The Houseparty

Music met Mimi, loud and bumping, as soon as she headed up the walk to his mother's house. After double checking the address and making sure she was in the right place, Mimi knocked on the front door.

A tall guy with a gap between his two top teeth swung the door open. His mood sobered abruptly. "Who are you?"

"A friend of Sarah's brother."

"Oh shit." He leaned back into the house and yelled, "Sarah, some lady is here! She says she knows Adam."

The word lady made her bristle. She was only twenty-five, for goodness' sake. That wasn't geriatric.

A pretty girl peered around him, tipsy, gripping the boy's arm. There were other kids deeper in the house. The girl looked her up and down. "A friend of my brother's? She doesn't look the type. She looks like a second-grade teacher."

Pushing her way through the two kids, Mimi stepped into the house. "A party I see."

Flipping her hair back from her face, Sara said, "So what? It was a good day to celebrate."

Mimi could recognize someone putting up a good front. Ignoring the girl, she called out into the house, "Last call."

"No, wait." Sarah shadowed her. "This is my house, and this is my party."

Mimi arched a brow. "Did your brother agreed to this?"

"Well, not exactly."

Mimi pulled out her phone. "Shall I call him?"

Wrapping her hands around Mimi's, Sarah said, "No, don't do that. We were just having a little fun."

As Mimi headed down the hall, she rapped on each door. "The party is over. If anyone is in there, put your pants on."

"No one is in the bedrooms."

Mimi might have grown up in a conservative house, but she wasn't stupid. Pulling on his shirt, a sheepish-looking boy slipped out of the first bedroom with a shy blond hiding behind him. "We weren't doing anything."

The little blond lied, "We were studying."

Mimi answered, "Studying like that can give you swollen feet for nine months."

Flustered, Sarah walked with her, just behind Mimi. Adam's sister reached out to touch her friend's arm. "You don't have to leave. This is my house. I don't know her."

"My name is Mimi."

"What right do you have to come in here and start telling people what to do?"

Mimi squared up on Sarah and used her best big-sister voice to fib a little. "I'm Adam's fiance."

"You are not."

With a shrug, Mimi knocked on the next door. She cleared the house like she was getting possums out of the chicken coop.

Once the house was emptying, Mimi said, "Call him if you have any complaints." With her arms folded across her chest, she tried to look stern. "I don't have to tell him how many people you had over or how much alcohol is on your breath."

Sarah cupped her hand over her mouth. "It was just a few beers. I was celebrating."

"Yup, you were, but that part of the evening is over." Headed into the kitchen to the refrigerator, Mimi added, "You can have one friend stay. No later than midnight, though."

Kids were fleeing her path, leaving through the front door. Cars peeled off. "I'd be happy to call a ride share for anyone who needs one." Slumped at the kitchen bar, a boy raised his hand. "Sarah, do you know his address?"

Sarah shook her head no, apologizing with every step to her leaving friends. As Mimi pulled up a ride share app on her phone, she said, "Hopefully, he will remember his address by the time the car gets here."

Sucking in a breath through her teeth, Sarah hissed, "Do you know what you are doing to my reputation? This is mortifying."

"Well, at least you won't be grounded for the rest of the year. I don't see Adam being happy to come home to this mess."

"My Mom never grounded me."

"Your Mom isn't in charge right now, your brother is."

The gap tooth boy looped an arm around Sarah. "It's going to be okay. This happens when old people come home early." Old! Mimi almost changed her mind about ordering pizza. She pulled a magnet off the fridge and asked Sarah. "Is this place good?"

"Yeah, I like it."

"What kind of pizza do you two like?"

Sarah deferred to her lanky boyfriend, who said, "I like pepperoni."

"Fine. I'm going to order pizza. You two start picking up cups and any mess your friends left." Sarah made a sour face, but she picked up a few of the red solo cups that littered the counter.

"Is there any soda left?"

Sarah sullenly didn't answer, but her boyfriend said, "Yeah, there are chips and stuff, too."

Rolling up her sleeves, Mimi said, "If we can get this place back in order, we can watch a movie before your brother gets home."

"Are you really his fiance?"

Mimi quirked a grin. "I might be. I'm not sure yet." She flashed her naked hand at her. "See, no ring."

***

After Mimi poured the drunk boy into a taxi and belted him in, she made sure the driver had the right address. "Hopefully, he can slip into the house with his key. He has one. I checked." Once the driver was paid, she patted the boy's arm. "Sober up an hour or two before you interact with your folks. Get one of your siblings to hang out with you." The kid nodded and gave a vile burp that almost made Mimi lose her lunch.

Adam was lucky he called when he did. The party had ended before things went awry.

***

Full of pizza, Mimi lay half asleep in a recliner. The kids had started a second movie, and she hadn't bothered to complain about the action flick. Usually, she didn't stay up past eleven. With farm chores every morning before work, she went to bed early with a good book. Snuggled up together on the couch, the kids had eaten an entire pizza and a giant bowl of popcorn.

When the rattling wheels of a suitcase bumped along the outside porch stairs, Sarah shifted out of the arms of her boyfriend. "Finally."

Righting her chair with a flip of the lever, Mimi raised her hand to hide a yawn as the door swung open. Shoulders curved forward, Adam stepped in and dropped his mother's excess baggage onto the floor. With his mouth set in a grim line, he took in the situation, gaze lingering on the boy.

Shifting further away from her fellow, Sarah asked, "They didn't refuse her, did they?"

Mimi stretched as Adam stared silently at the couch until the boy stood up awkwardly. "Hello, sir."

Into the continuing silence, Mimi said, "Adam would have called if that happened. Unless she is still outside strapped to the roof of his truck." Looking exhausted all the way down to his soul, Adam managed a small smile in Mimi's direction.

