"Told you so," I said, turning to her as the car came to a halt in the driveway.
"That's a bedroom light. Maybe she just forgot to turn it off before she went to bed?" said Stacy, but I could tell she was having regrets.
"Nope. That's her studio's light. She's painting. The kitchen light will go on in three two one," I said, watching Stacy's nervous face as I counted down with a grin.
The nerves were an improvement from the distant cold eyes I'd been getting since we left Willow's school. I don't know what to say to her that will make us running off together okay in her head.
Willow was never going to forgive me for missing graduation. Plus I wanted Stacy to know how special she was to me by having her meet my mom. I thought bringing Stacy to Ohio would appease everyone, but clearly that was an error in judgement on my part. All Stacy seemed to see was what I was giving up for her. It's been fucking with her head all night. Knowing that has been fucking with mine.
Sure enough, a moment later, the kitchen light went on and I was wearing my I told you so face when Stacy's head whipped around to me in shock. I jumped out of the car and went over to her side to open the door. When I got to her, she was digging through her handbag, frantically searching.
"Left side pocket," I said, a little surprised at myself for knowing where she kept shit in her fucking handbag better than she did.
"It's so great that you and your mom both have artistic passions," she said, digging into her left side pocket and pulling out the scrunchie she had been looking for. "Her paintings are beautiful."
"Save the ass kissing for my mom, Kendrick," I said, calmly watching her pull back her sweaty tresses into a ponytail and then she was back to digging in her handbag. "First front pocket. Maybe, just maybe if you keep your distance she won't be able to tell you smell like sex and there's come running down your legs," I said teasingly, as she pulled her compact out of the first front pocket.
"How the fuck do you keep doing that?" she snapped, as she opened up her compact and went to work fixing her face.
"I don't know. It's fucking embarrassing," I said, taking her hands and dragging her out of her seat when she was done with her touch up. "It's going to be fine. We don't have to stay long. Just walk in there, say goodnight and then I'll take you upstairs for a shower. Sound good?"
"I can't believe I let you fuck me at Willow's prom," she grumbled as I led her to the front door.
"Let me? You started it, saying I was being too subtle on the dance floor," I said, goading her.
"That is not what I said," she complained in horror as we arrived at the front door. "I said—"
Just as she was about to quote herself to me, probably word for word because she's a show off, the front door opened.
"Yes baby? What did you say?" I asked, daring her to say the words in front of my mom.
"You made it home before Willow. Come on in," said my mom, walking away right after acknowledging our presence, much to Stacy's relief.
Once we got into the kitchen, my mom was already hard at work, getting the coffee maker going.
"Oh no, Mrs. Brady, we're actually really tired—" Stacy began.
"It's Lisa dear," my mom insisted, setting three cups down on the table.
"Right. Lisa. Of course," said Stacy, grabbing onto my collar and whispering to me, "Get me the fuck out of here."
"Calm down, I got it," I said with a chuckle. "Mom, Stacy's actually… What's this?" I asked my mom, switching course when I came across a gift box on the kitchen table just in case my mom was about to throw me off with another creepy gift for Stacy.
"Shit," said Stacy under her breath.
"Oh, I hope you don't mind dear. Willow found it in your room before you left for prom," said my mom.
I banged my palm against my forehead, then turned to Stacy, with an apologetic look on my face. "I'm so sorry. I'm going to kill Willow. Mom, Willow shouldn't have—"
She slid her hand across the table, took my hand and squeezed, smiling at me warmly, before she said, "It's okay. It does say for Lisa on the box after all." Then she turned to my mom, pushed the box forward and said, "Please, go ahead."
Where had Stacy hidden this mystical box that I wasn't aware of it until now?
"So exciting. My first gift from my daughter in law," said my mom.
Choosing to pick my battles, I let that one slide and turned my suspicion on my girlfriend instead.
"I better not regret getting on that plane with you, Kendrick," I said, as I watched my mom unwrap her gift with bated breath.
"Don't worry, you'll like it. Hopefully she does too," said Stacy, her urgency to leave the room forgotten as my mom pulled a scrapbook out of the box.
Stacy went over to where my mom stood, nervously wringing her hands as my mom flipped open to the first page and explained, "It's a detailed record of my friendship with Scott, as well as our relationship. The photos are mostly his. You're always sharing your stories about him with me. I just wanted to share mine too. I hope that's okay," Stacy said, looking at my mom, holding her breath.
"That's lovely dear," said my mom, welling up and wrapping Stacy in a tight hug, which she returned with a sigh of relief.
Not wanting to ruin the moment they were having, I kept my mouth shut and just smiled, sitting down to watch them. So much made sense to me now. Why she was suddenly interested in seeing my backlog of old photos. Trust Stacy Kendrick to rip me off and take all the credit for seven years worth of photos taken by me. The worst part is I was as swept off my feet as my mom at the gesture. Suddenly I hated that we were leaving. That we might never get a moment like this again hurt more than I expected it to.
"We don't get to see him nearly enough since he moved to New York, so this is just… Tell me everything. Where was this one taken?" said my mom, urging Stacy to keep talking, much to the latter's joy.
Not wanting to interrupt their spirited conversation, I got up and poured the coffee for us, setting it down in front of them.
"You look like you had a lot of fun here. Were you out celebrating?" asked my mom, running her hands over a photo of Stacy and I at the first coffee shop Stacy worked at.
I was just about to leave them be when Stacy pulled me into the conversation.
"Hey, remember this one?" she said, tugging on my sleeve.
"I remember every second with you, Stace. You'd never know it from how happy Stacy looks, but this is actually after she got fired," I said, laying my hands on her shoulders instead of going back to my seat.
If I wasn't already in love with her, this would have been the moment it happened. When she gave me a special memory with her and my mom to carry with me.
"That's because you came over and made me order everything on the menu. Then you took this photo with us making silly faces in front of the whole spread before we dined and dashed," she said, laughing as she ratted me out to my mom.
"Scott Brady, why I never," my mom said, holding her hand to her chest before she joined in the laughter.
"Relax mom. My goody two shoes girlfriend completely defeated the purpose of what we did by going back the next day and paying the bill," I said, rolling my eyes and joining in on their infectious laughter.
We moved into the living room, where Stacy and I sat on either side of my mom, talking her through photo after photo for over an hour. Willow eventually stumbled through the door and got an earful for breaking curfew. There was so much warmth and joy in the house
that my mom let it go pretty much immediately in favor of continuing our conversation.