Jameson's Spiral

Chapter 3

Two days later, I was in the kitchen putting together a picnic lunch when my mom came into the room.

"Oh! You're up! You're feeling better, then?" She asked.

I chuckled as I wrapped up two peanut butter sandwiches in plastic wrap, then put them in the small dark brown basket. "It was just a migraine, mum."

She crossed her arms over her chest, coming to stand by my side. "Migraines don't last that long, Zakary. You should let me take you to the doctor."

I took a long, deep breath and put the last of the food into the basket. My mother had always been a worrier, especially since her and my biological father split up. If one of her boys had even a cold, she would insist on taking us to the emergency room.

Though, as far as I knew, this behavior hadn't been so extreme when we were kids. What had caused it, I had no clue. Maybe that's just how mothers were meant to be.

I gave her a reassuring smile.

"Really, mum, you don't have to worry. If something were wrong. I would let you know. I promise."

She smiled, then got on her toes and kissed my cheek. "You're such a good boy."

This made me laugh again. Sometimes I wondered if she had forgotten that I wasn't a little kid. Then again, to her I always would be.

Mother looked down at what I was doing. Her eyebrows raised.

"What's that?" She asked.

"Claire and I are going on a picnic, then a walk on one of the trails outside of town...you know, since it's been months since we've been together," I told her, smiling.

She put a hand on my shoulder. "Sounds wonderful. I hope you have a great time."

I nodded. "I'm sure I will."

*  *  *

I stepped out of the small shop in the middle of town with my jacket pocket a bit heavier and a stupid grin on my face.

From there, I drove back towards the edge of town and, within ten minutes, was on Claire's doorstep. I knocked, and she appeared only a few seconds later.

She opened the door, and her lovely face immediately lit up in a way that made me almost laugh. If I had been told my freshman year of high school that a beautiful woman would one day look at me like that, I could have asked Ben or Mason to slap some sense into them.

Her hair was braided and pulled up into some sort of up-do that I never would have managed if I was a girl. A simple, yet pretty pink shirt added the perfect touch of color.

She noticed me staring stupidly and laughed.

"Are you just going to stand there all day or should we get going? I'm going out to dinner with my family for my uncle's birthday and they'll kill me if I'm late."

I snapped out of my trance, stepped aside, and motioned for her to go first.

"We wouldn't want that."

*  *  *

I parked the car outside of the trailhead and ran around to help Claire out. She laughed when I did this, making me feel a little silly. However, the gentlemen in those cheesy romance movies always did it, so why not try it out?

Claire looked at the trailhead, still smiling.

"It's paved," she pointed out.

"So?" I asked, not seeing the problem.