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CHAPTER 20
Cash
“Boy, that Cheyenne sure is a doll.” Mitch put out the fire in the pit that was in the center of their backyard as I folded up the last of the chairs to bring inside.
“She is.” I agreed.
I hadn’t spent much, or any, one-on-one time with Mitch in the six years that he’d been married to my mom. But we were going to be going fishing on this trip and I was actually looking forward to it.
Tonight, at the party, I’d spoken to a lot of his family and they all said the same thing. My mom saved him. They all said that if it wasn’t for her, they weren’t sure he would have made it through his first wife’s illness and passing.
This visit had shown me the sort of man he was. He was a good guy. A family man. A hard worker. And he worshipped my mom. Every time she walked into a room he was in, he couldn’t seem to keep his hands off of her.
His PDA didn’t bother me so much now. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was getting used to it or if it was the insight into my mom’s marriage. I could only imagine how healing it would be to have that sort of attention in her relationship and be shown that much affection.
And it obviously was because my mom was the happiest I’d ever seen her, and I knew that had a lot to do with Mitch.
“Your mama sure misses you.” Mitch’s comment had a slight edge of accusation to it.
I didn’t blame him. I was her only son and I hadn’t made the effort I should to come and see her. I hadn’t made any effort at all, really. I had come up for the wedding. Once when she was hospitalized for pneumonia. And then one other visit after she’d cried, two phone calls in a row, because she missed me. Not exactly son of the year behavior.
“I miss her, too. I’m gonna come visit more.”
“She’d love that.” Mitch slapped a hand on my shoulder before walking across the deck toward the sliding door that led into the family room.
“Thank you.” I hadn’t meant to say it, the words just came out of my mouth without me really meaning for them to.
He turned and looked over his shoulder, his bushy brows crinkled with confusion. “For what?”
“For being the man that my mom deserves. For loving her the way you do and for your family accepting her the way they do. She’s lucky to have you.”
Mitch’s glasses started to fog up and he wiped his finger and thumb beneath his eyes as he sniffed. “I’m the lucky one. Colleen saved me. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for your mama. When my Ruthie got sick, I thought my life was over. I couldn’t have imagined a day in this world without her. I didn’t think I could go on.”
For some reason as he spoke all I could think about was Cheyenne and what I would do if anything happened to her. I couldn’t imagine losing her and we weren’t even together.
He sniffed and continued. “Then, I started talking to your mama. She was there for me. She understood the dark days, the desperation, the helplessness. Your mama is my angel, and I thank the Lord above every day that he blessed me with such a selfless, beautiful creature.”
The light on the deck turned on and my mama stepped out onto the deck running her hands up and down her arms. “What are you boys doin’ out here? It’s freezing and those clouds don’t look happy.”
“We were just finishing cleaning up.” Mitch wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled into her neck.
Now, instead of it making me uncomfortable, I was smiling from ear to ear. My mom was glowing as she hugged her husband back. I was following the lovebirds inside when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw that it was Billy calling.
Fuck. I’d been waiting to hear from him. I was actually surprised that it took this long for him to call.
“I’ll be right in,” I told my mom and Mitch before turning around and walking to the edge of the deck to answer the call. “Hey.”
“Are you with Cheyenne?” Billy practically growled.
“Yes. We’re at my mom’s.”
“Your mom’s?”
“It’s her birthday tomorrow and she had a party tonight.”
“What the fuck is Cheyenne doing there?”
“Have you talked to her?” I didn’t feel right disclosing that Cheyenne was looking for her father.
