Page 64 of Killer Blonde

“Oh, Silas. Did you lose your phone again?” I could just see her shaking her head at me.

“Yeah, I think I dropped it on the street the other day.”

Another white lie, one that I’d given her a slanted version of many times before.

“Are you okay, honey?” she asked.

“You and Dad were in love right?” I had no idea why I’d asked that because I knew they had been. I might have been young but I trusted my memories, the looks they always gave each other weren’t something that could have been faked.

“You know we were.” There was a longing sigh. “I loved your father dearly. I still miss him every day. What is this about?”

The last thing I wanted to do was get her hopes up for something that might not be. I had these feelings inside me. And if I really thought about it, I wanted more with Jessica. Which was fucking strange. She was so much like the little girl I knew but now she was even brighter. Like that made any sense. Her laugh, her smile, the way she liked to joke back with me— I found myself wanting more. And I didn’t want it to ever stop. Not to mention how it felt to simply kiss her tonight.

But I had no clue where her head was at.

“Silas?” Mom’s voice broke through all of my thoughts.

“How did you know?”

“That I was in love?”

“Yes,” I answered.

“Oh, well, I remember the exact moment it hit me,” she said and I could hear the happiness in her voice as she thought about that moment. “It was our third date. He took me out to his grandad’s farm and I was thinking it was going to be horrible. But then he drove his truck up next to a frozen lake that I didn’t even know was there. We went ice skating and it was so romantic just the two of us. As he was helping me untie my laces after we were done, he looked up at me. That was it, there was something that told me this was the man for me right at that very moment.”

“So you’re telling me there wasn’t anything real behind it?” I asked causing her to chuckle at me.

“There was something real. Not to get all sappy on you, but there was everything in that look. Hope and love and promises. There was a future in that look.”

Her words only confused me more.

“You’re useless, Mom,” I said in a joking tone.

“Why is it that you’re asking? Is there someone in your life now?” The excitement in her voice was screaming at me.

“No, I was just thinking, that’s all.”

“Fine,” she sighed out sounding like a deflated balloon. “Well, when you do find it, you’ll know. You’ll feel it. And you’ll do everything to make sure that love stays protected and safe.”

“Thanks, Mom. I love you. Got to go.”

It was like I’d been struck with lightning.

I knew what I had to do.

“Love you too. Am I going to see you soon?”

“Yes, soon. Bye.”

I hung up right after she yelled her goodbye at me quickly. Somehow I think she got it, you know, with that weird mom magic or something.

I dialed another number right away.

“Yeah?”

“Dalton, need a favor.”

“Seems you need a lot of those lately,” he said not sounding even a little bit happy.