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“Hmm.” Setting her pencil down, she shoves the puzzle aside. “What’s cooking, good looking? You’re up early.”
“I know. Couldn’t sleep. Where’s Poppa?”
“He went to breakfast with his buddies from the men’s club. What’s up?” Her head bobs, platinum blonde hair swishing across her narrow shoulders. My dad got his broad build from Poppa because Mimi’s tiny, barely hitting five feet. But she’s a firecracker, make no mistake about it.
I slide into the seat next to her, the scent of freshly brewed coffee swirling through the air. A rooster crows in the backyard and a dog barks in the distance.
“How are Toast and Jammy? You feed them already today?”
“I did. Fed and watered the greedy little goats. Otherwise, they’d make quick work of my garden. We can wander out and say hi, though, if you want.”
I shrug, then rest my elbows on the table. “It’s okay. Maybe later.”
“Alright.”
Mimi sits quietly, waiting for me to spill the tea and tell her what’s wrong. I tuck my leg up under me and gnaw on my bottom lip, focus on choosing the exact right words.
“Has Dad always been broken?”
“’Scuse me?” Mimi’s eyebrows crush together. “What do you mean?”
“Before Mom. What was he like? Did he take risks?”
“You want to know if your father took risks? What are we talking about here, exactly?”
“Not like skydiving or drag racing or jumping off the roof of a boat dock. Not those kinds of risk.”
“What kind then?” She tips her head, twirling the pencil in her fingers.
“Like—in love.”
“Well, sugar, I think you’d best ask him. As crazy as it sounds, your father didn’t tell me much about his love life.”
“C’mon. He tells you everything.”
“He tells mesomethings now. But back in high school, when your mother was around? No. God, no. That boy told us nothing. Good thing, too, or you might not be here.” She half-chuckles at the joke and I let out a heavy sigh.
“Dad does not want to talk about Mom with me. Or his love life. Guaranteed.” I pick at a loose thread fraying on my shorts.
“Your daddy’s never been one for idle chatter, that’s for sure.” Mimi takes a sip of coffee, then sets the mug down, her finger dancing over the embossed daisy pattern. “Listen—you’re almost thirty years old now, so I feel like I can finally say some things. Maybe it’ll answer your question.”
She sucks at her teeth and stares out the window over the kitchen sink for a long minute before speaking again.
“Your daddy was wildly in love with your mother. That was clear any time they were together. And why wouldn’t he be? Every boy was crazy about her. She was beautiful and popular, a cheerleader and the homecoming queen.” Mimi pauses and I hold perfectly still, afraid to move and break the spell. This is the most she’s ever told me about my mom and I don’t want her to stop.
“The two of them dated from sophomore year until she left town. They were the golden couple of Thunder Creek High.”
The only photos I’ve seen of my mom are from old high school yearbooks. My dad doesn’t have one picture of the two of them together, or of her with me. Three years together and there’s nothing, no trace of them as a couple. Of her at all.
I shift in my chair, trying to absorb this new information.Sure, I’ve heard a few things here and there, through the grapevine. I knew my mom was popular, a little on the wilder side. But that’s all. Everyone has the decency not to bring her up around me or my dad.
Mimi presses her lips together and I’m afraid that’s all I’m going to learn, all that she’ll say.
“What happened, Mimi? Really?”
“Broad strokes—your mama got pregnant senior year, but hid it real well. Easier to do when it’s your first pregnancy, and it was winter. By the time graduation rolled around, she was showing. Your mama’s family was Catholic and I don’t think they took the news very well. They never came ‘round here or talked to me or your Poppa about anything.”
“Your daddy had a full-ride to Georgia to play football. But he was in love and gonna be a daddy. So he turned them down and told your mama he was staying, asked her to marry him.” Mimi folds the edge of the napkin beneath her mug, unfolds the corner, then folds it again.
