Free Reaper's Property by Joanna Wylde Page A

smirked.
    “Well, be careful. Bikers can be great, but
the hardcore guys are living in a different world from us.”
    “Yeah, I picked up on that,” I said wryly.
“It’s nothing serious, mostly just flirting.”
    She didn’t need to know all the details.
Does anyone really want to tell their mom about their best orgasm ever?
    “I’ve got news of my own,” she replied with
a gleam in her eye. Uh-oh, I recognized that gleam.
    “What?” I asked, unnerved.
    “Well, I’ve reconnected with someone,” she
said. “A man. We’re getting serious.”
    That caught my attention.
    “How on earth are you doing that from
jail?” I exclaimed. “I swear, you’re like a magnet, how do you get so many guys
after you?”
    She giggled, looking years younger than her
age.
    “Well, I may be getting old but I’m not
dead yet,” she replied. “He came to see me not too long after I got in here. In
fact, he’s been visiting me a couple times a week.”
    “Who?”
    “John Benson.”
    “No way,” I muttered, stunned. “John
Benson, our landlord?”
    ”Yeah,” she said, looking sheepish. “You
may not know this, but he and I had a thing a long time ago…”
    “I know,” I replied. “I also know he was
married.”
    She had the grace to look embarrassed.
    “Well, I’ve made mistakes. But you should
know we both felt guilty. That’s why we ended it. His wife never knew. She’s
been dead for about three years now, car accident. John and I had been avoiding
each other for so long it became a habit, but I guess when he read about me in
the paper he started thinking about me.”
    Only my mother would end up finding love by
trying to run over two cops. Clearly, John Benson was an idiot.
    “He wants me to marry him.”
    I shook my head, unsure what to say.
Finally I managed to speak.
    “Well, I guess that’s good, Mom. How does
he feel about what happened?”
    “He knows I have my issues, but I’m sober
now, which has helped me sort things out,” she said. That was true—she’d joined
AA even before her little incident. We’d confronted her about her drinking
after Jeff found her passed out outside the trailer in the snow last winter. It
was a miracle she survived. “I’ve realized now that I need to deal with my
emotions or I get…upset.”
    That was the understatement from hell.
    “Aren’t you supposed to stay out of
relationships your first year of AA?”
    “It’ll be almost a full year by the time I
get out,” she replied. “I’d get out a little earlier for good behavior, but
they’re not cutting me any slack because of the cop thing.”
    We looked at each other, both thinking back
to that day. She sighed.
    “I never do anything halfway, do I?”
    I shook my head, smiling ruefully.
    “That’s the truth.”
    “I’m moving in with him when I get out.
That’s good news for you and Jeff, I guess. You’ll get to keep the trailer all
to yourselves.”
    I shrugged.
    “I guess if that’s what you want,” I
replied. “It concerns me a little, but if you’re happy, that’s good enough for
me.”
    She smiled, the tension on her face easing.
    “Thank you, baby,” she whispered. “I’ve
been worried about telling you guys. You talk to Jeff for me? He hasn’t been to
visit in a month and I’m worried. Is everything okay?”
    I thought about how to answer her question.
I didn’t know of anything specifically wrong with Jeff, but there was
definitely something going on. How to explain that though?
    “He’s been kind of edgy,” I said finally.
“And lost some weight. But he hasn’t talked to me about anything and when I
asked he blew me off. Wish I could tell you more.”
    “Thanks for that,” she said. “You tell him
I love him?”
    “I’ll tell him.”
     
    Sept. 1
    Me: Well that was fun
    Horse: ?
    Me: Went to see mom. She’s good, but
crazy news. Getting married
    Horse: This a good thing?
    Me: Not sure. He’s the guy who owns our
trailer. They used to have a thing, but he was