The Marriage Contract by Natasha Black (best novels ever .TXT) 📗

“Yes, Mom,” I said. “They always had good Halloween candy. Why?”

“Oh that’s right, they did so love Halloween,” Mom said, getting sidetracked. “Remember when you dressed up as Batman? You wouldn’t take that costume off for weeks.”

“Yes, Mom,” I said, grinning and shaking my head. “That was almost thirty years ago. Is there something more recent about Mrs. Rizzo I should know?”

“Lord, it has been thirty years almost,” Mom said. “Where does the time go? You were such a cute little boy. Five years old and full of energy.”

She sighed the happy, wistful sigh of remembrance that she always did when she thought about me and my brothers being young.

“Still here,” I said. “Just older and less cute.”

“Stop that,” she said. “You are as beautiful as the day you were born.”

“Anyway,” I said, wanting to move her along, “What’s going on with Mrs. Rizzo?”

“Well, she has a daughter—do you remember her? Little Alicia?” she asked. The name didn’t ring a bell.

“No, not really,” I said. “Was she my age?”

“A little younger,” Mom said. “She’s thirty now. And single.”

“Ah,” I said, realization creeping in.

“She just came back to Astoria,” Mom continued, blowing right past my obvious catching on. “Catalina said she was trying to find her a nice boy to go out to dinner with, and I thought I would set you two up on a date.”

“I see,” I said, shaking my head. “I appreciate it, but I’m going to have to pass.”

“Oh, but you don’t know her,” Mom said. “She’s the sweetest girl. I ran into them at the grocery store, and she is very, very pretty. Long blonde hair like her mother. Very sweet and petite and respectful. You should go out with her. Just to dinner.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “I don’t need to be set up, Mom. Thank you, though.”

“Matthew,” she said, “you aren’t getting any younger, my son. I just want to see you happy. This girl is so sweet and nice; why don’t you go on a tiny little date with her? Catalina said she remembers you from when she was little. I think she had a crush! It would be so cute.”

I sighed. “No thanks, Mom. I’m two hours away. Besides, I don’t need to be set up right now.”

I winced when I said it. I’d given her an opening.

“Right now?” she asked. “Does that mean there’s someone occupying your time? Are you not telling me something?”

“I have to go, Mom,” I said. “Break’s over. I’ve got to get back to work.”

“You would tell your dear old mother if you were seeing someone, wouldn’t you? It would make my heart so happy to hear that,” she said.

“I love you, Mom. Got to go. Goodbye,” I said, hanging up. I took a deep, long gulp of the beer, emptying it before tossing it into the recycling bin.

The proposition was looking a whole lot better now. It was silly when it was separated from the situation, but all I needed was one call with Mom to remind me just how ridiculous she could get.

10

Chloe

I hated having to pack.

It was my last day at the hotel, not by choice. The card I used to reserve the room had been my parents’, and while I still had a little bit of money to fall back on with my secret account, I couldn’t live in the hotel forever. My first check from the restaurant had come in, and Hannah had split some tips with me, but it was going to be a few weeks until I had enough money to strike out on my own and also be able to feed myself, so Hannah and Jordan offered for me to come stay with them.

It was really sweet of them, and I appreciated it more than they knew, but it wasn’t ideal. They had a baby and it felt intrusive. They were newlyweds with an infant, and there I was, a pampered adult coming to crash in their apartment. But my options weren’t many.

When I finally had everything packed up, I went downstairs into the lobby and checked out. Then I hopped in the car and GPS’d the address to Hannah and Jordan’s apartment building. They didn’t live terribly far away, only a few minutes in traffic, and I got there not long after, having made only one wrong turn and having to circle back around.

Hannah met me at the curb and helped me unload the car. When we got into their apartment, I felt safe, like I was actually in a place where I could breathe easily, for the first time in weeks. The guest room, which I believed had been turned into a nursery, had been completely redone just for me. Hannah always loved redecorating, and she apparently had been at it in the two days since we decided I would stay there. The walls were light pink, but there were strands of white Christmas lights instead of a lamp, just like I had when we were kids. My parents had hated that, but it was my favorite thing in the world, and Hannah and I used to shut off the overhead light and stare at them like they were stars.

Other than the lights, she had put in a small bed, a nightstand, a dresser, a desk, and a television. If I had to guess, she had been planning on getting all of those things anyway and might have had them in storage from when she moved to Portland herself. I appreciated the attempt to make me feel at home anyway and gave her a big hug as I set my stuff down.

“This is wonderful,” I said. “Thank you. I won’t be taking up your space for long.”

“Nonsense,” she said. “You are family. Jordan and I both agreed you can stay here as long as you need to. I have to get up in the night to nurse Claire anyway, so it’ll be easier having her in our room.”

“Thank you, again. Both of you. I don’t