Sarah shot her boyfriend a quick questioning look. "I had a few friends over," she blurted out.

Adam focused on the boy. "You" He pointed at the door. "Home."

The boy scrambled for his shoes. "Yes, sir."

A sour-looking Sarah walked him to the door. "I'm sorry about my brother. He is always grumpy. I'll see you tomorrow, at school."

Mimi turned her face away from the young couple when the boy went in for a smooch. Adam's growl stopped the youth in mid-pucker, and he stepped through the door instead.

While Sarah turned the deadbolt home, Adam slumped into the other recliner. "That woman is going to be the death of me. How bad was it when you got here, Mimi?" He sniffed. "Is that pizza?"

"The were up to normal kid stuff. Do you want some?"

"Christ yes. Any chance they left a beer behind?"

"I think I saw two tucked behind the milk."

"I'm going to need both of them."

When Mimi passed him, he reached out and grabbed her wrist. "Thank you." The warmth from his touch spread up her arm and made her heart beat faster. His calloused hand, large and rough, slid down to enfold her fingers.

Skin tingling along her arm and shoulder, she reached out her free hand and touched his jaw with her fingertips. "You are welcome."

Sarah made a vomiting sound and said, "Gross," breaking the moment and causing Mimi to step back from Adam.

"Pizza, right?" Mimi held her still tingling hand against her stomach as she stepped backward. "And beer."

***

Mimi tossed two slices of pizza into the air fryer and called out to Adam. "I should warn you, I told her you were my fiancée."

"Are we official now?"

Leaving the question unanswered, she pried the cap off a beer and headed back to the living room. "I don't remember anyone getting on their knee." She offered him the beer, and he took it.

"Thank you, angel of pizza."

"I needed something to threaten her with." Mimi's lips quirked into a smile. "And she called me a second-grade teacher."

He chuckled then. "Teenagers are assholes."

"I heard that," Sarah said from down the hall. "I smell pizza. Is there more left?"

"I'm heating some for your brother. There is enough for you, too."

Adam took a deep pull from his beer. "Sarah has a tapeworm."

Drawing her hair up into a practical ponytail as she returned from her bedroom, Sarah said, "I do not, Turd." She flopped down onto the couch. "So they let Mom sign in."

"They did today. I have a feeling it is going to be touch and go. She did pretty well last time once she settled into the program."

"Didn't she meet some dude in recovery the last time she went?"

"Todd." Adam shook his head. "Our family knows how to pick winners."

Mimi rested her hand on the back of the couch, waiting for the chime of the air fryer. "I take it you didn't like him."

"He sold my bike and the ring my dad gave my mom when they got married." He shrugged. "Then he disappeared like all the others had."

Sarah curled her toes. "She doesn't have a hard time finding men."

Adam finished his sister's thought. "Just keeping them." He gestured to the hall. "Go crash, Sarah. I'm going to be staying here until mom gets back. You won't be alone."

"I guess no pizza for me."

Mimi said, "Get a slice out of the air fryer. Just put more pizza in to replace whatever you take."

When the girl passed by her, she mouthed the words, "thank you."

Mimi nodded.

From the kitchen, Sarah asked, "How long will she be there?"

"At least thirty days and then she can come home." He gestured to the house. "If there still is a place to come home to."

"We can make it that long," Sarah said, a folded piece of pizza in her right hand and her phone in the other. Barefoot, she headed down the hall to her bedroom.

"We can try."

Her door shut, and suddenly Mimi was very aware that they no longer had a chaperone. Resisting the urge to move closer to him, Mimi asked, "Did you talk to your dad?"

"I did."

"Did it work out?"

"Only if I get hitched." He leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees and looked up at her in a way that made her body temperature rise. "Wanna get married?"

She crossed her arms. "This is the way every girl hopes to be asked."

He crooked his finger at her, beckoning her closer. When she was within reach, he pulled her onto his lap. As she tried to get up, he held her in place. "Just give me a second." Awkwardly, she settled on his lap, distracted by how hard his thighs felt under her.

"Mimi, most beautiful cupcake in the universe, will you marry me so I can save this house, and you can have your farm? I am offering you a situation of mutual benefit."

Mimi swallowed, unsure what to say.

Waiting for her answer, he tugged a simple gold ring off his pinky finger.

"That will never fit, Adam."

Claiming her left hand, he said, "Help me. I'll make sure you get your dream." Holding her hand captive, he slid the ring onto her finger. The gold band settled as if it had been sized for her. "I'll be damned."

"It fits."

"It was my grandmother's. My grandfather wore it on his pinky until he passed."

Turning the gold band around and around on her finger, she asked him, "How long would we have to pretend to be married?"

"You will have to put up with me for a while, maybe six months."

Biting down on her tongue, she kept from saying, "Is that all?" Unable to look at his handsome face, she focused on the simple gold band. She'd sworn never to marry again. There was no reason to care how short or long this situation would be. For practical reasons, shorter would be better.

The air fryer beeped, and he released her. When she got up, she missed the solid warmth of him and his touch immediately.

"You don't have to serve me, Mimi. I'm used to taking care of myself."

"It's just pizza."

Before they burned, she pulled the slices out and slid them onto a plate. Standing there in the fluorescent light of the kitchen, she stared at the ring on her finger. Were they going to do this? Was she going to own the farm?

***

Laying alone in her bed, Mimi stared up at the familiar ceiling. She'd texted her father when she got home so he wouldn't worry, but she didn't know how to stop her own racing thoughts. Unable to leave the ring alone, she slid it off her finger, turning the little gold band in the path of her reading light. On the inside, there was an inscription, "For my best girl." She rubbed her fingertips along the letters and tried to think of the farm, and all her plans for the property, but she kept remembering how sad Adam had looked coming in the door and how warm his lap had been.