I shot him down with a glare. "We both know I don't need you looking out for me."
"Says who?"
"Says me. You've been pretty cool so far. Let's not change that.” With a warning look, I made sure to add, “I don't need another Mom trying to run my life."
"I've been cool, as you put it, because you've never been serious about anybody before."
That stopped me in the middle of a mouthful of coconut flakes and icing. I cleared the tasty slush from my mouth before asking, "What makes you think I'm serious about him?"
"You've been seeing him for a few weeks now and it's been a while since you brought anybody home."
Shrugging, I said, "You know how it is."
"Nope, I don't know how it is.” Chase lowered the fork from his mouth. “Why don't you tell me?"
"I wasn't looking for a relationship since I'm not even sure when the urge might come over me to go home and stay there."
"And when would that be or why would that happen?" He stared at me until we both broke out laughing. Then he nodded. "Oh, yeah, when Mom decides to retire and drag Dad to live over here."
"Which we know he's not having any time soon."
We laughed again and after I chewed another bite of cake, I cleared my throat. "I'm thinking about going home before the wedding."
"Which means you've already made up your mind."
"You know me too well." An imp made me add, "I might go for a few months."
When he stared at me as if I had lost my mind, I laughed hysterically. "You shouldn't take everything I say so seriously."
"And some things, you shouldn't even say, but you've always been crazy enough for the two of us." He drank half the water before asking. "Why are you going? We both know you wouldn't go back for no reason."
I weighed how much to tell him, then gave up on sifting my thoughts. Chase was the closest person to me, other than a few friends I'd gone to university with, so what was the point of lying to him? He'd know anyway.
"Kofi has some business there and he asked me to go with him."
"How long will you stay and what about your clients?"
"You’re forgetting the internet is my friend and there's the telephone and Skype if I need to interface with any of them."
"Right."
After I ate the last bit of icing, I licked the tines of my fork and then looked at Chase, who had his eyes on the television. "Would you come with me?"
"Why?" His gaze swiveled to meet mine.
"You work for yourself and like me, you can do what you need to do remotely."
He smiled, a slight movement of the mouth that reminded me of our father. "And you need me to be a buffer between you and Mom."
"Kinda."
"Do you plan to introduce Kofi to Mom and Dad?"
"I think so."
"What kind of answer is that?" Chase frowned and popped another bit of cake into his mouth. "Either you will or you won't."
"And you know what Mom can be like."
