“She used her frequent flyer miles,” Keira answered. “Mom, please be nice to her when she gets here.”
“Why wouldn’t I be nice to her?”
“She’s the only girlfriend I’ve ever brought home. I don’t know how you’ll be, but I’m asking you to please be nice.”
“Of course, I’ll be nice, Keira. I’m your mother.”
“That never stopped you before,” Keira replied under her breath.
“What does that mean?”
“I’m going into the den.” Her father stood.
“You’ve never exactly made things easy on me, Mom.”
“It wasn’t my job to make things easy on you, Keira. It was my job to be your parent.” Her mother returned to the table but didn’t sit.
“That usually meant giving me a hard time about what I looked like or who I spent my time with. You tried to convince me that Michelle was one of those girls.” She made air quotes with her fingers around the words. “That she’d gone to college to drink, party, and sleep with a bunch of guys. That couldn’t have been further from the truth.”
“Well, I was wrong about Michelle. I can admit that now.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
Keira stood up and matched her mom’s posture.
“I love Emma, Mom. I love her.”
“I know that, honey.” She lowered her arms.
“If you feel like you need to say something about her, please just say it to me privately, okay? I can’t lose her.”
“I’d never say anything to your girlfriend to make you lose her.” The look in her mother’s eyes told Keira she was slightly offended but mostly concerned. “Keira, I’m sorry if I’ve been hard on you in the past. I did what I thought was best. I made mistakes, but I’m here for you now. I want to meet Emma. I want to see who this girl is that’s managed to steal your heart and get you to bring her here. Your father and I have been waiting for you to bring someone home to us for years.”
“Dad doesn’t care.”
“That’s not true,” her father’s voice interrupted. She turned to see that he’d made his way back into the joined kitchen and dining room. “I do care, Keira.”
“It’s okay, Dad. We’re not fighting.”
He dropped his puzzle book and pencil to the table and replied, “Keira, your mother and I have been doing a lot of thinking lately.”
“And talking,” her mother added.
That surprised Keira. She’d often wondered if the two of them ever really talked about anything serious or if their life was made up of her mom asking him if he wanted anything from the kitchen and her dad grunting a response.
“About?”
“We went to visit your brother last month and saw his family. All the kids came home. It was nice to see everyone. We realized that we have that relationship with him, but we don’t with you.” He sighed. “We’ve never even seen your apartment up there. You have friends you talk about sometimes, but we’ve never met them. We didn’t know how bad things were with the business until you called us the other night.”
“You never seemed interested enough,” Keira replied.
“I know, and that’s our fault,” he admitted. “But we want to be in your life, Keira. We want to meet this Emma and know more about her. We want to help if we can.” He sat back down at the table. “We don’t have much, but we have–”
“Dad, I don’t want your money,” she objected. “You are both retired. You have no other way to bring in money. You need your savings.”
“I can take care of your mother. You don’t worry about us, Keira. We worry about you. I know you don’t want kids, and that’s fine. But we did. We had you. And your mom is right – we made mistakes like all parents, but it doesn’t mean we don’t love you and don’t want to take care of you when you need help.”
“Dad, I’d need five thousand dollars. That’s just to get a new apartment in a few months, and then another twelve grand to get out of the debt. My car isn’t bad, but it’s not great. It’s going to die soon because cars only die when their owners have no money.”
“We can sell the second car. It’s only two years old. We should be able to get enough from it to knock that down in half.”
“No,” Keira adamantly objected.
“Now, Keira–”
“No, Mom.” Keira looked to her mother. “Please don’t sell that car. Your car is old, and you both go places every day. You have your volunteer work, and Dad golfs and goes to church most days. You guys need both cars.”
“I can–”
“No,” Keira stated defiantly. “If you do sell it, I won’t take your money.” She paused. “I love you guys for offering, I do, but I can handle this.”
“Will you at least consider coming home for a while?” her mother asked. “It’s not forever, and I know you have Emma, but you could save money. You have a network of people here too. You could find something for work until you figure out what you want to do.”
“I want my own business, Mom,” Keira replied. “I may be losing it now, but I know that I want it back. If Michelle was still here, we’d be doing fine. I took a major hit when I lost her. But I’ll figure this out. I’ll get my business back.”
“But what will you do in the meantime, honey?” her father asked.
“I’m working on that.”
CHAPTER 33
“Do I look okay? How do I look?” Emma asked when Keira met her outside.
“You look great.” Keira laughed and tugged on Emma’s dark green button-down shirt. “You look very cute in your little name tag.” Keira pulled the sticky name tag still attached to the breast pocket of Emma’s shirt off and held it out for Emma to see.
“Shit. I thought I took that off. I’m sorry. I was worried about getting caught in traffic. I just got in the car and brushed my hair along the way.”
“God, I love you.” Keira laughed again and kissed her on the cheek. “Come on, the interrogation squad is inside, and they’re waiting for you.”
“Wait. What? They’re going to in–”
“Em, I was kidding. But I kind of like how nervous you are right now.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Emma took Keira’s hand. “It makes me cute, apparently.”
