“Amy?”
I blink three times and lift my head. Brenda is standing in the doorway of the room and it takes me a second to realize where I am. I smile back at her as I sit up in bed and swing my feet over the side.
“Yeah?”
“It’s time for dinner, if you want to come on down.”
I nod and move my hand over my mouth as I yawn. She smiles, turns and walks down the hall. I grab my phone to check the time… it’s just after five. Wow, I can’t believe I slept for that long, I was expecting a quick nap. My head doesn’t hurt anymore, though, so I guess I needed it more than I realized.
There’s a message from Jess, on my phone, which I read while walking down the hall and the stairs.
Omg! That’s crazy! I knew there was something going on between you and Spencer… nothing you say can change my mind, not now. You sly little fox, you.
I shake my head and put my phone into my pocket. I’ll text her back later, before bed. I have a feeling she’s right… I probably won’t be able to change her mind, but I’m definitely going to try because the last thing I need is her blabbing to people in Salem that I’m dating Spencer Thomas. I guess there’s the distinct possibility that Logan already did that, though. Such is life.
Spencer is already in the kitchen when I get downstairs and he’s helping his mom cook. He turns around when I walk in and flashes me a smile. He’s wearing an apron, too, which says Kiss the Cook… it’s rather appropriate given last night. Ugh… is he really going to give me a hard time about it?
“Hey,” he says, “how was your nap?”
“Good… I feel much better, now, thanks.”
He points at one of the chairs at the small table against the back wall of the kitchen. It really looks more like a breakfast table, it’s a little on the small side, but there are three places already set.
“Can I do anything?” I say.
“Sit down, dear, please… dinner is almost ready.”
“Are you sure?”
She nods and waves a wooden spoon in my general direction. I pull out the chair on the end and Spencer stops me.
“No, Amy… the middle one is you.”
I raise my eyebrow and look at him, but he’s already back to cooking. I sit down and look around the room. It’s kind of weird… there are some family photos on the wall, but they are just of Spencer and Brenda. There’s a dog in a couple of them, a golden lab, but no man. Spencer never has told me anything about his dad. I’m a little curious, but I’m definitely not going to ask… not while we’re here at least, maybe when we get back to L.A., maybe.
Brenda opens the oven and the smell of herbs wafts through the room. It instantly makes me hungry and I feel my mouth starting to water. I wonder what they are making. If Spencer’s cooking is any indication of what his mom cooks like, I have a feeling I’m in for a treat.
“So… are you going to see any of your friends while you’re here?”
“No, I don’t think so. We won’t be here that long and I kind of just want to relax,” Spencer says.
“He still has friends here, but doesn’t really stay in contact with them. Most of them are getting married and starting families,” Brenda says, turning and looking at me.
“That’s nice,” I say.
I’m not sure how else to even respond to that.
“Do you go visit your friends in Greenville?”
I raise my eyebrow. I’m surprised that she knows where I’m from and that she didn’t ask about my parents. I guess Spencer must have told her more about me than I expected.
“Uh, no, not really… I don’t have any friends left there and it really hasn’t been that long since I was there.”
“Mom.”
“Sorry,” she says. “Spencer gets irritated that I ask so many questions.”
“It’s fine, really,” I say.
“See,” she says, “she doesn’t mind, Spencer.”
“Don’t feel obligated to answer,” Spencer says.
She smacks his arm and he smiles at me.
“Amy, how’s the movie going?”
“Good… fine, I guess. I don’t really know. I’ve never done this before, so I have no idea if I’m doing a good job or if I’m awful.”
“I’m sure you’re brilliant.”
“I doubt brilliant… maybe adequate, but if I’m awful, I don’t think Dex or Spencer would have the heart to tell me.”
Brenda waves a wooden spoon at me and shakes her head.
“You’re not adequate. Spencer has told me several times that he’s impressed with how quickly you picked things up.”
Huh. I guess Spencer told his mom about me on more than one occasion. It’s a little strange, but I blow it off because it probably means nothing. I’m sure they talk often enough that they run short of conversation and maybe Spencer mentioned me a couple of times.
“Ma.”
“Sorry… sorry.”
She’s funny and it’s cute to see her get under his skin a little. I can see where he picked up that ability. He’s always teasing me and thinks that it’s funny, but now… now the tables are turned and he gets to see what it’s like.
Spencer looks over at me and just shakes his head, but he’s smiling. I have a feeling he’s thinking the same thing I just was. It’s funny though… I sometimes found it irritating, but now that I see where he gets it, well, I find it a little endearing and cute.
“Well,” Brenda says, “that should do it.”
Spencer carries a large wooden bowl of salad to the table and Brenda brings a whole chicken that she’s just finished carving. I feel like I’m leaning over the chicken to absorb the wonderful aroma.
“It smells amazing,” I say. “I feel so lame for sleeping and not helping with dinner.”
They sit down, Spencer on my left and Brenda on right, and she puts her hand on my shoulder.
“You’re our guest… please don’t feel like you need to do anything.”
“Thank you.”
“Amy actually helped me with dinner last night.”
Spencer serves me some salad and then passes it to his mom. She starts with chicken and then slides the plate toward me. I serve myself a few slices of breast and pass it to Spencer. The salad looks as good as the chicken smells.
“Do you cook a lot?” Brenda says.
“Uh… no, I pretty much don’t cook at all. My mom, she was a teacher… so she was home early enough to cook dinner every night and she always said teaching me was more trouble than doing it herself.”
A frown briefly crosses her face as she chews a bite of chicken.
“She’s a quick learner, though,” Spencer said.
“Hopefully you get more chances to cook with Spencer,” she says, winking at me.
I blush as I realize what she’s saying and look down at my food. I spear some chicken and lift my fork to my mouth. It’s perfect… really moist and tender.
“The chicken is really good,” I say.
“Thank you,” Brenda says, “the rosemary adds a nice touch, I think.”
“It’s good, Mom.”
She smiles at him and I take a bite of the salad. It’s equally good. The lettuce is crisp and the flavors meld together perfectly. From what I can tell there’s carrot, celery, egg and some cheese in it. I eat another bite of salad and switch back to the chicken.
"Thank you," she says, flashing me a smile.
I'm glad I came to visit. When Spencer first suggested it I wasn’t interested, but I was basing that on my relationship with my own mom. Brenda is so nice though. I would be more than happy to live with or visit my mom all the time if she were like Brenda. It does make me sad... I wish I could have that kind of relationship with my mom, but I know that it’ll never happen.
“What are you two working on next? Any films lined up?”
“I’ve got a couple of scripts that I’ve been looking at,” Spencer says. “They’re the usual stuff, though. I guess I should be happy that I got to do this film with Dex, it was a really nice change.”
“And what about you, Amy?”
I shake my head and finish chewing before I answer Brenda.
“I’m going to school.”
“Yeah?”
I shrug as I stab a piece of chicken with my fork.
“Yeah… this acting thing was just a chance happening. I was always planning on going to college. I’m glad though, it gave me a chance to make some money so that I don’t have to wait tables again anytime soon.”
I lift the chicken to my mouth and look at Brenda. She sets her fork down and takes a drink of water before looking at me.
“Don’t forget, Dear, sometimes a rare opportunity is given to us and we need to be able to recognize that.”
“Yeah.”
I get what she’s saying, but she hasn’t seen me act. I know there’s no future in it for me, but it’s sweet of her to have faith in me considering we’ve just met.