Kerry reached out and snatched the phone. “Who is this?” Her eyes were so wide it looked as if they were about to pop out of her head.
Scarlett smiled. “His name is Davis and he’s super sweet and a great guy!”
“Where did you meet him?” her dad asked as he put a bowl of salad down next to her plate. He sounded cautious and worried.
“He lives in the house next to the cabin where I stayed over Christmas.” Scarlett poured herself a glass of sweet tea from the pitcher in the middle of the table and gulped down a couple of big sips.
“He’s gorgeous. How did you get him to take a picture with you?” Her mom asked, nearly drooling all over Scarlett’s phone.
“Gimme that!” Scarlett snatched her phone back and then dropped it into her purse. “We took it right before I left, and for your information, it was his idea. He asked me to pull over and send him a copy as soon as my phone got back in range down the mountain.”
“How would he even get it?” Brendan asked, totally missing the point.
Scarlett rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Daddy, he’s not a hermit. He’s a real person with a job and stuff to do that takes him into town. There’s nothing but homes and horses on Horse Mountain. He has to drive to go grocery shopping and…well, everything.”
“Okay, but that doesn’t explain…” Her mama started but stopped midsentence and pursed her lips.
Scarlett recognized the gesture and frowned. Obviously, she can’t believe a hottie like Davis would be interested in a plus-sized girl.
“Not every guy is into teeny, tiny women.” Scarlett twirled her spaghetti around the teeth of her fork.
“That’s right,” Brendan said, holding out the basket of garlic bread for Scarlett.
She took a slice. “Thanks, Daddy.”
He nodded. “Real men like curves. You should know that, Kerry.” He lightly poked at the side of his wife’s fleshy hip.
As her mother giggled, while exchanging flirty looks with her dad, Scarlett held back the urge to wretch. After swallowing her bite of garlic bread with great difficulty, she washed it down with another sip of tea.
“I never thought Robert was good enough for you anyway, princess.”
“Thanks, Dad. Unfortunately, I did. I shouldn’t have tolerated his attitude for as long as I did.” Scarlett frowned. “He had the nerve to call and ask when I was going to get over it and take him back.”
Her father’s jaw dropped but her mother lowered her fork, a hopeful look in her eyes. You’ve got to be kidding me! ?
“And what did you say?” Her mom asked.
“Kerry,” Scarlett’s father raised his voice just a hint. “He cheated on her. Of course, she told him to drop dead.”
“Did you?” Kerry lifted an eyebrow and leaned in as if she was going to have to catch Scarlett’s answer and hold it in her hands. Someone’s chomping at the bit!
“Pretty much.” Scarlett sopped up some sauce with her bread.
“If he wants you back, he must be sorry. I know Robert loves you, and you are twenty-seven now.” Her mother’s words stabbed at her. She might as well have stuck her spaghetti sauce tinged fork in Scarlett’s heart.
Brendan dropped his fork. “Kerry! I’m surprised at you.”
“I’m sorry but I want grandchildren before it’s too late,” Scarlett’s mom replied, not looking up from her plate.
“She’s moved on! Right, Scarlett?” Her father looked at her expectantly.
Scarlett nodded while chewing her food. Talking about her ex sucked, but there was no getting around her parents’ need to chew the fat off every detail of her life.
Her mom huffed. “You just met this new man. Once the newness wears off, there might not be any future with him.”
“Davis, his name is Davis, Mom.”
“Fine, there might not be any future with this Davis.”
With a heavy heart, Scarlett took a sip of her drink and cleared her throat. “Look, Mom, I understand where you’re coming from. Believe me, it was really hard for me to admit I’d wasted three years of my life, but I won’t be taking Robert back…ever. As for Davis, I’m going to see how things go, but even if we hit a dead end, no Robert.”
Kerry lifted her hands in front of her and nodded. “Okay, baby, your dad and I are behind whatever decision you make.”
“Thanks,” Scarlett replied, not believing her mom a hundred percent.
* * *
Scarlett hopped out of the shower and then dried off with a large, fluffy beach towel before wrapping it around her generously proportioned figure. As she started brushing her teeth, her phone rang. She left her bathroom, walking into her bedroom and making her way to the phone on the bedside table.
“Mom?” she asked, assuming she hadn’t heard the last on the subject of Robert. The voice on the other end informed her she was half right. She definitely hadn‘t quashed the subject of her no good ex, but her mom wasn’t the one calling.
“So you already hooked up with someone else behind my back? I can’t believe you’re still angry at me when you turn around and do the exact same thing!” From the tone of Robert’s voice, his mood was somewhere between fury and tears.
Mama! She called my ex?How could she! Scarlett’s blood boiled. She was going to have to have a word with that woman but first, she had to get Robert off her case. As he continued his rage-filled whining, she rolled her eyes, not feeling the least bit sorry for him and his pitiful, cracking voice. “You and I broke up the day I caught you screwing around. What I do and who I do it with is none of your concern.
