Marie Harte - Raising the Bar

“Wait.” Derrick sounded strangled. “You said Harper. My Harper?”

Barbara gasped. “Derrick? Is there something you want to tell me?”

Apparently comprehending how possessive he’d sounded, Derrick stuttered a denial while Dylan nearly fell off his stool laughing. It took the slamming of a door to calm him down.

“Wh-where did he go?” He had to wipe tears from his eyes. My Harper. He couldn’t wait to tell Harper and Freddy about this.

“He’s in the bathroom,” his mother said wryly. “He said you made him sick. Now, care to explain?”

Dylan calmed down and sat across from her, comforted by the familiar. Despite all that had changed in their lives, he felt secure, sitting across from his mother at the kitchen island, discussing life and the foibles that came with living.

“I met Harper thanks to Derrick.” He grinned, not quite wanting to share the particulars with her. “Needless to say, the two knew each other before I came into the picture. But not the way you might be thinking. They were associates, working together because of WCC.” The construction company.

“Oh.”

“You sound relieved.”

“I am.” She glared at him. “Do you know how worried I’ve been that Derrick will mess up the good thing he’s got going with Sydney? If he’d cheated on the girl, I’d string him up by his toes.”

Derrick returned, much calmer than he’d been. He sat with them and pursed his lips.

Dylan sighed. “Say what you need to say.”

“So…you’re an orgy guy now?”

Barbara shook her head and groaned.

“You’re such a dick. Sorry, Mom, but it’s true,” Dylan muttered. “Call it what you will, but Harper and Freddy are terrific people.” Dylan turned to his mother. “And Harper is really handsome. Big, muscular, a good head on his shoulders.”

Derrick made gagging sounds.

“And Freddy?” Barbara’s eyes twinkled.

“She comes up to my chest. A petite little thing with big blue eyes. Her eyebrow is pierced, she has a few tattoos and she works at a sex club in town.”

“Augusta has a sex club? What, like a strip club?” Now Derrick sounded interested.

His mother shook her head. “No. The club is a sophisticated place on the outside of town.”

He and Derrick stared at her.

She blushed. “What? I haven’t always been just your mother, you know.”

“Anyhow,” Dylan hurried, wanting to stop that train of thought before it took off, “I met them and we sort of clicked. I don’t just mean physically either.”

“God. TMI.” Yet Derrick sat there without blinking. “So you like this pair. What do they think about you?”

Remembering last night, he grinned. “They like me just fine.”

“Oh man. My brother, the porn star.”

“Stop it, Derrick.” Barbara had to work at not smiling, Dylan noticed. “You’re serious about them? How long has this been going on?”

“Not long.” He’d always felt better after talking things out with his mother, so he turned to Derrick and said, “Get out.”

“What? Now? No way.”

“I need to talk to Mom. Privately.”

Derrick opened his mouth, but Barbara beat him to it. “Derrick, let me and your brother talk.”

“Well, fine. But don’t think I won’t get answers later,” Derrick warned. He kissed their mother on the cheek, slugged Dylan on the arm, then left.

Dylan plunged in. “About James… I’m sorry.”

Barbara smiled. “Don’t be. It was a long time coming, I think.”

He groaned. “Hell. You were listening, before. I knew it.”

“I was. Oh, Dylan. Why didn’t you ever tell me any of that? Sweetie, I’m supposed to be here for you, not the other way around.”

His hostility and fear completely melted away in the face of her forgiveness, and Dylan fought back tears, annoyed with himself for losing control of his emotions. He had to cough to clear his throat. “I guess I never knew, or never wanted to look that hard at myself. I’ve tried to deal with the idea of you and James for months. I saw the way you two looked at each other. But I wanted you for myself.” He groaned. “That is so Oedipal.”

She grinned. “Yes, dear. But you realized the truth without my help. You’re so smart, son. I’m prouder than you know that you’ll be joining us. James loves you too, Dylan. It hurts him to think you don’t respect him.”

“I do.” Dylan knew he’d have to talk to James and explain things. “I just had to work it out for myself.”

They held hands for a moment, the love so strong and pure Dylan knew without question he’d always have a place in his mother’s heart, no matter what. “Mom?”

“Yes?”

“How did you know? With Dad, I mean. And James.”

Her grin widened. “My, my. I’ve been waiting to have this talk with you. Do you realize that in all the time you’ve been dating, you’ve never once asked me that?”

He flushed. “I’m asking now.”

“So you are.” She studied him before answering, “I met your father on a Tuesday, and by Monday of the next week we married.”

“What? I knew it was sudden, but you never told us it was that fast.”

“Are you kidding? With as mercurial as you boys were, I didn’t want you doing what I’d done and thinking it okay because Mom did it first . Your father and I just knew. It was instant. My heart raced, my blood thundered in my ears and I kissed him before he knew what to do with me.”

“Go Mom.” Dylan laughed. “Dad never could say no to you, could he?”

“Nope. We always meshed. People like to say if you can’t argue, you have no spark. But, Dylan, your father and I always loved each other, and we rarely had disagreements. There was always passion, always love, but the respect countered our differences enough that we just…flowed.

“Now, James is a different story. I thought he was handsome when I first met him, but I never looked at anyone the way I did at your father. When Andrew died, a part of me died with him. I’m sorry it took me so long to bounce back. I loved him with my whole heart, and I never thought I’d recover enough to love anyone else that way. Sure, I dated. I had needs.”

“Mom.”

She huffed. “Well, I did. I do. But through it all, James was always there. He had his share of failed relationships. We discussed, talked, and argued about lots of things. We have so much in common and so many ideas about life that aren’t always the same. The important things we agree on, but the minutia challenges us. And that spark makes life with him interesting.”

“But how could you know right away with Dad and not with James?”

“I couldn’t look past my grief. And I don’t know. I can’t explain it, but one day, I saw James differently. He didn’t do anything other than be himself, but I noticed the care he’d always given me, and it meant something more.”

Dylan wondered… “You saw Isabel Fields, a beautiful woman looking half her age, hanging all over him at the house. You were jealous.”

“I was. I wanted to maul her,” his mother growled. “And God help me, but I still do when she flirts with him, even over the phone. But James loves me. He always has, and that’s why his other relationships didn’t work. He was trying to substitute other women for me.” She patted her hair. “That kind of affection went straight to my head…as soon as I accepted that it was okay to love him back.”

“That must have been hard.”

“It has been. For years I had feelings for him I refused to acknowledge. It wasn’t until recently that I’ve acted on them. But let me tell you, when you love someone, the physical and emotional aspects of mating are magical.” She smiled slyly. “But I don’t think I have to tell you that.”