Mia Like Crazy (26 page)

“To Meri’s. Cleaning lady will be here in forty-five minutes.”

“Come on, Drew!” I said with exasperation. “I’m tired of running away from the cleaning lady!”

“Well, I’m going,” he insisted as he lifted the tray from in front of me. “And Meri and the kids will be really disappointed if you don’t go. Ben’s out of school today for a teacher workday or something.”

“Okay, okay,” I surrendered as I climbed out of bed. “How about if we save time by showering together?” I asked, even though I was sure he’d already bathed.

“How would that save time?” he asked. “We have two showers.”

“Oh,
now
you’re logical! Haven’t you addressed this cleaning-lady phobia with your shrink yet?”

“I have bigger fish to fry, don’t you think?”

I certainly couldn’t argue with that.

~

As it turned out, we were attending a little pumpkin carving party. Meridith had bought pumpkins for the five of us, assuming we’d be over, since it was cleaning lady day. Neither Drew nor I had ever carved a pumpkin. However, Ben was very happy to instruct us on the methods.

Before we began, Meridith brought out beverages for everyone, and huge barbecue aprons for Drew and me to protect our clothing. I commented on how Meridith always thought of everything.

According to Ben, the options were to either draw a pattern on your pumpkin freehand, or use a stencil to transfer a design. Everyone except Drew picked out their favorite stencil.

Meridith chose the haunted house, Molly a goofy, cross-eyed ghost, and Ben said he’d known since last year he wanted to carve Frankenstein.

When it came my turn to look through the patterns, it felt like a monumental decision. This was the one chance in my life to carve a pumpkin, and I wanted to get it right.

“Mia, you’ll get to do another one next year,” Meridith finally said.

I was touched to know I had been completely accepted as part of the family. I hoped with all my heart Meridith was right, and I’d be spending holidays with them in the years to come.

I picked up the black cat stencil and taped it on my pumpkin. I chose it, both because I liked the slinky mysterious animal and because it didn’t look too complicated for my first time.

“Not yet, Aunt Mia,” Ben spoke authoritatively. “You have to get the gunk out first!”

“The gunk?”

Drew snickered as he leaned toward me and bragged, “Even
I
knew that.”

We cut the tops out of the pumpkins and scraped the insides clean. I started a “gunk” fight with Drew and the kids happily joined in. I felt like I was living the childhood I’d always dreamed of. I wondered if Drew felt the same way.

I worked meticulously on my cat, determined it was going to be just right. When the carving started, Drew had scooted off by himself and moved his pumpkin so no one else could see. After I finished mine, I tried to get a peek, but he shooed me away.

After the carving was done, Meridith brought candles from the kitchen and closed the heavy drapes to darken the room. Everyone set their completed jack-o-lanterns side by side, then Meridith put the candles inside four of the pumpkins and lit them. Drew took the last candle and the lighter away from his sister.

We stood back to admire our handiwork. I congratulated myself on my efforts, which had yielded a perfect Halloween cat. Meridith and the kids were equally satisfied as we all began to “ooh” and “ah” over each other’s jack-o-lanterns. Everyone turned and looked expectantly at Drew. He walked over and set the candle inside his pumpkin, lit it, put the lid on, and stood back.

“Cool!” Ben exclaimed.

“Oooh! Yours is the
scariest
Uncle Drew,” Molly agreed.

Meridith was speechless.

I stared at the odd creation, trying to take it all in. “That’s the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen!” I exclaimed, awestruck. “Drew…you’re an artist!”

I tried to decide what I was looking at as I stared at the bushy eyebrows—one of them arched—thickly veined eyeballs, which gave the effect of being bloodshot, flared nostrils, and the mouth slanted in an evil grin. The creature even appeared to have hair on its cheeks and pointed ears. I tried to put a name to it. It was both fearsome and fantastic, part man, part demon, part werewolf.

Finally, I gave up and asked, “What do you call it?”

“Self-portrait,” he answered without missing a beat.

Chapter Sixteen

Drew and I ended up staying at Meridith’s all day. When we left after an early dinner, I was full of warm, happy feelings. We had set the clocks back a few days before, so I watched the sun setting early through the window on my side of the car. The sky looked like it had been painted by an artist.

I turned to my husband as he drove and wondered how many other talents he had that I was unaware of. “I heard you liked to draw when you were a little boy.”

“You mean the shrink told you,” he said. “Yeah, I liked to draw.”

“When’s the last time you did anything like that?”

He shrugged. “A long time ago, I guess. My dad didn’t approve of it.”

“Why?”

“Probably because I liked it so much.”

We finished the ride home in silence.

After we got there, we decided to watch a movie together on television. Drew popped “real” popcorn and opened a bottle of wine.

When his glass was empty, I refilled it, nonchalantly, and was surprised that he actually finished the second glass during the last part of the movie. I didn’t think two glasses would be nearly enough to lower the inhibitions of a man his size, so I tried to refill the glass one last time, but he caught me and told me he didn’t want anymore.