Keira stopped walking, turned to her purposefully and said, “Not that. It means you really want them to like you. You’re taking this thing seriously.”
Emma pulled Keira back into her and held onto her hips.
“Of course, I’m taking this seriously.” Emma pressed her forehead to Keira’s. “Key, I love you. I do want your parents to like me. I want this to last for a long time.”
“Long time?” Keira asked softly.
“As long as you’ll have me kind of long.”
“Did I maybe say something to you the other night about borrowing my father to–”
“Walk me down the aisle?” Emma completed and pulled back to smile. “Yeah, you were delirious though. I wasn’t sure if you were serious.”
Keira seemed to be thinking about what to say next. She bit her lower lip and then lifted her eyebrows.
“It took me so long to find you,” she finally said. “And yes, I was serious.”
It was Emma’s turn to take a moment to figure out what to say next. Then, she made the same expression.
“We should get inside.” She swallowed. “I think he’s going to want to meet me, if he’s going to lend me his walking down the aisle services later.”
Keira’s face could only be described as devastatingly beautiful in that moment. Her eyes were alight and their brightest blue. Her mouth was slightly open, as if still in disbelief, and her cheeks were a light shade of red, indicating her nervousness at this conversation.
“I guess we should.”
◆◆◆
“Emma, would you like another piece of cake?”
“No, thank you, Mrs. Worthy,” Emma replied.
“For the millionth time, you can call me Miriam or Miri.” She took Emma’s plate and smiled
at her.
Emma had made it through dinner and dessert. The four of them were sitting around the table after enjoying a nice meal and pleasant conversation. If Emma had to guess, she’d say they liked her, or at least they were putting on a good show. They’d asked her the typical questions about her job and her upbringing. She’d told them about her parents and how each of them died. She talked about Rutgers and how she got interested in public policy, which led her to her job. She also found out some good stories about her girlfriend. Her parents seemed more than willing to talk about their only daughter and supply Emma with an endless amount of embarrassing moments she could bring up later for fun.
They retired to the living room where they had coffee and cookies that Miriam had made specifically for the occasion of Emma’s visit. Emma hadn’t had a family night like this in the longest time. She’d borrowed Hailey’s family off and on, but they’d only been friends at that point. This was the first time she’d spent a night with a girlfriend’s family in their home, enjoying learning more about where her girlfriend came from and how it led her to where she’d found Emma.
They laughed and shared until it was well after ten and Emma needed to start thinking about heading back to the hotel. She had another day of meetings to get back to, and as much as she was enjoying the evening, she knew she needed to get some sleep.
“We should go.” Keira winked at her from her spot next to Emma on the floor.
Keira’s dad had taken what Emma guessed was his usual chair, and Miriam had taken a spot on a small love seat, leaving only one spot on the furniture for one of them to take. Emma had motioned for Keira to take it, but Keira had sat on the floor, with the coffee table between herself and her parents, and patted the ground for Emma to sit next to her, which she had.
“It is getting late,” Keira’s mother expressed. “Will we see you tomorrow, Emma?” she asked when Emma and Keira both stood.
“Mom, I think Em and I are going to have dinner alone tomorrow night,” Keira answered for Emma. “I’ll be by tomorrow though.”
“I’ll pick you up at the same time,” her father told her.
“You can take the rental tomorrow,” Emma offered. “I won’t need it. I only needed it today because I had meetings outside of the convention. I’m at the hotel all day tomorrow.”
“Okay.” Keira winked at her girlfriend. “I’ll be here around noon then. Lunch?”
“Sure, honey,” her mother replied.
◆◆◆
Emma heard the sound of music coming from the bedroom in their hotel room. She had possibly enjoyed the heat and relaxation of the shower for too long, and Keira had gotten impatient waiting for her. She smiled at the thought of Keira lying in their bed, selecting the perfect song for when Emma exited the bathroom and she could take her own shower. Keira, it turned out, enjoyed listening to music when she showered. It was late. Emma was tired, but she’d spent the hour-long drive back to their hotel with Keira’s hand in her lap, sliding up and down her thigh, moving inside and then outside. She’d slid her hand up under Emma’s shirt as she turned to her side. Emma had done everything she could to keep her mind focused on driving. She’d been able to resist for that hour, but the moment they’d parked, her lips had been on Keira’s, pulling her almost over the center console to explore deeper inside her mouth. Keira had giggled into the kiss and then pushed Emma away lightly, saying they needed to get upstairs. When they’d arrived, Keira had taken her against the door. Emma returned the favor on the bed. Emma had insisted on separate showers because she knew that if Keira joined her, they’d likely never leave. She finally turned the water off, climbed out, and dried herself off before wrapping the towel around her body and opening the bathroom door.
“Belongs to you.” She caught sight of Keira, still naked from their previous activities, lying with her long legs crossed at the ankles with her phone in her hands.
“Yes, you do.” Keira winked and smirked at her own joke.
“So does the shower,” Emma gave back.
“Any chance you’re going to drop that towel and climb on top of me?” Keira lifted a hopeful eyebrow.
“Yes,” Emma returned to a shocked expression on her girlfriend’s face. “But not tonight.” She laughed.
