Everything But (15 page)

Erin invited Jackie into the kitchen for some hot tea and she told Jackie
everything
, from Friday night until that afternoon.  Jackie looked at her wrists.  “Are you
gonna
cover that with makeup tomorrow?”

“Well, yeah, but I’m also going to wear that one blouse with the hyper-long sleeves.”

“Oh, the brownish one?
  That’s
a
cute
top
.”

“Yeah, and I’m going to try to avoid writing on the board tomorrow.  I don’t want the sleeves sliding down and having kids ask me what
happened.”

Jackie nodded.  “Good idea.”

“So…are you
gonna
give him another chance?”

Erin shrugged.  “I don’t know.”

“You really like him, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do, but I think he thinks who he is gives him a pass on a lot of shit I wouldn’t let slide with other guys.”

“Well, then, you’re doing the right thing.  He wants
you,
he needs to figure that out now.”

“In the meantime, he left his wallet here. 
Oh, and his handcuffs.”

“His wallet?
 
Seriously?”

“Yeah.
  I think it’s ‘
cause
he was in a hurry to grab a condom earlier
and it fell on the floor
, and then I was practically shoving his ass out the door.”

“So what did he say about that anyway?  Did he even care that he’d made you feel uncomfortable?”

“Well, he said he was sorry, that he’d wanted to make me feel good
.  And…uh…I guess I inadvertently chose a
safeword
and didn’t even know it.
”

“Well,
duh
.”

“Yeah, well, you forget, I’m the naïve schoolteacher from backwoods Colorado.”

“Oh, stop that.  You’re not naïve or stupid.  Just because you’ve never engaged
in stuff like that before
doesn’t make you backwoods. 
Stop being so hard on yourself.”

“I guess I’m just feeling guilty too.”

“Guilty?  Why?”

“
Well, I guess I should have clarified and not just acted like a deer in headlights.  And yo
u should have seen the look on his face before I laid into him.  He looked so…peaceful.”

Jackie rolled her eyes.  “Well, of
course
he did.  He had a hell of an orgasm, I’m sure.”
  She swallowed the rest of her tea.  “So where’s this wallet?”

“Oh, no.”

“Oh,
yes
.  That’s what he gets for leaving it behind.”

“No way,” Erin said, but Jackie was already up and walking to the living room.

Riley’s plain black leather wallet was
now resting
on the coffee table
where Erin had put it when she found it
.
  Jackie picked it up and unfolded it. 
“
Ooooh
.
 
Lots of cash.
  Check it out.” 
She spread it open and leaned it toward Erin.  Erin didn’t want to touch it or even count it, but Jackie leafed through it without taking it out. 
“At least three hundred here.
 
A couple of credit cards too. 
He must trust you. 
Oh, and
lookie
here.”
  She pulled the wallet farther apart. 
“Two more condoms.
  You kicked him out too soon, sweetheart.”  Erin shook her head, wishing Jackie would put it down already.  She felt uncomfortable having her friend snoop through Riley’s personal stuff while she just stood by looking on.  Jackie then turned the wallet.  “Aw.  What a cute driver’s license.
  Look at that picture!
  He lives in California.”  She looked up.  “So
just
how do you think this is
gonna
work out anyway?”

Erin sighed and sat on the couch, exactly where Riley had been just a couple of hours earlier.  Jackie set his wallet back down, much to her friend’s relief.  Erin said, “I
do
n’t
.”
  Jackie raised her eyebrows.  “After Colby and then
Frank
, I don’t intend to keep
any
guys around anymore.  And he won’t be
sticking around
, so it’s perfect.”

Jackie shook her head and sat next to Erin.  Then she said,
“So, you never said anything about
how
your
orgasm
was, girl
.  Aside from feeling like you were
gonna
lose your mind…?”

Erin looked down at the
coffee
table.  God, she didn’t even want to admit it, but there it was.  “It was pretty wild.”

“Would you do it again?”

“
Hell no
.”

“Never?”

Erin thought about it.  “Ask me in a few years.”

“Would you fuck
him
again?”

Erin
sucked in
a
long
breath and dug deep.  “Yeah, I think I would.  I think I really like him.”

“What the hell am I
gonna
do with you?  You take him back, you better make him grovel.”  Erin shrugged. 
Jackie started laughing. 
“Better yet…you said he left his handcuffs here, right?”  Erin nodded her head and smiled.  “How
evil are you
feelin
’?”

* * *

Hell, no.  As badly as
Riley
had
wanted a drink, he
’d decided he
wasn’t going there.  That was
twice
now
he’d had the craving
in just one weekend.  He hadn’t felt like that in a long time.  So, once his mom and dad blazed for church again
Sunday night
, he
got
baked.

He’d gone outside because he had a feeling his mom would be able to sniff it out even hours later.  It was dark out and he just sat at the picnic table on the patio in the backyard and leaned back against the table, looking at the stars
, smoking a little weed in the little brass pipe he’d had since he was a teenager
.
  How his mom had never found it under the corner of the carpet in his closet, he’d never know.
 
