11
I’d always thoughtthat opposites attract but like for like lasts forever. Drake and I, in some ways, seemed to follow the same path my parents had. Dixie and Mitch were two very different people on the surface. She was a rich Southern belle, he a rough Boston boy from a blue-collar family. But anyone who knew them knew they had a million shared qualities and aspirations. And the outcome of those similarities had been a true love match, two kids, and a booming commercial kingdom.
One might have thought the same about me and Drake. I was a rich Malibu kid from a nuclear family, and he was the son of a single mom trying to make ends meet. But that night out with Nora, I realized we had all the same things in every place it counted. Being at the concert with Nora, I knew not only did Drake and I fit together, but she also fit into the puzzle.
Drake and I sat in Nora’s living room after a couple hours of hard-core DIY. Drake hadn’t been kidding. His mom had been an absolute beast with a scraper and murdered the wallpaper with glue remover. Drake and I had sprayed some deodorant and changed into clothes we’d kept in my tote bag for a night out with Nora. We didn’t have time to shower, and I hoped I didn’t smell because the wallpaper had been a worthy opponent.
Nora had gone off to change herself and called from her bedroom, “Maeve? Could you come here a sec?”
Drake rubbed his hand on my thigh. “And so it begins. Are we going to be late?”
“Why? I’m not the late type. Is your mom?”
“Just girls getting ready and all…”
A sideways smirk tugged at my lips. “She’s already beautiful, so not much more to do there.”
Drake’s mom was the most important person in his world. Or she had been before he’d met me. Now he had two of us. She seemed as keen as I was to get along and make this very tight circle just a little bit bigger.
I stepped around the doorframe into Nora’s bedroom and nearly gasped. Not that I hadn’t thought she was a pretty cool woman, but we’d been hanging out in ratty old t-shirts and dungarees doing DIY since the moment I’d arrived. She now wore an amazing pair of bootcut jeans and a blouse that bared both shoulders.
“Hot damn. Love that top.” I walked into the room.
Nora laughed. “I have to keep up with you young whippersnappers.” She shimmied her shoulders. “But… there is one thing. Well, two. First, shoes.” She held up a pair of cheetah print heels. “Fashion?” Then a pair of low-heeled patent leather ankle boots. “Or comfort?”
“Nora, that’s no question. You can have both. Wear the boots. They’re fabulous and hardly a compromise.”
I loved that she was asking my opinion on clothes. My mom and I did this all the time. We even shared clothes. As precious as Dixie was about the house and every cushion being perfectly fluffed, she always let me wear her clothes and even use her makeup if I wanted to.
I sat on the edge of Nora’s bed, not wanting her to feel rushed, because when women were getting ready, we wanted to enjoy the experience. Especially when we had a girlfriends there to choose a look with us. I imagined Nora hadn’t gotten much of this with Drake. Sure, he was into fashion, but he wasn’t one to go back and forth. He was too decisive for the kind of getting ready session us women liked. We women were decisive, too. But only once we saw all the options.
Nora fiddled through a jewelry box on her dresser. “Now for necklaces.” She held one up and another right after the other over her décolletage. “Do I go with a chain? Or a pendant?”
“Both of those are amazing…”
“Drake got them for me, so I assume they’ll be cool enough for the venue.”
“Has he always been the perfect son? Or are you leaving the bad bits out like my mom would?”
She laughed. “Moms should be the perfect wing women.” She smiled. “Are you and your mom close? Oh, and to answer your question, Drake has always been perfect. And I’m not just saying that because I’m his mom. I’m saying it because he always did the bad things behind my back.”
I definitely knew Drake hadn’t ended up being that good in bed without doing a few naughty things or two.
“My mom and I have a really close relationship now. I’d say we’ve had treacherous sail but we’re in calmer waters now. We’ve been more than most together. I put her through a lot as a teen. I think that’s pretty normal, though.”
“All the closest relationships are like that. Bonds are strongest when people have to stand together not to fall. Drake and I, well, we did have my mom, but it was pretty much just us. It was be together or be alone.”
Nora lifted the necklaces again, and I pointed to the pendant.
“The chain might hide some of that gorgeous neckline you’re baring.” I arched my eyebrows.
“Is it too much?” she asked, turning to inspect herself in a dresser mirror.
“God, no. You’re beautiful.”
Suddenly, I wondered why such a smart, kind, industrious, and pretty woman wouldn’t have met someone. Tried to date. “Did you ever date anyone after Drake’s dad? You’re pretty hot stuff, Nora. I can’t imagine you never got hit on.”
Nora gave a girlish giggle. “Flattery will get you everywhere, Maeve, because I really don’t get any of that anymore.”