6. Brock

Chapter six

Brock

I had to get up early and open the store—guests or not. The truth was, I didn’t mind. I liked the store, even decorated in all the Christmas-crazy. After all these years, all the time that passed, and even with all the changes I’d made to it, the store was still one of my favorite places to be. Plus, I’d ordered a few presents for Eddy to be delivered there, and they were supposed to come in later that day. I hadn’t timed it so that Eddy would be occupied by his mother, but that sure as hell worked in my favor.

So I’d left Eddy sleeping in and started the coffee. And promised to work out later as I shoved a muffin in my mouth. Before the coffee could finish brewing though, there was a knock on the door. The front door—so I doubted it was Evelyn. Who the hell? And before coffee? Rude .

My brain sounded more and more like Eddy all the time. With a huff, I trudged to the door before whoever it was woke the whole house. I pulled open the door.

“Chella.” Of course, my birthmother would show up out of the blue. “What do you want?”

“Uh! Brock…” She shook her head, sending a million tiny bells jingling. They were woven in her massive mane, which was still a rich, dark brown. I was pretty sure she died it. Crow’s feet deepened around her dark eyes as she laughed. She looked entirely too much like me, but that was the only similarity. “I’m still your mother.”

“Barely.”

Her frown eased the lines around her eyes while simultaneously showing off the ones around her mouth. Her garish red lipstick didn’t hide the cracks there from years of smoking. “It’s Christmastime. I wanted to see you.”

“I assume you’re passing through.” I didn’t want her here any longer than she had to be. We had been on good terms the last time she left, but since then, she missed Pops’s funeral and my wedding. And I didn’t have any patience for that.

“I get it. You’re mad. I know. I missed his funeral. It was too hard.” Sorry tinted her eyes, and for once, she appeared truly remorseful.

“Whatever. Come in.”

“I knew you’d understand.” She gave me a hug, which I half-heartedly accepted.

“You might as well meet Eddy. It was bound to happen.”

“Eddy? Oh, do you have a boyfriend now? Finally…”

“No, Chella. I have a husband. You’d know that if you bothered—”

She squealed, an unholy sound that I was sure would wake him. “Married? How?”

I heard his slow steps on the stairs. “I met him after Pops died. It was fast, but still. Eddy? I want you to meet someone.”

He joined us in the foyer with wide eyes, looking completely adorable in his Xbox sleep pants with rumpled hair. “You must be Brock’s mother. I see the resemblance.”

“Yes, hi. So glad to meet you. Uh, didn’t mean to wake you. I figured Brock would be up. Heading to the store?” She held my arm like a lifeline.

“I am. As soon as the coffee is done. You can come with.” I pulled away, knowing they would both follow me into the kitchen. I poured coffee for all of us. I could imagine a million questions swimming through Eddy’s head. “We can maybe do more introductions this evening. Sound good? I do have to open the store.”

We all agreed, and since Chella had been dropped off at the house by an Uber, I figured she was spending the day with me, and I let her climb on my bike behind me. Eddy leaned in for a quick kiss, then ran back into the house. It was entirely too cold to be outside in pajamas.

At the store, while I dealt with the delivery from Percy, Chella looked around, noting the changes. “It looks amazing, Brock. You did a great job. Pops would be proud.”

“I’m sure he would. We’re doing all right.”

“Listen. I didn’t know you were seeing anyone. Let alone getting married. I maybe would have been around more if—”

“Don’t say that. It’s a lie. You go with the wind. I get it. Don’t apologize.”

She sighed heavily and leaned against the front counter on her elbows, another cup of coffee in hand. “Doesn’t mean I love you any less.”

“So you say.” The tension was still sitting there between us, but at least my heart was less heavy. A little. Maybe it was because she’d caught me off guard. I didn’t have any more time to think about it or discuss it because customers started coming in. Some were attracted by the décor, but most were looking for last-minute gifts. By the time I had a break, my order had arrived.

