Zach led the way, acutely aware of Sam’s hand resting on the small of his back. He opened the front door and called out, “Mom?”
“Back here, sweetheart. In the kitchen.”
With Sam trailing behind, still touching him, Zach headed to the back of the house. “She’s always either in the kitchen or the backyard with her flowers.”
“Beautiful house. It looks pretty old but well restored.”
“My father bought it when they were first married, before the neighborhood was ‘hot.’ When I made my money, the first thing I did was restore the house for her.”
They entered the kitchen, and Zach spotted his mother at the wooden table, a full pot of coffee sitting in the center.
“Where were you? Is everything okay? I put the milk away—oh.” She stopped speaking at the sight of him and Sam. Her gaze focused behind him, and Zach stepped to the side.
“Sorry I’m late. I want to introduce you to someone.” His mother couldn’t stop staring at Sam, a look of confusion on her face. “Mom, this is Sam Stein. Sam.” He gave a gentle squeeze to Sam’s arm. “This is my mom, Cheryl Cohen.”
“A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Cohen. Zach has told me so much about you.”
His mother’s smile failed to reach her eyes, but only someone who knew her well would notice.
“He did? How nice. Please sit and have some coffee. Zach, get Sam a cup.”
Zach pulled out another mug from the cabinet, listening to his mother quiz Sam. Suddenly this didn’t seem like such a great idea.
“So tell me, Sam, since my son hasn’t found the time to tell me anything about his personal life, how long have you known each other?”
The guilt was what he expected. Zach should never have allowed this to go as far as it had.
Zach slid into the chair next to Sam and poured him a cup of coffee. “Mom, please. He’s my friend; I don’t think you need to interrogate him.”
“Who’s interrogating? I only asked a simple question. You bring someone new home, and I’m not supposed to say anything?”
Amusement not anger danced in Sam’s eyes and for the first time in hours, Zach relaxed. For once, things might work out well for him.
“We met the weekend Zach went to Atlantic City, but only reconnected recently back in the city.” Sam sipped his coffee. “I went to breakfast with him today and met his friends.”
“Oh.” Mentioning Zach’s friends guaranteed to bring a smile to her face. “You met the boys? Aren’t they the sweetest?”
“They seem like a great group of guys.”
Cringing, Zach almost groaned out loud. His mother acted as if this was high school and Sam was picking him up for the prom. He sneaked a glance over at Sam and was surprised to see him engaged and not at all annoyed.
“What do you do, if you don’t mind me asking?” She refilled Sam’s coffee cup and her own, leaving Zach out to his surprise. He took the pot and poured his own cup.
“I’m retired from the police department, and now do private undercover work.” Sam drank more coffee, his smile fading around the rim of the cup.
“Retired? But you’re so young.” Her hand clapped over her mouth. “Oh, were you injured? Did you get hurt and have to retire? Are you on disability?”
“Mom.” Mortified, Zach raised his voice to her for the first time. “Stop asking Sam such personal questions.” Especially since Zach himself didn’t know the answer. There was so much about Sam he didn’t know: whether his parents were alive, if he had brothers or sisters, his past lovers, although Zach wasn’t sure about bringing that up.
“Sam seems like a very nice man. You don’t mind, do you?” At his shrug, she patted Sam’s hand, then stood and took her cup to the sink. “You see? After all, we’re family here. There’re no secrets.”
Wincing, Zach drained his mug and joined his mother at the sink.
“Mom,” he whispered, low enough for Sam not to hear over the running water. “Please stop asking him all these personal questions. I didn’t bring him here to be questioned.”
“Why is he here?” Her hands methodically washed her cup, even though it was clean.
“Um, I, um.” Fumbling to explain, the coming out conversation didn’t seem so easy right now. “I knew this was a bad idea,” he muttered to himself. “I never should’ve brought him here.”
