Chapter 4
When Hayley walked through the back door into the kitchen, she found it odd that Leroy was not racing to greet her, jumping up and down excitedly. In fact, there was no sign of him or Blueberry, who was usually perched under the kitchen table with a perpetual grumpy look on his face. Upstairs she could hear the vacuum running. Hayley sighed. She knew exactly what was happening. Her mother, Sheila, was cleaning the house. Anyone else would find this a kind gesture, but not Hayley. Especially since she had already thoroughly vacuumed the upstairs bedrooms the night before. No, her mother was sending her a very clear message: Her cleaning skills were just not good enough.
A beef stew was bubbling in a pot on top of the stove and the warm scent of some kind of freshly made bread or rolls wafted out from the oven. Hayley knew her mother had done her homework. Beef stew was one of Bruce’s favorite comfort foods and she was out to impress him. The vacuum noise stopped and she could hear her mother cross into the bathroom. Of course she was going to start scrubbing the toilets because Hayley had also done that the night before as well.
Hayley walked down the hall, veering right into the living room to find Bruce in his recliner, eyes closed, snoring softly. A half-empty beer bottle was sitting next to him along with a plate of crumbs, probably the last bits of cheese and crackers Sheila had prepared for him as a pre-dinner snack. Hayley gently nudged Bruce awake, and he sat up with a start.
“What? What’s happening?” he asked groggily.
“Nothing. You never came back to the office after you picked my mother up at the airport in Bangor,” Hayley said.
“We didn’t get back to town until almost four, so I decided to work at home for the rest of the day,” Bruce said.
“Yes, I can see you’ve been working very hard,” Hayley cracked.
“Your mother’s been spoiling me. Man, that beef stew sure smells delicious, doesn’t it?”
“Where is Leroy?” Hayley asked.
“Probably upstairs with Sheila. She’s been giving him a lot of treats, so his loyalties have shifted. We’re not his favorites anymore.”
“He shouldn’t have too many treats. He’ll get sick.”
“Too late. But your mother cleaned it up.”
“And Blueberry?”
“Probably rubbing up against Sheila’s leg as we speak. I thought that cat hated everybody, but he seems to adore your mother.”
They heard the toilet flush.
“She’s done scrubbing the toilet bowl, which means she’ll be down here any second,” Hayley warned.
“She’s a very nice woman,” Bruce remarked. “We had a really good chat on the car ride home.”
“Yes, she’s working hard to win your favor so when she and I have a disagreement, you’ll side with her.”
“Don’t be so cynical,” Bruce said, grinning.
Sheila called down from the top of the stairs. “Hayley, is that you?”
“Yes, Mom. I just walked in.”
Sheila pounded down the stairs with Leroy and Blueberry on her heels. Hayley’s jaw dropped at the sight of her two pets together. Usually they kept a safe distance between them.
Sheila threw open her arms and hugged her daughter tightly. “Thank you so much for opening up your home to me. I can’t tell you how much I needed to get away!”
Bruce threw Hayley a look as if to say, “See? She’s lovely!” But Hayley wasn’t falling for it. It was only a matter of time before . . .
“I thought I would help out and clean your house since I know you’re so busy writing your columns that you just don’t have the time,” Sheila said brightly.
“I cleaned the whole house last night, Mother,” Hayley said through gritted teeth.
“Oh, you did?” Sheila asked innocently, looking around, zeroing in on a dust ball near one of the couch legs.
“I hope you don’t mind me making dinner. I just didn’t want you to have to worry about it. I went through your cupboards and figured you didn’t have time to go grocery shopping because all I could find was junk food. But not to worry, Bruce was kind enough to drive me to the store so I could pick up a few things. Wasn’t that sweet of him?”
Bruce beamed like a boy who had just received a gold star sticker on his homework.
Hayley took a deep breath. “Mom, thank you for making us dinner.”
“Well, Bruce works so hard he deserves a proper meal waiting for him when he gets home from work.”
The insinuation was clear.
Hayley wasn’t looking after her husband.
The fact that she worked full time too was willfully ignored.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to make a homemade dessert. I just picked up some ice cream at the store and some fudge brownies at that new bakery on Cottage Street,” Sheila said.
“Bruce and I love the fudge brownies there,” Hayley commented.
Sheila lightly patted Hayley on her stomach. “I bet you do.”
Hayley bristled, but held her tongue.
“By the way, Mom, please don’t give Leroy too many treats. The vet says he needs to lose some weight.”
“He’s such a little sweetheart. It’s so hard for Grandma to say no to him. And Blueberry, what a treasure.”
This stymied both Hayley and Bruce. Of all the words in the English vocabulary, “treasure” would probably be the last word either would use to describe their ornery, obstinate Persian cat.
“I’m going to go upstairs and change into something more comfortable,” Hayley said.
She caught her mother giving her the once-over.
Hayley sighed. “What?”
“Nothing,” Sheila said with a smile.
“Go on, you know you want to . . .”
“I was just noticing your outfit . . .”
Hayley paused, debating whether she really wanted to know, but she couldn’t help herself. “What about it?”
“It’s very cute,” Sheila said.
“Thank you.”
Hayley turned to go upstairs when she heard her mother chirp, “It must have come from the back of your closet, judging by the amount of laundry I saw piled up next to the washing machine.”
“I was going to do a load tonight,” Hayley said defensively.
“No worries, I already started one,” Sheila said.
“That was so thoughtful of you, Sheila,” Bruce said. “Can you stay forever?”
It was an innocent remark, but when Bruce noticed Hayley staring daggers at him, he quickly retracted it. “Just kidding,” he managed to choke out.
Hayley marched up the stairs. She loved her mother and was happy to see her, but the little digs were sometimes just too much to handle. Hayley confronted her about it the last time she had seen her in Florida after she had begun dating Bruce. Sheila had looked so surprised and stricken, she almost melted into a puddle of tears. Hayley had to quickly apologize, and when her mother had finally been able to collect herself enough, she had given Hayley a hug and told her that all was forgiven. And then she had commented, “You look so tired, Hayley. You should really try to get up a little earlier in the morning to put yourself together. Especially now that you’re seeing someone.”
At least the Caribbean cruise was just five days away.