ROYAL ROCK(83)

Afterwards, I showered and dressed. It was 0900, and Lucille would be expecting me by 1000 for breakfast, or brunch, or whatever the shit she was calling it. Then I’d meet her new man and his daughter, smile and be all polite and shit, and then hopefully get the fuck out of there to start hunting down the girl that had promised to suck me dry.

I did some quick body-weight drills, getting my muscles back into shape after the long stay in the hospital. My leg ached still, but I didn’t mind a little pain. Sometimes the pain just made all the good stuff that much sweeter.

Finally finished, I hit the road, walking into town. I was supposed to meet her at this little uppity restaurant to catch up first before meeting her new man, probably because she wanted to feel me out before bringing me back home. That was typical of my mom, always expecting me to fucking embarrass her. Which was ironic, because I spent most of my life either trying to ignore her or feeling embarrassed by her shit.

I found the place around 1010 and started to walk inside. The skinny blond man with a thin mustache standing at the station out front gave me a huge frown when he got a look at my sneakers, tattered jeans, and tight black T-shirt. However, Lucille caught my eye and waved me over before he could make some comment about their dress code. I gave him my most winning smile as I walked by.

“Nathan, dear!” she said, standing up.

“Hi, Lucille.” We hugged, a little awkwardly, and sat back down at the table.

“It’s great to see you. You look thin!”

“No, I don’t.”

“Is the army not feeding you?”

“I’m not in the army. And they’re not feeding me at all since I’m on leave.”

“I know that, dear, but before.”

“I was in the hospital, or do you not remember?” Of course she had never once visited me. I couldn’t imagine Lucille stepping foot anywhere near a military-affiliated place, let alone an actual VA hospital.

She frowned and took a sip of her drink, a Bloody Mary, which was Lucille’s usual breakfast.

“Of course I remember that, dear. I’m just making an observation.”

“Understood.” I opened the menu and sighed at the options. “Can’t a man just get some damn normal pancakes?”

Mom laughed. “Oh, Nathan, you haven’t changed. They have pancakes here, just ask.”

“So what’s with this breakfast, anyway?”

“I wanted to see you.”

“Yeah? Or did you want to feel me out before taking me to meet your new guy?”

“Honey, that’s enough. I don’t know why you’re always so suspicious of me.” She paused and sipped her drink again. “Besides, it’s not like you haven’t made a scene with men in the past.”

I nodded, not surprised at her confirmation. Those “scenes” she was referring to were more like “punching an asshole for treating me like I was a little kid.” I regretted that particular moment, but then again, the guy turned out to be a total dick. Went to jail for embezzlement, cost his company and his employees a lot of money. Lucille got out of there pretty fast, and I had felt a little vindicated.

The waiter came over and I ordered a black coffee and a stack of pancakes. Lucille asked for toast and another Bloody Mary.

“Okay. Tell me about this new guy,” I said to her once the waiter left.

“You’ll really like him. He owns bars and restaurants and clubs all over the place, including that new place called Secrets.”

I nodded. I was at Secrets the night before, which reminded me of Claire. I took a sip of the scalding black coffee the waiter put down in front of me to distract me from Claire’s lips.

“I’m not as attracted to his money as you are.”

“Nathan. He’s a very nice man. He treats me very well.”

“Yeah? And is this one going to stay out of jail?”

“Nathan, please. You don’t have to be so antagonistic all the time.”

I sighed and shook my head. “Okay. Fine. We can call a truce.”

She smiled, relieved when her second drink appeared. “Okay, a truce. Just try and be nice to him and his daughter, okay? Did I tell you about his daughter? Her name is Claire, very pretty, maybe a little younger than you.”

I raised an eyebrow at the name. Claire? How common was that name? There was no way it was the girl from the night before. That just wasn’t possible.

“That’s good. So long as you’re happy.”

“It makes me very happy to hear that.”

Our food came not too long after, and I put up with Mom’s constant stories about all of the expensive dinners and parties she had been going to with her new man. I was distracted, wondering about that name, Claire, and if it could possibly be the same person. Could the universe be so cruel as to make that girl my new stepsister?