Point of Retreat (Slammed #2)(10)

She looks disappointed at my reaction. “I made it. I make my own medicine. It’ll help, I promise.” She walks over to Caulder and shakes him awake. He accepts the medicine as I did without question, then closes his eyes again.

“I’m Sherry, by the way. Kiersten’s mother.”

That explains it.

“She said you guys ate some rancid meat.” She makes a face when she says the word ‘meat.’

I don’t want to think about it, so I close my eyes and try to put the thought out of my mind. I guess she sees the nausea building behind my expression, because she apologizes.

“Sorry. This is why we’re vegetarian.”

“Thanks, Sherry,” I say, hoping she’s finished. She’s not.

“I started a load of laundry over at Layken’s house. If you want, I’ll wash some of yours too.” She doesn’t wait for me to respond. She walks down the hallway and starts gathering clothes, then takes them into the laundry room. I hear the washer start, followed by noise in the kitchen. She’s cleaning. This woman I don’t know is cleaning my house. I’m too tired to object. I’m even too tired to be pleased about it.

“Will?” She walks back through the living room. I open my eyes, but barely. “I’ll be back in an hour to put the clothes in the dryer. I’ll bring some minestrone, too.”

I just nod. Or, at least I think I nod.

***

It hasn’t been an hour yet, but whatever Sherry gave me already has me feeling a little better. Caulder manages to make it to his room and passes out on his bed. I walk to the kitchen and make myself a glass of sprite when the front door opens. It’s Lake. She looks as rough as I do, but still beautiful.

“Hey, Babe.” She shuffles into the kitchen and wraps her arms around me. She’s in her pajamas and house shoes. It’s not the darth vader ones, but still just as sexy.

“How’s Caulder feeling?” she says.

“Better, I guess. Whatever Sherry gave us worked.”

“Yeah, it did.” She rests her head against my chest and takes a deep breath. “I wish we had enough couches in one house, so we could all be sick together.”

We’ve brought up the subject of living together before. It makes economic sense; our bills would be cut in half. She’s only nineteen, though…and she seems to like having her alone time. The thought of taking such a huge leap makes us both a little apprehensive, so we agreed to wait on that step until we’re certain about it.

“I wish we did too,” I say. I naturally lean in to kiss her, but she shakes her head and backs her face away from mine.

“Nuh-uh,” she says. “We’re not kissing for at least twenty-four more hours.”

I laugh and kiss her on top of her head instead.

“I guess I’ll go back now. I just wanted to check on you.” She avoids my face and kisses me on the arm instead.

“You two are so cute!” Sherry says. She walks through the dining room and places a container of soup in the fridge, then turns and heads into the laundry room. I never even heard her open the front door…much less knock.

“Thanks for the medicine, Sherry. It really helped,” Lake says.

“No problem,” Sherry says. “That concoction can knock the shit out of anything. You two let me know if you need more.”

Lake looks at me and rolls her eyes. “See you, Babe. Love you.”

“Love you, too. Let me know when Kel feels better, we’ll come over tonight.”

Lake leaves and I take a seat at the table and slowly sip my drink. I still don’t trust ingesting anything at this point.

Sherry pulls out the chair across the table from me and takes a seat. “So, what’s your story?” she asks.

I’m not sure what story she’s referring to, so I raise my eyebrows at her as I take another sip and wait for her to elaborate.

“With the two of you. And Kel and Caulder. It’s a little strange from a mother’s point of view. I’ve got an eleven year old daughter who seems to enjoy spending time with all you guys, I feel it’s my duty as a mom to know your story. You and Lake are both practically children, raising children.”

She’s very blunt. However, the way she says it comes off as appropriate, somehow. She’s easy to like. I see now why Kiersten is the way she is.

I set my sprite down on the table in front of me and wipe the condensation off the glass with my thumbs. “My parents died three years ago.” I continue to stare at the glass in front of me, avoiding her gaze. I don’t want to see the pity in her eyes. “Lake’s father died over a year ago…her mother passed away in September. So…here we are, raising our brothers.”

Sherry leans back into her chair and folds her arms across her chest. “I’ll be damned.”

I just nod and give her a half smile. At least she didn’t say how sorry she was for us. I hate pity more than anything.

“How long have the two of you been dating?”

“Officially? Since December eighteenth, a little over a year ago.”

“What about unofficially?” she says.

I shift in my seat. Why did I even specify officially?

“December eighteenth, a little over a year ago,” I say again and smile. I’m not getting any more detailed than that. “What’s your story, Sherry?”