“You really are doing well here. Pops never did great. I think a lot of people bought his books to help him out. This town has always been that way.”

“Maybe…” I opened the box, sitting on my desk.

“Is that for Eddy?”

I nodded and sucked my bottom lip between my teeth as I pulled the book out. It was a rare edition of Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. The plot and how we met kind of fit together. Not perfectly, but enough. And he’d appreciate its value. “It’s in better shape than I thought.”

“I don’t know if he’s going to like old books the way you do, Brock.”

I glared at her. “You don’t know him.”

“I know enough. Xbox pants, he’s younger than you.” She tilted her head to the side. “But a little nerdy. I’d bet he’d like superhero comics or something like that better.”

I made a noise. “He’ll appreciate this. I promise. But it’s not everything.” I pointed to the other box sitting on the floor by the desk. Chella moved over to it.

“Can I open it?”

“Sure. You can help me wrap them, too.”

She got the box open and pulled one of the mugs out. It had a cute vampire cartoon that said I’m a biter on it. There were four different monsters, all with the same caption on each mug. She raised an eyebrow as she unpacked them. “Cute?”

I laughed. “This is Eddy. He makes video games that have monsters and shit in them. He loves monster movies. Vampires and Zombies are his favorite.” I pointed to the two that corresponded with those. “And he’s a coffee fiend.”

“He’d have to be.” That wasn’t a lie. Our family was all about the coffee. I started drinking the coffee blend Pops created when I was a teen.

“You’re not wrong.” I leaned over and picked up one of the other mugs. It had some kind of sea creature on it. “His first game had something like this in it.”

“His game…” She looked at the mug. “Splash Zone?” She raised an eyebrow. “Are you telling me that your husband created the Splash Zone video game?”

“Uh…yes. I’m surprised you know of it.”

“Please.” She rolled her eyes. “Can’t get away from it. Anyone who likes video games loves it.”

“Well. There you go. That’s my man.” The final mug had an alien. The typical green-skinned, big-eyed one. “He’s going to love these for sure.” They were a good size, too. A lot of times, when you bought mugs with cool stuff on them, they were tiny.

“Well. I guess you know your husband.”

“What are you really trying to say, Chella?”

She blew out a long breath. “I’m impressed. I mean. I know you’re amazing, but you don’t put yourself out there. And coming back to Foggy Basin? Yeah, I thought that meant you’d never find anyone. And here you not only found someone, but he’s a cutie and successful.”

“I don’t care about his success. I mean, yeah, it’s nice, but honestly, I fell in love with him before I understood that.”

“You’ve such a golden heart.” I knew she did, too. It was harder to see it under all that wanderer lust. But I knew it. A part of me worried that thinking such things about her was my imagination. Wishful thinking. But she was raised by Pops, same as me.

After closing the shop, we drove home. I’d called Eddy earlier and asked him to figure out dinner for the four of us. The conversation was going to be interesting. Chella and Denise were completely different people. Opposites. And. I called Denise Mom. A name I had never used with Chella. Lord knew she tried to change that over the years, but she hadn’t raised me. She had never been a mother.

I pulled up into the driveway and balanced the bike while Chella dismounted like a pro. She took off the helmet Eddy normally used and tucked it under her arm. “Where you want to put this?”

“Bring it in.” We had a place for both our helmets in the hall entry. After stowing them away, we headed in to find Eddy and his mother.

They had the dining room table decked out with a Christmassy centerpiece, which consisted of a plain vase filled with little ornaments and a bit of garland wrapped around the base. “Nice.” They’d also found the placemats that must have been stuffed in one of the boxes. I hadn’t seen them in forever.

Chella laughed and touched one. “I remember these. Wow. Can’t believe you still have them.”

“I still have everything of Pops. You’re welcome to go through some of it.” He was her father, after all.

“Maybe some other time. Hi, I’m Chella.” She stretched her hand out to Eddy’s mom.

“Denise.” She shook Chella’s hand. “I hope you don’t mind, Brock, but we also used the good plates.”

