Cozy Cabin Getaway Ch03

Carbs and soup is a very Jameson-household meal. Riley, Kayla, and their mother have plenty of practice at stuffing their faces with biscuits dipped in chowder. Kayla and Riley are not used to seeing their mother with a wine glass at dinner, however.

“We’re going to O’Malley’s. Your father’s birthday. Remember?” Mary is saying.

“Ouch.” Riley sucks her breath in through her teeth. “About that.”

“What about it?” Mary asks.

“I’ll be out of town.”

“A FUTA thing?”

Riley shakes her head, scowling. “Damn. I knew I should’ve looked closer at the calendar. I’m doing a thing with Michelle.”

“What thing?” Kayla asks before their mother can.

“Just like a weekend. It’s like a cabin in the woods. There’s like this beautiful forest or whatever. It’s halfway between Chattanooga and Atlanta.”

“Fuck me. I am so jealous.” Kayla takes a deep breath.

Riley gazes across the table at her sister. “I mean, do you want to come?”

“Can I?”

Riley shrugs and starts to speak, but Mary cuts her off.

“Of course she can’t,” she says.

Riley blinks. “What?”

“She can’t,” Mary repeats, tearing off a piece of a biscuit.

“She’s eighteen. How are you gonna say she can’t?”

“Yeah, well, she still lives here. That means she has to play ball.”

“Hang on,” Riley says to Kayla, who’s about to explode. She clasps her hands on the table and leans forward, looking at her mother very directly. “What exactly is the problem? It’s an Air BnB in the woods. It’s not an orgy or a… I don’t know. Convention for serial killers.”

“My daughter isn’t going anywhere with a sexual predator. Period.” Mary picks up her wine glass and gazes over it at Riley, who bristles.

“I’m sorry, a what now?” Riley demands.

Kayle cringes and shrinks back, chewing her biscuit.

“You heard me. A coach who is a trusted adult in a position of authority starting an affair with a much younger player? What do you call it?”

The air in the kitchen has become frigid.

“That much younger player is twenty,” Riley splutters. “And the much younger player initiated it. God. Michelle fought me forever when I started…”

“Started what?” Kayla asks.

Riley rolls her eyes. “Being all horny and stupid.”

“She’s been fighting you since you were twelve?”

“Shut up, Kayla. Mom, you cannot be serious.”

“I’m serious,” Mary replies seriously.

“Your eighteen-year-old daughter can go where she wants,” Riley says firmly.

“Not without me.”

Riley shakes her head in disbelief. “Fine. You come too. For fuck’s sake. You can protect her from my super dangerous girlfriend.” Michelle, with her round figure, thick glasses, and generally bubbly demeanor is the opposite of dangerous. Mary knows this.

“Fine. I will,” Mary says.

“Fine.”

“Fine. No,” Mary adds sharply, seeing Kayla surreptitiously reach for the wine bottle.

Miffed, Kayla goes back to eating, then immediately speaks with her mouth full.

“Wait, so we’re all just bailing on Dad’s birthday weekend?”

“Why not?” Riley and Mary snap in unison.