Page 65 of Toxic Wishes

“Don’t overdo it with the questions, Ma, and please…don’t embarrass yourself,” Colt says before walking back inside the house, where I assume there‘s a back door.

“I should be telling you that.” She turns back around to meet my gaze with an even bigger smile.

“Now, how about we get inside with the cool air and have some sweet tea? The back porch has a fan, so we can watch these boys try to be Indiana Jones on crack.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. For an old lady, she had a sense of humor, and I didn’t mind it, not one bit.

It was beautiful out here. You could see the Ozark mountains from her backyard, which was more like an acreage yard. There was nothing but land for miles, but it was calming. After being in LA for almost five years, this was practically therapeutic to my soul. No hustle and bustle. No honking horns. No being caught in traffic. No wanna-be models roaming the streets. Just the fresh air and noise of the wind blowing along with horses galloping. Green grass and dirt are what I get a whiff of, and a sense of peace washes over me. Being out here made you think about God, timing, and why things happened the way they did.

The warm air hits my face as the breeze picks up.

“How’s your tea hun?” Nora asks

“It’s good.”

“Are you sure? You haven’t drank any of it so I wasn’t sure it was too sweet.”

This is the part I hated about dealing with an eating disorder. You thought about calories non-stop. I took a couple of sips, and I could tell it was loaded with sugar. It was good but almost too good. So I figured if I took a couple of sips to slow the process of drinking it, she wouldn’t notice

I fake laughed. “Oh, sorry, I was just enjoying the fresh air.”

She side-eyed me. I think she could tell I was full of shit. “Well, everyone that comes over to my house always drinks my tea in two gulps. So I didn’t know if you were diabetic or anything. I do have sugar-free tea if you'd rather have that.”

Ya, she knew I was lying, alright. “No, this is fine.” I force myself to drink a massive gulp before cupping the glass back in my hand.

“So you’re friends with Josh, huh?” She says, still staring out into the field. Watching Bodie and Colt gallop on their horses.

“Yeah, we became good friends in college, and once we knew we were neighbors back home, it helped since we liked to travel back here on holidays together.”

“That’s nice. Josh is a good kid. But he sure needs to calm that partying down.”

“Ya, I tell him that all the time,” I say, loosening my grip on the glass cup.

“I guess when your biological parents are wild, it’s inevitable.” She says with pursed lips.

“Speaking of, what’s it like being a mom to an NFL player, who’s the son of a former one as well.”

She scoffs. “Well, Cliff ain’t much of a father, but he did love his football. He worshiped it - along with himself.”

She wasn’t fond of his dad at all, we had that in common.

She let out a deep sigh. “Cliff playing pro ball seemed like ages ago. Time is the thief of life.”

“Is Colt a lot like his dad?” I asked her questions first since I hated talking about myself, especially when she admitted she loved to gossip.

“Somewhat, he’s stubborn, determined, and he says he is tired of football but I know he would have been lost without it. Just like these animals.”

“Animals?”

“Yeah, before Bodie turned one, Colt had cows, horses, pigs, chickens, a whole farm out here. It’s what he liked to do when he was home. Tend to the animals, be out here in nature. He’s always loved the outdoors. But when the NFL and fatherhood got too demanding, he had to eliminate most of the animals. He just didn’t have time for them.”

“I never heard of an NFL player who loved to farm. Most of them, I figured, were into the flashy lifestyle and fast cars, and-.”

“Women?” She narrows her eyes at me as she rocks in her chair. “Oh, he had his fair share of women, but my son was never the type to settle down unless it felt right. It’s why he’s almost thirty and has never been married or even close to it.”

I furrow my brow at her. “He wasn’t married to Bodie’s mom?”

“Heavens no child. And thank the Lord, she gets enough money out of him just from child support. Even though my son takes care of Bodie, he pays her money just to keep her happy and not threaten to take Bodie, which she would be a dumbass if she tried to do. I just thank God he listened to me every day when he was minutes away from popping the question.”