He straightened, pizza forgotten. “Yes, ma’am?”
Disappointment pinched his mama’s mouth. “You are so distracted tonight.”
With extraordinary care, he set his paper plate aside then wrapped both hands around the counter edge. “Long day at work.”
It was as good as an excuse as any, but definitely the wrong one. If anything, Mama’s mouth pinched tighter, anxiety darkening her eyes.
Lord help him, one day he would learn to choose his words carefully.
“Is everything all right?” The sharp note in her voice rang familiar, because digging out every detail of any situation in his life required a sharp tool. The hell of it was, his life wasn’t even that messy. Yeah, he hadn’t gone on to a four year school after ABAC, but he’d always held down a job, managed to keep his mess out of their house, and he did okay.
But still he made Mama crazy.
“It’s fine.” Flexing his aching knuckles, he spread his hands in an open gesture. “Don’t worry—”
He snapped that off. Dumbest damn thing he’d ever said. Telling his mama not to worry was like telling Lamar he was sorry — he might as well save his breath.
“Sue, for real.” Her own tone light, Holly stacked the glossy photos and slid them into a manila envelope. “You should have heard how Herb bragged on him when I dropped his lunch off yesterday.”
“Really?”
Refusing to be insulted by his mama’s incredulity, Colt flashed Holly a grateful look. She was amazing at defusing that killer anxiety.
“Really.” Slotting the folder in her bag, Holly flipped her braid over her shoulder and slipped off the stool, gathering the detritus from the casual dinner they’d shared before Colt’s arrival. “He’s super impressed and ready to turn him loose with the warehouse.”
“Well, that’s good.” Mama folded her hands around her cup. Colt quirked a brow. If he’d said the same thing, she’d still be peppering him with questions.
“It’s amazing.” The trash tossed, Holly moved the pizzas to the refrigerator and stowed the plates and cups. She leaned in to kiss Sue’s cheek. “We’re gone, but I’ll call you tomorrow about Thanksgiving.”
“You do that.” Smiling, Sue patted her hair. Colt stared. What the holy hell?
Next came his turn to hug and kiss his mama and promise to call. Then Holly called Polo and Ralph — the little shit was more obedient for her than he was for Colt — and they trooped through the laundry room to the garage, cold air stinging Colt’s nose and ears.
He locked the side door behind them and jerked a thumb toward the house. “What the hell have you done with my real mother?”
Unlocking her SUV to usher both dogs into her back seat, Holly gave him a pointed look over her shoulder. “Don’t be mean about Sue.”
“I’mrealisticabout Sue.” He rested his hands at his hips, so slain by the evening’s events he wasn’t prepared to argue about her loading uphisdog. Pizza and paper plates and Solo cups. Lord. He gestured toward the house again. “That is . . . how’d you pull that off, anyway?”
She took a step closer, with that self-satisfied smile he always wanted to kiss off her lips. “Magic.”
“You’re funny.”
“No, seriously.” She tilted her head up to look at him, close enough now to touch him although she kept her hands to herself. “I know you love her, but it’s a complicated, tangled up kind of love between you two. I just get to love her, so she can relax.”
His head went back like he dodged a punch. “I’m the problem?”
“Did I say that, Colton? No.” Lips pursed, she shook her head. “She and Lenora have some serious similarities. Your mama wants everything safe and perfect when her life has been anything but. She lives with the worst loss every single day. You’re her child. She wants everything safe and perfect for you—”
A hard snort hurt his nose, earning him a withering look.
“And you want everything good and perfect for her. It gets all tangled up, so neither one of you can relax.” Her mouth twisted into knowing line. “And D gets caught in the middle.”
“Uh, no. D is solidly with Sue.” If nothing else, the solidity of his daddy’s love for his mama was a certainty in his life. The man was nothing if not devoted to her. That reality let him breathe because Sue would always be loved as she should be. “Right where he should be.”
“I was not casting aspersions on him as a father, Colt. He’s an excellent husband and father.”
“Damn straight.” He relaxed the line of his shoulders. D expected a lot out of him, but that was as it should be, too.