“Not at all. The table looks fantastic. Where’s Eddy?”

“Uh…he took something over to Evelyn’s. He’ll be right back.”

“Hm… How is that old broad anyway? I haven’t seen her in years.” Chella pulled out a chair and sat down at the table.

“Just as nosey as ever. And gossipy. She’ll bend Eddy’s ear all night over there. I probably should go get him.”

“Oh, not at all.” Denise patted my arm. “He’ll be fine. Why don’t you both go get cleaned up for dinner? It’s not fancy, but we managed to cook for you.” She smiled sweetly.

I bent over and kissed her cheek. “Thanks, Mom.”

Of course, that was enough to get Chella to jump up and follow me upstairs. “Mom?” She started in on me as soon as we were out of earshot.

“Yes. She’s Eddy’s mom, so I call her Mom .”

“What happened to all that I’m not calling anyone Mom who didn’t raise me?”

I huffed. “I meant you.”

“Right.” She shoved me toward the back bedroom. “Renovations look nice, Brock. I’ve never seen this old house looking so good.”

“Thanks.”

She kissed my cheek. “You’re more than welcome, baby.” Then she pinched me where she’d kissed before turning into the guest bathroom.

It left me a little surprised. But I always knew she had a lot of respect for Pops. Maybe seeing this place differently made her nostalgic. I didn’t know what the hell that woman was thinking. I headed to my room and washed up.

Eddy had returned by the time I went back downstairs. I hugged him tightly and kissed him. “Missed you.”

“Missed you more.”

“No, you didn’t. You were hanging out with your mom all day. No time to even think about me.”

“On the contrary, my dear. We talked about you all day.” He laughed manically as if he’d been up to no good.

“I should have known.”

Dinner was simple. Chicken and rice with green beans. We opened a bottle of Chardonnay to go with it. The conversation was mostly Chella regaling us with stories of her travels all over the country. In fact, she had been in Boston when she heard about Pops passing and couldn’t get back. I didn’t ask her why it took her so long, though. Surely, she could have been here sooner, knowing I was here dealing with it alone.

Eddy’s mother was fantastic, asking tons of questions and laughing when Chella said something funny. It was interesting seeing the impression Chella had on someone who didn’t know her. It made me question my feelings. Was I being too hard on her? Not hard enough?

After dinner, Chella and I tackled the dishes, and I was elbow-deep in soapy water while Chella was drying. “I really like Eddy. I can see how much he loves you.”

“We fit.”

“You do. Reminds me of Pops and Mamma.” We rarely talked about her mother. “She was…more like Denise. A better mom than I could ever be.”

I started to protest, though I had no idea why.

“No,” Chella stopped me. “We both know better. And I’m sorry I was such a shitty mom.” She turned away from me as she dried a plate.

I thought about that for a minute. I had come to the decision that not everyone in the world was cut out to be a parent, and that included her. I was only dragging out these hurt feelings because she didn’t come when Pops died. And that was my expectation, not her reality. “You gave me your dad. Pops was the best parent.”

“He always was. I never blamed him for my shit. Not once.”

“I know. He never held it against you, either. Said you were just who you were.” Which was probably how I came to terms with her in the first place.

“Yeah, a lot like my mom in some ways. She did her own thing, no matter what anyone said. Unlike me though, her own thing happened to be Pops. Rest her soul. Rest both their souls now.”

“You missed his funeral.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I couldn’t…I know it hurt you. Maybe this will make up for it.” She put the towel down, pulled a ring off her finger, and held it out to me. “This was my mother’s. Pops had given it to her, and I think Eddy should wear it.” It was a simple gold band. Nothing special. “Look here.” She put it in my palm and turned it over. My grandmother’s initials were engraved on one side of a tiny heart and Pops’ were on the other side. The script was worn and faded but could still be seen.

It was the most selfless thing she’d done, next to dropping me off with Pops when I was a baby. I clutched the ring. “Thank you.”