20. Mae - Finally, the Truth

Mae - Finally, the Truth

Chapter twenty

Mina and I are on the way back with bags full of groceries when the biggest crash of thunder rings out from the sky.

In response, Boris absolutely loses it, and he takes off into a muddy field nearby.

My daughter does her best to hold onto his leash, but he's going too fast, and she's forced to let go.

"Boris!" we both yell. "Boris! Come back!"

We ditch the bags and go running after him.

I'm finally able to get a good grip on his harness, and Mina comes through and grabs the leash. In the end, all three of us are covered from head to toe in mud.

"Come on. Let's get him back home," I gasp.

We pick up everything on the side of the road and continue our journey home.

And probably the last person I want to see soon pulls up in his pickup truck.

"My, my, ladies. What do we have here?"

"Hi, Dean," I say through gritted teeth.

"What happened here?"

"Boris got spooked by the thunder and made a run for it in that empty field," I explain.

"I see." He looks at me from head to toe. "Do you guys want a lift back?"

"No, we'll get your seats all dirty."

"I don't care. Come on, climb in."

The added security of his truck does make it so that another uncontrollable outburst from Boris is impossible, so I agree. It's truly a miracle that the two of us AND this massive dog AND the groceries all squeeze into his truck. And I'm extra glad he doesn't have his sporty little car here today.

Then, at home, after Mina and the dog are hosed off and inside the house, I take a moment to just breathe.

"Everything okay?" he asks.

"Honestly? Not really." I pick up one of the bags and take out a completely soiled item. "What a waste of money."

"It's a bunch of grapes. How much can they cost? A few dollars at the most."

"Well, for some, that's a lot of money."

"Weren't you just recently an attorney?"

"Yes, but as it turns out, taking care of an elderly grandfather and an even older house costs a lot of money."

"How bad is it?" he asks, suddenly very serious.

Tears are starting to form in the corner of my eyes.

"Bad," I respond after sniffling.

"Like bankruptcy territory?"

"No, thank goodness. Not there—yet."

"Well, that's good."

I'm shivering, and he offers me his jacket. I accept it, but I also tell him I'll have it cleaned before getting it back to him.

Then, he grabs my hand and squeezes it. "It's going to be okay. You know, I could always buy your house and take it off your hands. I know you just moved in, but…"

His words make my sadness quickly change to anger, and I rip away from him. "So, it's true then? That's been your plan all along?"

"What? No—"

"Stop with the lying. I'm not as stupid as you obviously think I am."

He takes a deep sigh. "I don't think you're stupid."

"Could've fooled me."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Mae"

"Just tell me the truth. Once and for all. The confusion is honestly exhausting."

"I want to sell both my plot and yours and build condos here," he blurts out, amazing even me.

I'm quiet as I process everything. "Wow. And you've been plotting that since the moment you realized that my grandfather beat you out in getting the land?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"You're disgusting." I throw back the jacket, get out of the car, and slam the door shut.

"Mae, wait!" he yells, but I ignore him. Instead, I go into the house and straight to the bathroom.

When I get out of the shower, I hear Dean talking with Grandpa Bob.

"Ugh. Come on!" I mouth. But then I turn the shower on again and just stand inside. I figure the longer I'm in there, the more likely it will be that he just gives up and goes home.

Luckily, it appears that my plan worked because he is nowhere to be found when I finally get out.

"Well, that was certainly a long shower," my grandfather says.

"Yeah, well. It's not as easy to get mud out of every nook and cranny as you might suspect."

He laughs. "Girl, I survived Vietnam. I know a thing or two about being caked with natural elements."

"I'm sure that's true. I'm sorry. I just really didn't want to talk to him."

"Yeah, Dean only just left. He said you were really upset about something. I resisted getting my shotgun, and he explained that it was about the houses."

"He finally admitted that it's been his plan since the very beginning to try and buy us out."

"I know."

"He told you?"

"He did."

"Why don't you seem more upset?"

"Because it's like I already told you—it's about money. It's nothing personal against us."

"It feels pretty personal to me."

"Well, that's just because of the feelings you two have in this mix."

"I do not have feelings for him."

