about having a game face for the busybodies quite often.
"I guess." I glance out the window at the trees covered in monkey vines that snake around limbs threatening to strangle the tree.
Alex glances at me with concern, and it makes me admit to myself it probably was hard for my mom to suddenly become a mother and single parent. But that realization isn’t enough to make me all warm and fuzzy about her latest intrusion.
Alex slows the car as we approach the fire station. Once he pulls in and turns off the engine, he reaches for my hand. His werewolf body temperature is higher than a human’s, making his fingers feel as if I'm dipping my hand in warm water. I let it soothe me as he gazes into my eyes.
"It's going to be fine, Jayden. Your family is now mine, and I'm by your side no matter what happens. Okay?"
The security of his love makes smile at him. Because I have no doubt he'll do whatever he can to make sure our wedding goes smoothly. "I love you so much, Alex."
He winks at me. "Right back atcha, babe."
And we both get out of the car.
We step into the air-conditioned building to find Rosemary and Dean, one of Alex's best friends, laughing about something. When she sees us, Rosemary removes her hand from Dean's arm and comes over to us.
"Jayden, baby," she says before we embrace.
"Rosemary, what a pleasant surprise. Those cards told you more than you let on."
I pull back, and she gives me her evil grin. "They always do." She turns her attention to Alex. "Hi, Alex." She sticks out her hand and gives him a big smile. "I'm Rosemary." Mischief twinkles in her eyes before she delivers her favorite line. "Which makes Jayden Rosemary's baby."
She laughs as I groan.
I say, "I wish you'd stop telling people that. Nobody my age even knows what it means. Besides, Rosemary's baby was a boy named Aiden."
; "I get it," says Dean, and I look at him in surprise. He shrugs. "It's a classic movie."
My mother goes on with her joke, which doesn't ever get funnier for me. "Why do you think I named you Jayden, honey?" She chuckles. "Trust me, it's fitting, because your father was definitely a form of Satan. But you're not his daughter." She leans toward Dean in a flirtatious way that shows off her ample cleavage, and she speaks to him as if I'm not here. "Jayden's my little Goody Two shoes. It's such a pity." She straightens and gives him a hair flip. "Think of all the fun we could have had if she'd been the wild teen I'd wished for."
My jaw drops. She did not just give Dean a hair flip! While she's always been a flirt, she never went this far with guys my age, and I'm mortified. So I take action. "Okay, Rosemary," I say as I grab her arm. "I think it's time we get out of here."
She rolls her eyes at me, and as we walk away, she glances over her shoulder and wiggles her fingers at Dean. "I'll be seeing you again soon. I can just tell."
"Oh my god," I say under my breath, and when we're outside, I stop walking to glare at her. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Jayden," she says in a pleading tone. "Don't be mad. I'm only having a bit of fun."
"With a guy half your age!"
She looks at Alex in mock shock and pretends she's younger than she is. "Dean's only sixteen?"
I close my eyes and massage my temples as if that can relieve the headache that's coming on, and I let out a heavy sigh. No matter what I say right now, Rosemary won't take it seriously. I've learned trying to make her see sense is a waste of my time and that getting upset only hurts me. Inhaling slowly, I try to let what just happened go.
Alex jumps in to help me. "Is that your car over there?" he asks my mother, and I look over to see he's pointing at a classic, cherry-red Ford Mustang I hadn't noticed when we arrived.
"Sure is."
Of course it is. My mother has never been known for her financial sense. Every time we had a bit of extra money, she’d spend it on a luxury. Rosemary pulls the keys out of her tight jeans, and they jingle as she twirls them on her finger. "If you can handle a stick, I'll let you drive."