“Not funny.” Keira sounded disappointed, but Emma knew she was just as tired after being with her parents all day. “I’ll be quick.” She got out of bed and walked into the bathroom with her phone playing a song softly.
Emma dressed and climbed under the messy blankets after brushing her hair and setting her alarm for the next morning. She settled into the pillows and considered how her day had gone. She’d been bored through the morning meetings, but her afternoon meetings had been interesting. She’d made a contact from Dallas, who had some great ideas on creating joint programs between the Health Department and other parts of the city government. Emma had taken a lot of notes and enjoyed herself until the LA traffic she had to fight through to get to Keira.
Emma rolled onto her side and listened to the water running along with what she could just make out of the music. She smiled when Keira started singing along softly, likely assuming Emma couldn’t hear her. Emma picked up her phone and texted Hailey, knowing she’d already be asleep and not expecting a response right away before putting her phone back down on the table and resting her eyes for just a moment, waiting for Keira to finish in the shower. She woke with her alarm the next morning instead. She pressed the screen on the phone, turning off the obnoxious and intrusive sound while rubbing her eyes. She glanced at the screen and saw Hailey’s response had come in after all.
“Morning,” Keira mumbled and rolled over, wrapping tight arms around Emma.
“Good morning,” Emma replied and read the message she’d sent to Hailey and then Hailey’s response.
Emma had written, “I found my Charlie.” Hailey had replied, “About time.”
◆◆◆
Keira arrived at her parents’ house just in time for lunch. They’d chatted while eating and enjoyed a pleasant enough conversation. She’d ended up sitting on her old bed, which her parents still had in her old bedroom. The room had been redecorated long ago, but her old twin bed remained with a futon on the opposite wall along with a small desk and a computer her mother used basically to check her email. Her old posters were long gone. The closet was no longer packed to the brim with her clothes but instead was filled with her mom’s craft supplies.
“Funny being in your old room?” Miriam asked as she leaned against the wall next to the door.
“A little, yeah. I think it would be worse though if you still had my old stuff in here.” Keira smiled at her mother.
“I bet.” Miriam moved just inside the room. “Keira, there’s no shame in coming home.”
“What? I know that.”
“Do you?” her mother prodded. “I know you don’t want to give up. No one is saying you have to completely, but you need to get your finances in order. The fastest way to do that is to stop paying that ridiculous rent up there.”
“I know, Mom.” Keira resisted rolling her eyes. “I understand that.”
“And I know Emma is important to you.” Miriam moved to sit next to Keira on the bed.
“She’s my girlfriend, Mom,” Keira returned defensively on instinct.
“Keira, I know that.” Miriam was just as defensive. “I know you love her.” She sighed. “I’m beyond where I was back then, Keira.”
“I know, Mom.” She placed a comforting hand on her mother’s leg. “I’m sorry. Sometimes, I forget.”
“She’s great, honey. I’m glad you have her. I hope it works out, but I worry about you. I’m your mother. That’s my job.”
“I know.” Keira removed her hand and sighed herself this time. “Listen, I’m going to talk to Hillary and Greene. They both have their own places. They’re one-bedroom, but I can probably couch-surf for a few months and contribute what I can. Plus, I stay at Emma’s most nights anyway.”
“Why don’t you just move in with her?” Her mother lit up at the suggestion.
“Mom, we haven’t been together long enough for that,” Keira replied. “I’m not ready to live with someone officially like that. I know it’s ridiculous because I’m way too old to have never lived with a girlfriend, but I want us to work. I’m worried that if we take that step too soon because I might need a place and not for the right reason, it would cause problems.”
“Well, that’s mature of you,” her mom replied. “And smart, I think. If you’re considering couch-surfing in your friends’ living rooms, will you at least also consider moving back home just for a few months so you can have an actual bed?”
“I’ll consider it.” Keira gave in, recognizing that this was something her mother needed.
“Your father is good at business stuff, Keira. He could help you. Emma could always come down on the weekends. We’d give you both your space, you know. You could go up there too. We can afford a few flights for you. Plus, Spencer is always talking about how much they could use the help at the gym.”
“Mom, I don’t want to work at a gym.” Keira rejected the idea of working for her cousin, who owned a CrossFit gym about twenty minutes away from her parents’ home.
“He needs help with marketing and sales. You can do all that. Anyway, it’s just an idea, and it would get you back on your feet quickly.”
“I know. I get it.”
“Okay. Please give this house with an actual bed a little more weight than a couch in someone’s living room.”
“Sure.”
“Great. I’m going to go find your father. We’re leaving for your aunt’s house in a few minutes. Make sure you’re ready,” she instructed, standing and moving toward the door.
“I will be.” Keira waited for her mom to leave the room before flopping backward on the thin bed and gritting her teeth at her relentless and stubborn mother.
◆◆◆
Emma had a break between two meetings and needed to hear Keira’s voice. She’d made several mental notes to scowl at Joanna for not being able to attend, forcing Emma to go in her place, because the events today were boring and unproductive. Emma stepped outside the hotel, needing the fresh air, and put her phone to her ear.
San Francisco Series- Complete Edition Page 33