Page 85 of Unlikely to Stay
Brant hopped out of his car and met her on her side of the vehicle.“We’re coming, Momma.Cool your jets.”
“Don’t you be telling me to cool my jets, Brant Billings.I know you’re way bigger than me now but I’m still your momma and I can still whop you upside the head.”
Brant grinned at her comment.Good to know she hadn’t lost any of her sass since he’d been gone.“Duly noted.”
Betty waited until Colleen and Brant were on the front porch before wrapping her arms around Colleen in a big hug.“It’s so nice to meet you, Miss Colleen.I’ve heard lots about you.”
A smile stretched across Colleen’s face.“It’s nice to meet you, too, Ms.Billings.”
His mom laughed at her comment.“Oh, honey.Don’t you call me no missus.Plain Betty is just fine with me.”
“All right.I can do that.”
Brant pulled his mom in for a hug and kissed her on the cheek.“So, on a scale of one to ten, how much have you missed me?”
His mom playfully shoved his chest.“Boy, please.You know the answer to that.”
“I’ve always told me you can come visit Parker anytime.”
“You know I can’t drive all that way by myself.”
“How about you come home with Colleen and me today?You can stay with me as long as you want.”
His mom pretended to think.“We’ll see,” she replied.Which, in the history of Brant’s life, usually meant no.But at least it wasn’t a direct no.
“Well, are we gonna stand out here all day or are you gonna come inside?”she asked, echoing her words from earlier.“I got a mean pot roast in the oven and your favorite mashed potatoes and fried okra.It’s not gonna eat itself.”
Brant grinned when his mom hooked her arm in Colleen’s and led her in the house.“Girl,” she said.“You have to tell me where you get this hair color.It looks just like a maraschino cherry.”
CC lookedaround Brant’s childhood home.It was just as she had imagined.Filled with old furniture, whitewashed paneling on the walls.Pictures of Brant hung on every available surface along with random pictures with seemingly no correlation to anything.A picture of Jesus with a crown of thorns on his head, a Thomas Kinkaid winter landscape and warm home, and a beach house with a brightly colored beach chair next to the ocean.Totally random but everything seemed to fit.
Whatwasn’thow she had imagined was Brant’s mom, Betty.CC had forgotten how Brant had described his mom’s stature on their first date.All she remembered was how he described her larger-than-life personality.CC mistakenly thought her stature would match that personality.She couldn’t have been more wrong.
Betty Billings stood no higher than five foot two and probably weighed one hundred pounds soaking wet.Her caramel skin was smooth and wrinkle free, and her dark chocolate eyes twinkled with mischief.Even though she was small in stature, CC could tell she could be a spitfire when needed.
“I’m so glad to finally meet you,” Betty told CC, their arms still hooked together.“I need to know all about this woman who’s been keeping my boy away from his Skype sessions with his momma.”
CC’s eyes widened in shock.“Are you serious?I’m so sorry.I didn’t even know about them until the other day.If I had known he was skipping them, I would have sent him home sooner.I promise.”
Betty grinned a sly smile.“Girl, you know I’m playin’ with you.You think I’m letting him out of those sessions that easy?You just made me stay up past my bedtime.”
CC grinned.“Whew!I thought you were serious for a second.”
Brant unhooked his mom’s arm from CC’s.“Enough teasing, Momma.You’re freaking her out.She’s already worried about meeting you.”
His mom raised an eyebrow at him.“Scared?Of me?”
CC laughed.“I kind of want to impress you, Betty.”
“I take it that means you like my boy?”
CC nodded.“I like your boy.”
Betty nodded.“Then that’s good enough for me.”
“Now, can we eat, Momma?”Brant asked.“I’m starving.”
Betty rolled her eyes.“You should’ve seen me trying to keep up with his huge stomach as a teenager.Almost ate me out of house and home.”