Mom’s frown spoke volumes. Dad had been her soulmate. They bragged about their high school romance. Even if she dated, there’d never be a man who?—
“I had a second date with Gerald.”
Gerald? Whoa. No. Nothing about this was okay. My mother wasn’t allowed to date. Dad might be gone, but I maintained she spoke to him at night as if he were still there. Would I be a terrible son if I roughed up Gerald?
“We went to that new brunch place. Brunch, can you believe it? I felt so fancy.”
“I’m not calling him Dad.”
She laughed. “We’re not talking about me. You need to find yourself a good boy and settle down.” The conversation dropped long enough for her to take a bite of her meatloaf. She gave her plate a curious glance. “Too many breadcrumbs.”
I had already shoveled in a second mouthful. I covered my mouth while I spoke. “Tastes good to me. Your cooking is why I have a gut.”
“Are you still thinking about moving to the city?” It was a loaded question. While she’d have a fit about me moving two hours south, she wanted a son-in-law. I think she wanted a relationship more than I did.
“I’m not moving just to find a man.”
“Boogie.” Boogiebear. Ironically, Mom had been calling me a bear long before I transformed into a chubby gay man. It didn’t matter how old I was; she’d always refer to me as her Boogiebear. We both chuckled at the irony.
“This isn’t about me getting a son-in-law. I mean, do you owe me a wedding and walking you down the aisle? Yes, yes, you do.” She had already picked out her dress. “But dammit, I want grandchildren.”
I choked on a baked potato. I grabbed a glass of milk and chugged. It was one thing for her to plan my wedding. She had already said she’d let out my dad’s kilt so I could wear it. Half of our text messages were suggestions for the mother-son dance. At this point, there’d be a wedding with or without another man.
“You’re skipping a few steps,” I muttered.
“If you don’t make me a grandmother, we’re going to have a fight.”
I didn’t have a reply for her. I had never thought about having children, but it seemed I didn’t have a choice. How excited would she be that I met a man who had a kid? She’d be asking if we set a date for the wedding. She’d move Heaven and Earth for somebody to call her Nana.
“Are you going to tell me about Gerald?”
Her face lit up in a way I hadn’t seen in years. I had mixed feelings about my mom dating. I couldn’t wrap my mind around her having an interest in anybody but Dad. If Gerald made her smile, I’d overcome my discomfort. There was nothing I wanted more in life than to see her happy. Yes, that even meant considering children.
“He introduced me to avocado toast…”
COMPLIMENTS TO THE CHEF
“Oh, they have avocado toast!”
I cringed. I couldn’t get the image of my mom kissing another man out of my head. Avocados were ruined for life. After telling Amanda, she insisted we try the new brunch place. Firefly Valley had one pizza shop and a bar that served pub food. We weren’t fancy enough for brunch.
I eyed the Bistro on Maine logo. It had a clever pun for a name, and the menu had food that didn’t require a frier. A year ago, this was a breakfast joint, open early enough for hunters. It never caught on, and as quickly as it opened its doors, a for-sale sign went up in the window. I wanted Firefly to be more than a small town. If that meant tolerating avocado toast, I could live with it. Maybe.
“Did you ever eat here when it was Rise and Shine?” I asked.
Amanda shook her head. “They used to close by ten. Iknow they wanted the morning crowd, but hunters just want coffee. They were doomed to fail.”
It was a familiar story for most new businesses coming into town. I feared the same, that at any moment, the comic shop might go under. The Bistro only had ten tables. A max of thirty people could enjoy their not-quite lunch.
Dorothy hovered by the podium near the entrance. Having a hostess made it far too nice for the area. Everybody in town knew Dorothy and her signature purple hair. During school, her son had been our star basketball player and got a scholarship to play at the University of Maine. After graduation, he stuck around and worked at the university as a security guard.
“You folks ready?”
I appreciated the menu had elegant items with blunt explanations. Whoever bought the place understood their clientele.
“I’m going to have the breakfast sandwich with bacon.”
“Avocado toast,” Amanda blurted out. I fought off the image of my mom playing kissy face.
