“Thank you. And thankfully, I had help in raising him.”
“He’s told me about his grandparents and his Aunt Lisa.”
“He told you about her?”
I nodded.
“Good. He barely ever talks about her, even to me. They were very close when he was younger. Losing her was hard on him, though he doesn’t ever talk about it. Hell, it was hard on us both. She and I’d grown close after he was born.”
I saw a sheen of tears coat Wanda’s eyes and I reached across the table to cover her hand with mine.
“I’m sorry for your loss, too.”
She covered my hand with her other one. “Thank you, Chanel.”
We remained that way for a few moments. I didn’t have any animosity in my heart for this woman. She’d raised the best thing that’d ever happened to me. I could see how someone could get so wrapped up in work and being a single parent that they start to question their lives, and how that could lead to some pretty poor decisions. And since I was working on forgiving my father, I was willing to extend that same grace to Wanda.
Wanda let out a small laugh. “Well, this turned out better than expected.”
I grinned. “I wonder how Xavier and Todd are doing.”
Xavier
“Everything was great, Xavier. Thank you for introducing me to the chef,” Todd stated, as we stood outside of the private bathroom in the restaurant. We’d just come from the kitchen where I introduced Todd to our head chef, Matteo.
I eyed Todd up and down. My instincts were telling me he was a genuine dude, and his background check had come back fine, but he was still dating my mother. That meant he needed to understand some things.
“You’re very welcome. I know this double date made my mother happy. Speaking of,” I paused to stroke the lower half of my beard and chin with my hand. “My mother is one of a handful of people I would take a bullet for, as well as take a baseball bat to someone’s kneecaps for. You understand what I’m saying.” I peered at him through squinted eyes.
He laughed.
I didn’t.
When Todd realized,I wasn’t joking, his facial expression turned serious. “I understand what you’re saying. You should know, I don’t intimidate easily.”
“You would’ve never had a chance with my mother if you did.”
He nodded. “I assume you’ve had me checked out? Your mother told me you probably would. But just so you know, I have zero intentions of disappointing her. She and I are building something very special, and I am looking forward to seeing where this could go.”
“That’s all good and well. Just keep my warning in mind.”
“I’ll do that.”
“Then we’ll get along just fine.” I stuck my hand out again to shake his. When he gripped it, I stared at him, assessing his genuineness. I didn’t feel like he was being deceitful. None of my bullshit meters were set off by this guy, but only time would tell. In the meantime, I was honestly happy my mother found someone she enjoyed spending time with.
We exited the private bathroom area and I made my way over to the woman whom I enjoyed spending all my free time with.
“Everything okay?” she asked, looking around me to see Todd walking toward my mother.
“Everything’s cool.” I leaned down to kiss her lips. “Just had to let Todd know what was what.”
“I bet you did.”
“And you and my mother?”
“We’re good. And I ordered you the crème brûlée.”
“Good. I’ve developed a sweet tooth lately.”
