She didn’t think so.
“ARE you even listening to me?” Eve asked Elec impatiently.
“Not really,” he told her in all honesty, forcing himself to focus on his sister across the table.
His brother Evan laughed and took a swallow of his beer. “Nobody listens to you,” he told Eve.
She stuck her tongue out at both of them.
Evan threw a balled-up paper napkin at her.
Their mother put down her salad fork and gave them a once-over with a stern look. “You know, at some point in my life, thirty years after becoming a mother, I thought maybe my children would actually stop behaving like children and start behaving like adults.”
“He started it,” Eve said, pointing to Elec.
“What did I do?” He’d only been half paying attention, too busy mourning the loss of his date with Tamara. What could he have done?
“You’re not paying attention. This isn’t chitchat. It’s a business meeting to discuss your schedule for next week at Pocono.” Eve sipped her soda. “You two fail to appreciate that I rep both of you. Double the work. I need you to cooperate.” She tapped the schedule on hard copy she had handed Elec. “Do you have any questions?”
He glanced over it. It was all standard appearances, and his sister was a master at booking him for sponsor events and interviews around meetings with his team, engine checks, and practice runs. “No. Looks good. Thanks, Eve.”
“You’re welcome.” She turned to Evan. “What about you?”
Evan was making a face at his paper. “I don’t want to go to this party on the fifth,” he said.
“I have plans that night.”
“So cancel.”
“I don’t want to cancel.”
They descended into an argument and Elec zoned out. He felt really bad that Tamara was stuck in the house with a couple of sick kids. She had sounded tired when she’d called him and said her son had been sick almost a whole week with the chicken pox. He wanted to do something for her, but he didn’t know what.
His mother touched his knee. “What’s got you so preoccupied?” she asked him, her expression curious.
His siblings were still bantering on the opposite side of the table, so Elec asked his mother in a low voice, “Is it hard to be at home with a couple of kids who have the chicken pox?”
Though the question clearly startled her, she didn’t hesitate. “Oh, Lord, yes. It’s like hell on earth. Everyone’s scratching and whiny and oozing. The three of you fell one right after the other with it, so all told, it was three weeks of sick kids. Why do you ask?”
“A, uh, friend of mine is at home with her two kids who have the pox, and she’s going on a week stuck in the house. I was wondering if maybe there was something I could do to help her.”
“Where is her husband?” his mother asked baldly. “He could be giving her a break.”
“He’s dead.”
His mother lost her wariness. “Oh, my. Poor thing.”
“Her in-laws seem to be helpful, but I’m guessing it’s not the same thing as having a husband in the house.” Elec had been thinking about that a lot, about how much responsibility Tamara really did have on her shoulders. It was no wonder she had hesitated to go out with him. Between both of their insane schedules, how often were they really going to see each other?
But Elec figured once a week was a hell of a lot better than nothing, though this week they weren’t even going to get that.
“No, it’s not the same. What kind of friend is she, Elec?” His mother was studying him in a way that made him uncomfortable.
He just stared back at her.
His mother smiled. “My little eyeball. So she’s that kind of friend, huh? I get it.”
Elec cleared his throat. “We had plans to go to dinner tonight, you know, without the kids, and I feel bad. She sounds exhausted. So I was wondering if maybe there was something I could do to help her out, you know what I mean?” He didn’t know what he meant exactly, but his mother must have understood what he was getting at because she nodded.
“I’m sure she would appreciate that. Why don’t you drop off some dinner for her? And maybe get a little something for the kids. They get bored with the chicken pox because after the first two days they don’t feel sick, so a new book or toy goes a long way.”
“Really? You think that it would be okay to go over there?” Elec had been pondering doing that very thing since Tamara had called, but he had talked himself out of it.
“Of course. She’s got to be desperate for company, and giving her kids a distraction will be totally appreciated. And I bet she’s sick to death of eating soup and Jell-O for every meal.”
“So I should bring her dinner?” Elec sat back in his chair, ignoring his own lunch. He wanted to do that for Tamara. She didn’t have it easy being a single parent, and he liked her, damn it. He wanted to give her a break, and he wanted to see her.
“Absolutely.” His mother smiled and said, “You’re such a good boy, Elec.”
He rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Mom.”
“But I have a serious question for you. How do you feel about dating a woman who has children already and no father? Are you sure you want to take that on?”
“We’re just seeing each other casually. It’s not a big deal.”
“Yeah, but every relationship starts out casually then grows into something more. Are you okay with the possibility of having a hand in raising another man’s children?”
Since it was the only way he was ever going to raise children, either through stepchildren or adoption, he was going to have to be okay with it. He had come to terms with not having his own kids for the most part. But he had to admit he wanted children in his life in some capacity or another. He liked kids, and enjoyed their energy and sense of wonder.
“I’m very okay with it, Mom. But let’s not go jumping ahead, alright?” Sometimes, in the back of his mind, he’d done some jumping in the past week or so, but he tried to ignore it.
That was crazy talk and he knew it.
“Okay, fine, I just wanted to make sure you had thought this all through. I think this woman is lucky to have you around. But just make sure you’re still planning to give me my own grandbabies someday.”
Ouch.
His mother smiled at him, smoothing down her sleek, brown bob haircut, with no idea that she had just stabbed him in the heart.