When the movie was over, he stood up and I was afraid he would give his excuses and turn in for the night. Instead, he lingered near the couch as though trying to think of something to say.

Finally, he resorted to his usual method of showing affection. “Do you want me to make you something to eat?”

“Oh, are we going to be eating a fourth meal…” I looked at the clock on the VCR, “…at ten o’clock from now on?”

“No...” He was obviously uncomfortable. “Since you ate a little early, I thought you might need a snack, or something.”

I looked at the nearly-empty bowl of popcorn in my lap and knew he didn’t want to go to bed alone, now, but it was doubtful he would spend the entire night in the same bed with me for fear of causing me injury.

I became annoyed again, thinking about his ridiculous attitude toward me. He wouldn’t unleash his passion when we made love, and he wouldn’t spend the night with me.

I decided I was in no mood to make things easy for him tonight. Thinking some shock therapy was in order, I answered, “No thanks, and I’m probably going to be skipping breakfast in the morning.”

This announcement had its desired effect. Drew’s face fell. He was obviously concerned about losing the one tried and true way of gaining my company and forgiveness every day. I decided he’d been treating me like a stray cat he needed to feed to keep around, and I was determined to get more than food from now on.

“Why would you skip breakfast?”

“I’ve been putting on weight since I’ve been here,” I explained. “I’m eating too much and not doing enough to work off the calories.” I wondered if he caught the innuendo. “I’m planning to get up and go jogging. Oh and I may be gone several hours tomorrow to the courthouse to get some information for Meri.”

He sat back down on the couch with me. “You’re not getting fat, Mia. You’re perfect.”

“It happens to women gradually. Then, they wake up one morning and realize they have thighs like sausages.”

“Sounds tasty.” He appeared momentarily distracted by the thought. “Anyway, I don’t want you to skip breakfast. It’s the most important meal of the day.” I almost laughed at his maternal-sounding cliché. “And Meridith doesn’t really need you…I do.”

“I need you, too, Drew, but we can’t spend twenty-four hours a day with each other,” I said calmly. “You don’t need me lurking around here all the time. Besides, being apart makes people appreciate the time they have together more. They realize they should make every second count.”

“Mia…” He looked like a man who had just been given his walking papers. I had drastically underestimated the misery my words would cause him. “I
want
you lurking around here. Have I ever given you the idea—?” He stopped short without finishing the question.

I didn’t try to answer or reassure him. Instead, I stared into his eyes and waited. This time I wanted his emotions raw, hoping he could be spurred into some kind of spontaneous action.

His left arm had been resting on the couch behind me. As I held my breath, his face moved toward mine, so slowly I had to will myself to breathe again or I would have turned blue.

At last, his lips captured mine in one of his achingly tender kisses.

As wonderful as the night before had been, and as much as I wanted him to make love to me again, I didn’t think I could bear another night of his painstakingly cautious caresses. As I had the day before, I began formulating a plan.

Drew pulled away from me and took my left hand in his right. I still wanted to make him prove he desired my company in his bed, so I watched him innocently.

“Do you want to come up with me?”

I smiled mischievously. “What for?”

He seemed relieved I’d lightened the atmosphere. “For ‘
you know.
’” He smiled back.

That was enough for me. “Let’s go.”

This time, I disrobed down to my lingerie immediately upon entering Drew’s room in order to save myself from the sweet torture of the night before. He raised his eyebrows as if surprised, but followed my lead, only he stripped completely—I imagined it was so none of his clothing had a chance of hitting the floor.

I’d been careful to lay my clothes on the chair, just as he had, so he wouldn’t feel the need to straighten up before making love to me. Eager to get started, I was in bed in a flash.

Drew joined me. He caressed my hair and gave me a sweet kiss on the lips. When he pulled away, I could see he was already attempting to exercise restraint. This time, I was determined to experience whatever he was so determined to withhold from me. I mustered up all my courage.

“Drew, how about if I’m on top this time? Then you don’t have to worry about hurting me.”

He was a little wary, but didn’t argue.

“Lie back, close your eyes, and relax.”

He obeyed, except for the relaxing part. I removed my remaining clothes and laid them neatly on my side of the bed as I straddled him. His eyes opened, and I worried he was already having second thoughts about this arrangement.

“If I do anything that concerns you, and you want me to stop,
say so, and I’ll stop,” I
lied.

Drew opened his mouth and looked as if he was about to veto my plan, but I gave him a quick kiss to quiet him.

He looked so delicious I didn’t know where I wanted to start first. As I slid my hands up his torso, he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. Bending over him, I began trailing wet kisses over the muscles in his chest.

He tensed only a little as my mouth traveled down over his stomach, but when I surprised him by placing a kiss directly on his most sensitive spot, he reacted.