I don’t like it, Dad.“That’s … great, Mom. He seems like a great guy.” How many times would he have to saygreatbefore he started to believe it? More than twice, obviously.
Mom’s full smile blossomed. “Thank you, son. We’re taking it slow, of course, but I do want you to meet him. In fact, we’re planning to get both families together for dinner soon. Isla’s birthday is Sunday, so we’re thinking about next weekend. Can you make it?”
“Next weekend?”
Mom nodded. “Saturday, most likely.”
Christian gaped at her. “That’s eight days away. Don’t you think it’s a little soon to be combining families?”So much for taking it slow.
“Well … yes.” Her enthusiasm dipped for the first time, igniting his guilt complex. He hated disappointing his mother. “It may feel a little quick. But our families are important to both of us. Which is one of the things that attracted me to the man in the first place.”
Christian squeezed his eyes shut.Attractionandmanwere two words he’d rather not hear in a sentence referring to his mother.
“Oh, Christian.” She swatted her hand in the air between them. “If I can walk in on you making out with a woman and not get all squirmy about it, you can be a mature adult and recognize that I’m capable of being attracted to someone too.”
He choked on a trail of saliva sliding down his trachea. “Thanks, Mom. Somehow, that doesn’t help at all.”
“I’m just saying.” Mom splayed her hands in concession. “Paul is the first man I’ve met who even compares to your father. It’s important to me that you like him.”
When Mom put it like that, how could he refuse? She deserved to be happy, and if that happiness came with this Paul guy, who was he to disapprove? It would be unfair of him to project his own muddled feelings about love’s existence onto her.
But how could he forget about Dad? If things with Paul progressed further, would he attempt to step into Dad’s place? Would Mom let him? The idea of her moving on with someone else besides his father felt a little like being abandoned all over again.
Is this how Isla felt? He’d sensed a change in his daughter the last few days she’d spent with Hallie, as if she was reverting back into the happy child she used to be. Not entirely, but he’d cherished those small glimpses.
What would happen when Hallie eventually left, especially if he did entertain the idea of starting a relationship with her? Because deep down, he had entertained it. And honestly, he hadn’t dismissed it.
But if he’d learned anything from Sabrina, it was that romance didn’t last forever. And he couldn’t string his girls along for some temporary fling.
He sighed. There were so many questions, and so few answers. “I’ll keep next Saturday open.”
“Wonderful.” Mom slapped her hands onto her thighs and stood. “I’ve got cold stuff in my trunk. Tell the girls that Dani and I will be here to pick them up tomorrow around six for girls’ night.”
Their special girls’ night outing and sleepover had been a celebrated birthday tradition for them all since Penelope’s first. Christian would’ve felt left out if it wasn’t a nice break from childcare for him.
“Will do.” Christian approached her, sliding an arm around her shoulders. “Thanks for the groceries.”
“It’s my pleasure, as always. And Christian?”
“Yeah?”
She patted his chest a few times. “Don’t be embarrassed about what I walked in on earlier. I’ve always known there’d be a day when some lucky woman snuck through your defenses.”
He swallowed slowly as she started toward the front door.
“And please tell Hallie that I’d love the chance to get to know her better. Maybe next Saturday.” Mom winked before slipping out of the kitchen.
Yeah, no. That would definitely not be happening.
I kissed Christian.
Hallie pushed a gum paste tombstone into the gray-tinted buttercream that made up the graveyard of Isla’s haunted house birthday cake.
In front of his mom.
How had she let that happen? The kiss, not his mom’s appearance, though meeting the woman who raised him while making out with him had to top the list of the most mortifying experiences of Hallie’s life.
She was barely able to look him in the eye after returning with the girls yesterday, let alone have a normal conversation. Thankfully, Isla and Penelope were so excited to see their dad home early that she didn’t have much opportunity to talk to him before leaving for the day.
