When they got back into the car, she stopped him from putting the key in the ignition, wrapping her hand around his. “Chris, I am sorry you’re spending your birthday away from your friends and family, but I guess I’m a little selfish because I really love having you around. And I speak for Steven and myself when I say, if you ever feel like you need someone to talk to or a place to stay or anything else, we’ll be there for you. You’ve become part of our family.”
“That means a lot to me,” Chris said, his throat clogging with emotion, his nose and eyes stinging. “More than you’ll ever know.”
“Love you, sweetheart.”
He buried his head in her neck, feeling more love in that moment than he had in a very long time. “Love you too.”
After the solid cry, Chris pulled himself together and drove back home.
Pattie pointed at a car parked in front of her house. “Shelley’s here.” She glanced over to him. “Do you want to come in? Steven should be home in a few minutes.”
Not quite ready to be alone yet, he said, “Yeah, okay.”
“You always know when Shelley’s here because she leaves her keys in the door.” She pointed at said keys in the door then called out, “Shell?”
“I was on my way to the store,” her daughter answered, trudging down the stairs, concentrating on fixing her shirt over her round belly, “but I had to pee so bad, I couldn’t hold it.” She glanced up and froze, seeing Chris standing next to her mother.
He waved. “Hey.”
“Oh, hello. That’s not embarrassing at all.” Then she looked to her mom. “Do you have any Oreos?”
“Do you think I could keep something like that out of your father’s hands? Of course we don’t have Oreos.”
“Do you have any cookies? Of any kind? The baby’s hungry.”
Pattie led them into the kitchen and dug through a cupboard. Hidden behind boxes of brown rice and Cheerios was a bag of fat-free, sugar-free, chocolate chip cookies. Shelley frowned but opened them anyway.
“So, what’s up, Chris?” she asked.
“Not much. Me and your mom just got back from a hot date.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Mm-hmm.” Pattie started a pot of coffee, waving Chris over to help. “It was lovely.”
“But she insisted on paying, so it wasn’t much of a date. Thank you, by the way, Pattie.”
She smiled at him then turned to her daughter. “I’m making decaf for us, but do you want me to make you some tea?”
Shelley shook her head, and Chris helped himself by grabbing two mugs, sensing her concentration on him as he busied himself with retrieving the milk and sugar as well. He fixed up Pattie’s coffee—half and half with two sugars—then sat down across from Shelley with his own cup.
She eyed him. “So…this date, any particular reason for it?”
“It’s my birthday,” he said into his cup.
“Oh my gosh, happy birthday!”
Chris caught the hint of false delight in Shelley’s voice.
She went on, “Scorpio, huh? How old are you today?”
“Twenty-eight.”
“Wow, I can’t believe it!”
Now, he knew he wasn’t imagining it. There was a purpose to her questions.
“That’s so funny. You have the same birthday as a famous actor. You know, I’m kind of a student of all things celebrity gossip.”