Smoking the pot
gave him some time to think about the day’s activities, but all that did was leave him full of regret.  He was glad the
weed
took the edge
off,
because that was the only way he was able to get any sleep that night.

But because sleep didn’t come easily,
he
dozed
late
the next day
.  By the time he got up, his dad was already at work, but his mom was out fr
ont working on her flower bed.

He couldn’t help it.  He was feeling down and didn’t know how to fix the problem, but maybe another woman—even his mother—could give him some ideas.  So he poured a glass of water and went outside.  His mom was weeding around the beds in front of the
house
, so Riley sat in one of the chairs on the porch
, just in front of her
. 
“Hey, mom.”

“
How did you sleep?”

“Pretty good.”
  Well, that was a lie; he’d been able to sleep
some
, but what he said next was the truth.  “I usually
do
sleep well coming home.
”

His mother adjusted her straw hat so she could see him better and sat up, her rump resting on her calves.  “Good.  I just wished you would come home more often.”

He winced.  He’d made sure to be here
right now
because his brother Brian was going to be there later in the week.  Riley visited three times a year tops, and he was lucky to be there a week at a time.  It wasn’t that he didn’t love his parents, but he was nothing like them anymore.  They had little in common.  But, he supposed, that was where unconditional love came into play.
  “I know, mom.  I just stay pretty busy.”

His mother scrutinized him.  “I know you do, and I’m glad that nowadays
your busyness doesn’t mean
you’re involved in illicit activities.” 
She was talking about his conquered heroin addiction
and two
unrelated
arrests that
had
led to community service and restitution back when he was young and hot headed
. 
Damn good thing she didn’t know about the pot.
  “But now that you’re financially stable, don’t you think you could come home just a little more often?”

Like he wasn’t feeling guilty enough.
  But he loved his parents, so he said, “Yeah, I can try.”  She smiled and started pulling up more small weeds.  And…he couldn’t believe he was going to go there, but he was.  He couldn’t stand it anymore. 
“Hey, mom.
  Let’s say dad really messed up with you.  Made you mad, hurt your
feelings,
broke your trust.  How could he make that up to you?”

His mom paused and looked at Riley.  “Why in the world would you ask me something like that?”

Riley wondered.  How much did he really want to tell her?  At the same time, he didn’t want her thinking his dad had fucked something up and Riley was fishing around for info.  “Well…let’s just say there’s a woman I’m pretty interested
in,
and
…uh…anyway, I did something kind of stupid and she doesn’t want to talk to me.  If dad made you really mad and made you feel like you couldn’t trust him anymore, how could he convince you to try?”

His mom looked thoughtful
and she stared at the edge of the porch for a few minutes.  “Well, I guess the first thing you need to do is apologize.”

“Done
.”

“And give her some time.  So, for example, don’t bother her while you’re here.  Wait until you’re
back
home and by then she should be ready to talk.”

He took a deep breath.  “Uh…the woman I’m talking about…lives
here
, mom. 
In Winchester.”

His mother looked almost confused.  “When did this happen?”

“
What
happen?”

“Your breach of trust.”

“Oh, uh…long story, but let’s say we just met
and it didn’t take me long to fu—screw it up
.
”  His mom gave him a look but said nothing.
 
“
The problem is I’ve really grown to like her.”

“In just a few days?
  Well, Riley, I’d say that’s a sign that whatever’s going on between you isn’t likely to last.  Relationships take
time
, honey, and just a couple of days, especially when you’ve decided to take another woman out to help the school
with its fundraiser
, really
isn’t
enough time to judge the efficacy of any relationship.”

He closed his eyes momentarily.  Only his mother would use the word
efficacy
when tal
king about dating. 
And she had no idea the woman he was talking about was
also
the woman she’d mentioned. 
Maybe
bringing this up with
her was a bad idea.
  He wrinkled his nose. 
“Thanks, mom.
  I’ll figure it out.”

“Riley.”  His mom put down the tiny trowel she’d been using and sat back on her haunches again.  “Here’s what I think.  If it’s meant to be, it will happen.  If she knows how you feel and
you’ve said you’re sorry…
and
she likes you enough, just
be
patient.  Give her the time and space she needs.  If you come on too strong and don’t give her some air, she won’t give you the time of day.”

He took a deep breath and nodded.  That seemed like sound advice.  The problem was his time here was running
short.  In exactly a week, his mother would be driving him to the airport in Colorado Springs so he could head home.  He hadn’t thought much about if a long-distance relationship was even in him, but that didn’t concern him right now.  At t
his moment, he just wanted to
solve the problem.  He needed to fix it.  Even if nothing worked out between him and Erin, he wanted her to know he’d never meant to hurt her.  He’d only wanted to give her the time of her life.