Page 53 of Three Not-So-Little Words (The Lawson’s #3)

fifty-three

Uh, Talent?

Ronnie

Y ou’d think a knock on the door would send Arlo into a frenzy, but all he does is sit in front of the door and look at it and then back at me. I’m not sure I’ve heard this dog bark at all, which makes me wonder if he was disciplined when he barked at his old home.

As I walk past him, I give him a pat on the head. “Good boy.”

I open it up to find my mother standing there.

“Hey, Mom.” I immediately turn around because I know she will follow me inside.

“How’s it going, Veronica?”

She stops and looks at the dog for just a second. “When did you get a dog?”

“About a week ago. This is Arlo.”

“Hi, Arlo,” she greets as she follows me to the kitchen. “So, a dog, huh? You really are putting down some roots.”

“Eh, kind of. Drew has agreed to watch him for me if I go out on a job or whatever.”

“Ah, I see.” She takes a seat at a barstool that sits in front of the kitchen island. Her eyes dart to the pan on the stove. “What are you cooking?”

“Oh, uh, just some beef.”

“Beef for what?”

“Just beef,” I say, hoping she will drop it.

Realization sets in. “You made beef just for the dog, didn’t you?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Veronica Lawson, you won’t cook for yourself, but you’ll cook for your dog?”

“To be fair, the dog will probably still think it tastes good. His standards are lower than my own.”

She laughs. “Do you remember when you were younger, and I tried to teach you how to cook? My God, you were absolutely awful.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“You literally messed up boiling water.” She laughs at the mere thought of it. “How do you mess up boiling water?”

“Uh, talent?”

“Or lack there of.”

As I’m moving the meat around the pan, I ask, “Mom, did you come here for a reason, or are you just here to bust my balls?”

“I came over to visit and just chat. We haven’t talked in a while, but the ball busting is just an added bonus.”

“Did you have something specific you needed to talk about?” I ask.

“Do I need something specific, or can I just visit my daughter?”

“You don’t need something specific. But usually when you come by, you have a topic in mind. You have five kids, so you’re usually pretty to-the-point instead of just shooting the shit.”

She sighs, knowing that I’m right. “I wanted to talk to you about Michelle.”

“What about Michelle?”

“I’m worried about her. Have you talked to her lately?”

I think for a second. “Probably not in a couple of weeks aside from some random texting. Last time we talked seriously was when we went shopping, and she told me she was worried about her relationship with Eve. Is that what you are worried about?”

“No, I had no idea about any of that. You know, she’s been doing that whole online dating thing for a while now.”

“Yeah,” I answer.

“She told me the other day that she is just giving up on the whole idea of finding someone. She’s just going to stop trying.”

“And you’re worried about this?” I ask.

“Aren’t you?”

“Mom, I feel like I’m missing a big part of the puzzle here. Michelle says a lot of things. Why are you so concerned about this? What am I missing?”

“Out of all of you girls, Michelle has always believed in love more than anything. She always had dreams, but what she wanted more than anything was to settle down with someone who treated her right–her soulmate. But over the years, she’s dated asshole after asshole, and it’s made her not even believe in the idea of love. ”

I get what she means. Michelle has always wanted a happily ever after, and she deserves it. But I could understand why she would quit believing after all of the shit that she’s endured.

“I can see where you’re coming from, but what do you want to do about it, Mom?”

“Maybe you could talk to her.”

“Ha!” I cry. “Why the hell would she listen to me about love? What the fuck do I know about it?”

“You found it with Drew, right?”

“I don’t know that I would call it love.”

She rolls her eyes. “Sometimes, you are so clueless, Veronica.”

I groan. “Aren’t we supposed to be talking about Michelle?”

“Yes, but don’t think we aren’t going to circle back around to you.”

Can’t wait.

She continues. “I just thought maybe you could talk to her because you were so anti-love and relationship for so long, but now, you’re happy. You found someone that fits your quirks, and I think Michelle can find that too. But she can’t just give up on the whole idea of love.”

“Mom, maybe it’s a good thing.”

“Why would you say that?”

“Because she probably needs to stop looking so hard. Maybe if she did, a great guy would find her instead of the other way around. She needs to stop putting so much pressure on it and just let something happen organically. Look at Liz and Dylan. They both found people when they weren’t looking–and I guess I did too.

” I mumble the last words as not to give her the impression that she’s right.

“I just worry about all of you.”

“I know. But you’ve always been good at standing back and letting us make our own mistakes. I think you need to do that with Michelle too.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Before we can go any further, my front door swings open again, and Dylan comes running in.

“Damn, is this Grand Central Station today?” I ask.

“Ronnie, why the fuck are you not answering your phone?” He practically yells.

“Oh, sorry, I think it’s on the charger in the other room.”

“You need to come now.”

“What? Why?”

“Drew has been in a car accident. He’s in the hospital.”

My stomach drops. “What? How bad?”

“I don’t know. I just know he was in an accident. Come on. I’ll drive.”

Not again. I can’t do this again. What if he dies? What if he leaves me all alone just like Aaron did?

“I can’t just leave,” I stammer. “I’ve got stuff on the stove and the dog…”

Mom steps in. “Go. I will handle everything here.”

Quickly, I grab my coat as we head out the door.

Stopping in the driveway, I look at my brother. With tears in my eyes and my voice cracking, I say, “Dylan, I–”

He comes over and grabs my hands. “I know. Let’s just get to the hospital and see what’s going on.”