He just shakes his head. "You can keep denying it all you want. But I've known you your entire life, Mae, maybe even better than you know yourself. Think about it. Why are you so angry about all of this? I know for a fact you've been considering moving back into the city."

"How could you possibly know that?"

"Because I know you!"

"Sure, I have thought about it once or twice. But I ultimately decided against it because Mina is so excited to start school around here."

"But there are plenty of other places you could live that are still in this area. Why are you so upset about the idea of Dean taking this house?"

"Because I'm worried that nothing we shared up to this point has been genuine," I finally admit.

"Ah-ha! There it is."

Ever since I was a child, he's known how to get even my deepest, darkest secret out of me.

"Okay, fine. So, you were kind of right about that."

"About what?" Grandpa asks.

"My feelings."

"Your feelings for who?"

"Dean, Grandpa! Dean!" I shout.

"Is that true?" Dean says from down the hallway.

"I'll let you two talk," Grandpa Bob says before sneaking away, as well as someone so old can ‘sneak.'

So, then it's just me and Dean. My cheeks are burning red in embarrassment.

"Um…" He inches closer to me.

"I didn't realize you were still here."

"I left, but I came back to drop off some dry firewood. Bob said you guys were running low."

"That was nice of you."

He sticks his hands in his pocket, looks down at his feet, and bites his bottom lip. "It was no trouble." It's the most vulnerable I've ever seen him.

"I'm assuming you heard all of that?"

"I did," Dean almost whispers.

"I didn't mean it."

"You didn't?" Any light that was on his face is now gone.

"No."

"Well, then why did you say it?"

"Because I just wanted to stop his interrogation of me."

"I see."

He turns to leave. "I guess I'll just see myself out."

"I mean, unless…" he hears me ponder.

"Unless?" He faces me again. His gray eyes feel like they are tearing into my soul.

"Nothing. Never mind."

"Oh, okay. Yeah. Um. Goodbye then."

"Bye. Thanks again for the wood."

"No problem."

Then, he leaves.

"Jeez, Mom," Mina comments.

"What?"

"That was so cringy."

"Oh, great. You were listening, too? Can I say anything in private in this house?"

"Hey! Don't blame me. I was just minding my business in my room. I didn't ask for you to have the most awkward and embarrassing conversation of your life right outside the door. Seriously, I've seen episodes of Glee that are less cringe than what I just heard."

"Okay, I get it! Please just go into the kitchen and start making lunch."

"I already ate."

"When?"

"During your forty-five-minute shower."

"Oh, all right then."

"But I made extras for you."

"You did?"

"Yeah."

"Well, thanks." We walk together, and she pulls out the leftovers from the fridge. It's a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and I smile. Gourmet today!

"So, do you want to talk about it?" she asks, after sitting across from me at the table.

"About what?"

"What just happened between you and Dean. Because I have some thoughts."

"Oh, yeah? And what are those?"

"Well, you two clearly love each other."

I almost choke on the bread in my mouth.

"Whoa! Definitely not. We've only known each other a few days."

"Fine. But you like each other, and for whatever reason, you're not allowing yourselves to just be together."

"It's complicated."

"Because he wants to buy our land?"

"How do you—"

"I could hear him and Grandpa talking."

"Oh. Well, yes. That adds some difficulty to the situation," I admit.

"But you even said yourself that you wanted to go back to the city."

"I've thought about it. But you seem so happy here."

"I am. But I was happy at our old apartment, too."

"Even with all of the mean girls at school?"

"Yeah. I've learned how to navigate them."

She's close enough to me that I can swipe the hair off of her shoulder. "I know. But you're so excited to start at this new school."

"I am. But like Grandpa said, we could still live around here."

"So, you think we should all just give this place up? Just like that?"

"If it meant the difference between you and your happiness, then sure."

I've really been taking for granted just how emotionally intelligent she is.

"Well, thank you. But I'm not the only adult to consider here. This is Grandpa Bob's dream."

"Yeah, there is also that to consider."

To be honest, I'm not really sure what his stance on the situation is. Just recently, he was pushing me to persuade Dean not to buy us out, but now he seemed oddly fine with everything.