Brenda wraps her arms around me and squeezes me so I tightly I feel like I might pop.
“I wish you could stay longer,” she says.
“Me too, mom,” Spencer says.
She finally lets me go and I feel the air returning to my lungs. I’m so glad that Spencer invited me to come with him to visit her… she’s a sweet woman and the kind of mom I wish I had. He’s a lucky guy and she’s a lucky woman to have such a good man for a son.
“Thank you so much for having me.”
She smiles at me, takes my hands in hers and looks into my eyes.
“You are very welcome, dear. Please come visit again and maybe you can get my son to come visit me more often.”
I’m not even sure how to respond to that… it sounded like she was implying that we’re dating. I wonder what Spencer told her about me? I just smile and nod, it’s the only thing I can think to do.
“And you,” she says, turning to Spencer, “you better bring her back next time… she’s a sweet girl and you had better be good to her.”
“I… uh, mom….”
“Spencer, just treat her right and she will be good to you. I can see in her eyes how much she cares for you… don’t ever take that for granted.”
My eyes grow wide with each passing word. I look to Spencer, who just shakes his head, smiles and kisses his mom on the cheek.
“Sure thing, mom.”
He wraps his arms around her and gives her a long hug. I get why he’s not trying to argue with her, but he’s going to have to explain our relationship to her at some point… standing on her front step with a taxi waiting for us and flight to catch isn’t exactly the right time.
Spencer lets go of his mom and I see a tear forming in the corner of her eye as we turn and head for our taxi. She loves him and wishes she could see more of him, that much is clear, but it’s also obvious she understands that he has his own life and that he does his best to visit him when he can. It’s a relationship that I envy, it’s one I can never have with my mom.
I get in the taxi first and slide across the seat. Spencer gets in and closes the door.
“To the airport, please,” he says.
“Yes, Sir.”
Spencer waves out the window to his mom. She waves back before heading inside as the taxi pulls away from the house.
I have a feeling that I’ll never see her again, which is kind of sad… I really like her, but I know that there will never be a reason for me to come back here. I’m sure Spencer will have a new girlfriend soon and will take her to meet his mom the next time he visits. I feel a twinge of jealousy… I just hope that whoever she is, she realizes how awesome Brenda is.
“Sorry about that,” Spencer says.
“About what?”
“I… I’m not sure if you notice, but I think my mom is under the impression that we’re dating.”
“Yeah, I noticed.”
“I wanted to tell her, but she loved you and I couldn’t find the right moment or the right words to tell her that we are just friends.”
I feel a sharp pain in my chest. I know it’s the truth… I’ve known that all along, but hearing it from Spencer makes it hurt just that much more.
“That makes sense.”
I suddenly feel sick and roll down my window to get some fresh air.
“Are you alright?”
“Fine… I… I just wanted some air, I’m warm.”
I see Spencer take out his phone and I look out the window as the car pulls onto the highway. I can’t believe the trip is over already, but I’m ready to get back to filming… the sooner we get back to that the sooner we can be done and I can go back to Salem.
When Dex called this morning and said he was ready to start filming again tomorrow he sounded different… calm really, like he had done whatever he needed to do. I wonder if he went to go see my mom in Greenville. I wanted to ask, more out of curiosity, but I decided that he would have or will tell me if he feels like it.
“Thanks for coming with me,” Spencer says.
I nod as I watch the world whiz by. It’s rude to not answer Spencer, I feel kind of bad, but I feel like I’m in such a weird space right now. The whole thing with my mom is still only a few days old and very fresh in my mind and now… now Spencer’s mom thinking we are a couple makes me uneasy for some reason.
Neither one of us says anything until we close in on the white peaks of the Denver airport. I can feel the tension in the car and the driver constantly looking in his rearview mirror isn’t making it any easier.
“Sorry to bother you, Sir,” the driver says, “but are you Spencer Thompson? The actor?”
“Thomas.”
“Sorry?”
“Spencer Thomas,” Spencer says, an obvious edge in his voice.
“Yeah, Spencer Thompson… is that you?”
Spencer sighs, clearly aware that the driver isn’t going to get it.
“Yes.”
“Would you mind signing an autograph for my daughter? She’s a huge fan of yours… even has a giant poster of you on her wall.”
“Sure, when we stop.”
The driver smiles and nods as he turns into the departure area of the airport. He pulls the car up to the curb and puts it into park. He hands Spencer a pad of white paper and a black pen.
“What’s her name?”
“Sarah.”
Spencer writes To Sarah, Best Wishes… Spencer Thomas and hands the paper and pen back over the seat.
“Thank you, so much, Sir… I really appreciate it.”
I open the door and climb out of the car while Spencer pays for the cab ride. The same stiff wind is blowing as when we got here, making it chillier than I would have expected for this time of year. I look at the mountains, looming large, and I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by the air temperature—there’s still snow on the highest peaks and it’s summer. Crazy. I can’t even imagine what living here in the winter would be like.
Spencer gets out of the cab and closes the door. He looks at me and brushes his hair off his forehead. He’s upset, that much is obvious, but I’m not sure why. Could it be just because the guy messed up his name? I really doubt it, especially since he still signed an autograph for the guy’s daughter.
“What’s wrong?” I say.
He blinks and looks into my eyes. It’s not the same soft look that he usually has… no, there’s pain there, the same pain that I saw in his mom’s eyes when we first got to her house.
“Can I tell you something?”
I feel my heart beating faster. I’m afraid of what he’s going to say, but I can tell by the look on his face that he needs to tell me.
“Sure.”
“My mom… the reason why I didn’t say anything to her about us… well, it’s because she… she… I haven’t seen my mom this happy in a really long time. It’s been years, Amy, since she was like this.”
Spencer tilts his head back and I can see his chest heave as he takes a deep breath of the crisp Colorado air. He looks back at me and I would swear that he looks like he’s about to cry.
“I can’t stand to see her so sad… I just… I can’t do it. When she met you, she… she just lit up.”
“What happened?”
“My….”
Spencer closes his eyes and shakes his head. I can tell it’s not going to be easy for him to say. Whatever it is that was so painful for his mom was just as hard for him. He opens his eyes and forces a smile onto his face.
“We are going to miss our flight.”
He turns and starts walking toward the terminal. I open my mouth, but before I can utter a single word he is already out of earshot with this much wind. I hurry after him and manage to catch him as the double glass doors slide open.
I put my hand on Spencer’s shoulder, but he doesn’t stop walking.
“You can tell me, whatever it is,” I say.
“It’s fine… I’ll tell my mom the truth. She’ll understand.”
I wrinkle my brow. I wonder what could have made him change his mind about telling me… and telling his mom the truth. I feel kind of bad, she did seem really happy, but that’s his choice to tell her, I never said anything about it to him.
We walk to the first class check in counter. Spencer has his wallet out and credit card on the counter before the woman even says anything.
“We need two tickets to LAX on the next flight,” he says.
“Sure thing, Sir… if I could just see your ID.”
Spencer hands over his driver’s license and I give her my ID. She looks at his and smiles at him. It’s obvious that she recognizes him, but she doesn’t say anything… which is actually kind of surprising. Maybe she can tell by the look on his face that he’s not in the mood.
The woman behind the counter types our information into her computer and hands back my ID and his license. She flashes him a smile and goes back to getting our tickets.
“Spencer, please… you can talk to me. You listened to me whenever I needed to talk about anything. I want to do the same for you.”
His body goes rigid, so I know he heard me, but he doesn’t answer me or even turn to look at me. Ugh. This is going to be a long flight back. All I can really do is give him space and hope that eventually he will tell me what happened, I just want to help… I wish he could see that.