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Because I knew better.
“Mother?” I dragged out the word and laced it with the suspicion I was feeling.
She came clacking down the staircase, a tiny woman on two tiny heels. I mean, if you considered five-five tiny. I was five-seven in comparison, inheriting an extra two inches from a father I’d never met.
“Oh, baby! I missed you,” she cooed and ran her fingers through my hair.
I smacked them away. “What is this all about?”
“What?”
“Don’t‘what’me.” I rolled my eyes.
“Okay, well…” She pulled me into the next room. “I met a man!” She threw her hands out at her sides, about one twitch away from sporting full-on spirit fingers.
“Uh-huh,” I deadpanned. “And?” She met a dozen new men a month, so…
She held her left hand out to me. “I’m engaged!”
I took in the enormous rock. “Okay…”God, my mom was exhausting.“And you met this guy in Vegas, just this weekend?”
“No, of course not. We’ve been dating for a while now.”
This was news to me.
“But it’s perfect,” she continued. “You’ll be eighteen next month, so you’ll totally be fine on your own.”
“Because you’re moving?” I frowned. Not much surprised me when it came to this woman, but this was new. A whole new level ofI don’t know how to parent properlywas being reached, and it was something to see. This was a prime example of how the desire for love (or pretending not to want anything to do with it while searching for it in all the wrong places) could make you insane.
My mother, people.
“No, no, no. I told him I’ll be flying back every weekend to check on you, and you know what he said?”
I didn’t answer her. I was about two seconds away from slapping some sense into her.
“‘Take my private jet!’” she squealed. I scoffed, shaking my head, and she burst out into laughter. “Haha! Your face right now!” She clapped her hands together and threw her head back in another deep laugh. “I really had you, didn’t I?”
“Oh my god, you’re the worst,” I groaned. This was her idea of a joke. Again, people—my mother. I’d just about hit my limit. I threw my backpack onto the floor and started up the stairs. “Enjoy your dinner, psycho.”
“But don’t you want to know who our actual dinner guest is?” she sang.
“Nope. Not at all. Not even a little bit. Have fun!” I threw the last two words out sarcastically, and that’s when he stepped out from the hallway and halted at the top of the staircase with a huge grin. Still in uniform. Tall brown boots, camo get-up and all.
“Holy shit!” I shrieked. My brother was back from bootcamp. I raced up the stairs and tackled him into the wall. When his arms slid around me, I felt like I could finally breathe again.
“Missed you, kiddo.”
“Not more than I missed you,” I exhaled the words into his chest. I wasn’t going to let him go. Not ever. I looked up at him. “What the hell are you doing here?”
His smile grew wider. “Came home for a visit before I head to SOI.” School of Infantry, I was pretty sure. His explanation of it all had been a blur.
“How long do I have you?” I asked.
“Two days.”
“Two days?” I deflated. “That’s crap. I thought you got longer than that?”
His arms tightened around me before he tried to let me go, but I wasn’t having it. I may have had a crazy-pants for a mother and father I didn’t know, but my brother… he was everything. Everything those two hadn’t been for me and more. I squeezed him harder, and he chuckled. “I know, but I’ve been off a couple days now already—I had some things to take care of. And then some of the guys and I are headed to Vegas for a few days before we head back.”