I asked her the next morning where the food had come from. She gave me the receipts. I paid her back, then gave her my debit card, telling her to shop for food and anything else she thought we might need. I grinned all the way to work, my cheek tingling from the goodbye kiss.
You couldn’t have blown the smile off my face that day with a stick of dynamite. Gail got catty again. Apparently happiness offended her.
“See you little jailbait honey last night?”
“Yes, and this morning. She moved in last night. You should find someone, Gail, it’ll make you a much nicer person.”
Her look as I left would have soured milk.
…
The guys at the bar gave me shit, but smiled when they did it. Sam shook my hand and Helen kissed my cheek.
“You’re a good man, Suit. I knew she’d get you sooner or later.”
“We’re just room mates, Helen. Nothing going on.”
She just grinned wider. “If you say so.”
Amanda smiled so hard I thought her cheeks would get a cramp when she saw me. I was about to order a burger when she stopped me.”Your supper is in the fridge. Microwave three minutes. I hope you like it.”
I had one beer, shot a game of pool with Fat Boy, and went home to a nice dinner. She got off work at 9:30, when the kitchen closed, and was home by ten. She went straight to the shower.
“I smelled like old fries,” she said, when she came out in a robe, with a towel wrapped around her head. “What’s on television?”
…
So we settled into a domestic routine. I did the yard work, washed the vehicles, while she did the house. She cooked most of the meals, but I insisted on taking her out to eat or grilling for her once a week. On Sundays, if it was pretty, we’d ride, either alone or with our group. She got a new nickname, Mrs. Suit, which she grumbled about but did so with a grin.
Her twenty first birthday came, and I surprised her with a party at the bar. She even got presents. Soon she was crying, a rare display of emotion for her. She shocked everyone by hugging them in thanks.
I gave her a day at a spa, complete with hair and makeup, and a gift certificate to an upscale department store. “I’d like to see you out of those jeans,” I grinned, as she colored.
Helen got onto me, telling me it was time to step up and make an honest woman out of her.
“I don’t know how she feels about me,” I confessed.
“The you’re the biggest dumbass in the state. She loves you, but she doesn’t know how to love. You need to teach her. It’ll be worth it.”
“How do you know so much?”
She hugged Sam when he walked up.
“Because fifteen years ago, I was her. Then I met Sam, and though it took a while, he opened me up, made me understand there were good men in the world, I just hadn’t found one until I met him.
I’d been with a bike gang for three years. They did terrible things to me and I let them, because I thought that was what I deserved. They messed me up so bad I couldn’t have kids. He loved me anyway. How could I fight that? The age difference is bigger than you and Amanda, and we made it. Take it to the next level, Suit. You’ll never regret it. From what you said, she’s nothing like your ex.”
I had told them a little about Becky and me about six months ago, when we’d had them over to dinner and Amanda had run to the store.
…
She was doing really well in school. She had opted, with my urging to go for a full high school diploma instead of the G. E. D.
We estimated it would take another two months and she could graduate. They held full graduation ceremonies twice a year, as recognition of their accomplishments. Some of the graduates would be in their sixties, but most were like Amanda, kids that got lost in the system. I promised her a party when it happened.
I almost had a heart attack when she used my birthday present. She had on a very nice sundress, blindingly white, earrings and a necklace[I had never seen her with jewelry on]and three inch platform sandals.
Her hair was teased into a wildly flowing style, her thick locks drifting down her back. She was so beautiful it made me ache.
“What do you think?,” she said, twirling around, “did you get your moneys’ worth?”
I said the first thing that come to mind.
“All they did was polish a diamond, baby. You’ve always been this beautiful. The man that gets you will be the luckiest on the planet.”
She stopped in midtwirl, her eyes filled with tears, and she bolted int her room. Shit, what had I done now?
She came home from school the next week giggling.
“What’s up?” I said, glad she was in a good mood.
“I got asked out by this really cute guy. We’d been talking off and on for a month.”
I felt like someone had driven a stake through my heart.
“Oh.” was all I said, turning away.
She was on me in a flash.
“That’s all you got to say? Oh?”
I was defensive. “What would you like me to say? You’re obviously interested, you’ve been flirting for a month. Why should I stop you?”
She went into her room, slamming the door. I sighed. That had been happening a lot lately. I was going to have to have it rehung if she kept this up. I knocked but she refused to answer. Giving up, I got a beer out, and wallowed in misery.
By my third, I was pondering the mysteries of women before dozing off.
I woke when she shook my shoulder, gently.
“What?,” I said, trying to focus.
The Big Four came out of her mouth.
“We need to talk.”
I was instantly alert. Nothing good ever came after those words, in my experience.
“Do you like me?”
I couldn’t read her eyes.
“Yes I do,” I answered honestly.
“How much?”
“I don’t know what you want here, Amanda. Clue a dense guy in.”
She slapped the shit out of me. As I rubbed my jaw she went into a rant.
“I guess what I’m asking here is if do you love me? Not a friend love, but a full grown man woman type of love. Because I’ve loved you for a long time, and you’ve never noticed. I know I’m a lot younger than you, I’m uneducated, I have no social graces, I’m loud, jealous, scared, and that’s just the start.”
“I can’t take it anymore. It hurts. So if you don’t love me, I’m moving out.”
I stopped her rant with a kiss.
“Hush now,” I said sternly, “are you trying to talk me out of having feelings for you? Because if you are, you’re too late. And all the things you say you don’t have are no matter. You have something much more important. You have my heart.”