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She woke with a start. She didn’t remember dreaming, but something yanked her from sleep. Looking at the clock, Sabrina saw she’d been out cold for almost four hours.
Somewhere in another room, a cabinet door slammed. Coffee. Freddy understood how important coffee was. Surely that’s why he was banging around. Twitching her nose and sniffing the air, she couldn’t smell it yet, but maybe he was just starting a fresh pot.
When she came down the hall, though, it wasn’t Freddy in the kitchen. This wasn’t good. Sabrina did not care to have a conversation with Mrs. Taylor while wearing her son’s favorite shirt and no bra. She turned around to sneak back down the hall to the spare room and came face-to-face with the man she’d expected to find in the kitchen.
“Too late to run away now,” he rumbled sleepily. “You make coffee while I find an excuse to get her out of here.”
Looking back and forth between her options, Sabrina debated ignoring him and hiding under the covers.
“If you hide, there won’t be coffee,” he threatened.
“You’re so mean,” she said.
He looked her up and down and sighed. “Hang on. I can’t let you talk to her like that. I’ll never hear the fucking end of it. Let’s grab you a newer shirt.”
Sabrina wasn’t sure what he meant exactly until she followed him into his bedroom and caught a glimpse of herself in his dresser mirror. One of the thinnest spots on the tee landed right over her heart, revealing the darker shade of her left nipple. Holy shit, Freddy saw her nipple. Heat crept up her face, but Freddy kept his back to her as he tossed a plain black t-shirt onto the end of the bed for her.
“You change, but if you aren’t out there with me in three minutes, I’m sending my mother to come find you. Here. In my bedroom,” he warned without facing her.
“I’m coming for the coffee, so I’ll be right behind you.” She waited for him to close his bedroom door behind himself and whipped off the Scooby shirt to replace it with the black one. It didn’t have the same worn, softness that only came with love, but it hid her breasts.
Walking down the hall, she could hear Freddy and Katrina talking.
“Mom, I’m thirty-four. I can get my own groceries and do my own laundry. Please go home.”
“You have a moldy Tupperware of beef stew, three cans of soda, and some green slime that I think might have been salad at some point,” Katrina answered.
“I just got home. Sabrina and I will run into town together. She needs clothes, and I need food.” Sabrina recognized Freddy’s false cheer, even as he fake-whispered, “What if you’d caught us naked?” His pretend gasp was loud enough to hear where she stood in the hallway, and she could picture him covering his face with false modesty.
“Oh, stop it,” Katrina teased her son. “I know you two are just friends.”
Ouch. The comment reminded Sabrina of the way she’d stupidly kissed Freddy that morning. It was time to break up their chat before this turned embarrassing. “Point me to the coffee, please,” she said as she ducked past where they were standing in the living room and into the kitchen.
When she returned, mug in hand, Freddy’s mom said, “Sabrina, why don’t you make a list for me, and I’ll go into town and handle the shopping. Then the two of you can relax here and work on other stuff.” Katrina’s offer was sincere. Sabrina knew from experience the woman would arrange everything, purchase more than she requested, and refuse any repayment. The woman would mother the trees in the forest if she could figure out how. Still, it was so different from the way her own mother worked that Sabrina could never feel comfortable with Mrs. Taylor. Knowing how much it smothered Freddy didn’t help.
“That’s so nice of you, but I’m looking forward to it and have another appointment in town anyway. I appreciate it, though.” She looked behind Katrina to where Freddy made praying hands and mouthedthank yourepeatedly.
“How about I clean up here while you two are gone, then. I’m sure Freddy has laundry that needs done, and it looks like the bookcases in the living room could use a good dusting.”
Behind her, Freddy mimed his horror, and Sabrina laughed without thinking.
Thankfully, she turned to find Freddy looking calm, with no hint that he’d just been making exaggerated gagging motions.
“We’re good, Mom,” he told her. “Seriously, I think both of us need the day to sort ourselves out. Didn’t Dad say he wanted to start organizing the attic?”
“It’s almost ninety degrees. That attic’s got to be sweltering. There’s no way that man can go up there today,” Katrina said.
“You might want to spend the day at home to keep an eye on him.” Freddy kept his eyes on his coffee while he spoke.His nonchalance impressed Sabrina, but then, she was always surprised by how well he played his part amongst his family.
Katrina sighed, “I suppose you’re right. You’ll call if you need anything?”
“Of course, Mom.”
Mrs. Taylor turned to Sabrina.
“Absolutely,” she agreed.
“I guess I’ll head home, then.” She looked around the house as if she were searching for something else to keep her there, but before she could find anything, Freddy set down his mug and offered to walk her out.
