She started dicing an onion with quick, competent strokes. Distracted, he thought.Good.“Brittany Wilson’s back in town.”
He waited for the kick to his gut. Nothing. “Her parents are here,” he said. “Makes sense she’d want to see them now and then.”
When they were married, Britt and her mom had fought about everything—her smoking, her housekeeping, her decision to drop out of school. Joe. Maybe their relationship had improved some since the divorce. He hoped so.
Nicole kept chopping, ignoring Honey, waiting around at her feet for something to drop. “She came to the hotel, looking for a job.”
Well, shit. That sounded like she was figuring to stay, at least for a little while.
“None of my business,” he said.
“She wanted me to say hi to you.”
He kept his face neutral. “Is that right.”
Nicole never glanced up from the cutting board. But he could feel her attention on him, the weight of her concern. “You want to be careful there, son.”
He’d spent years making sure she didn’t have to worry about him. Being the good son, acting the man of the house. And she was talking to him like he was the same poor kid whose dad had walked out on them, the same dumb slob whose wife had left.
“It’s okay, Ma. I’m not going to make the same mistake twice.”
She finished the onion and started on a pepper. “Honey, I’m not worried you’re going to repeat your mistakes. I’m worried you’re going to make mine.”
Surprise made him speechless. She might as well have stabbed him with that knife. He didn’t like thinking of his mom with regrets.
But Nicole wasn’t done talking. “I want you to be happy.”
“I’m happy,” Joe protested. Happy enough. He had a good job, a good life, a good…dog.
“I want you to find love again.”
And that was the thing. His mother nagged because she cared. He put his arm around her, remembering the days when he measured his height against her shoulder. He kissed the top of her head. “We gonna have the safe-sex talk now?”
She huffed with amusement or frustration. “I’m not talking about sex. I’m talking about finding someone. Dating. A future.”
Joe wasn’t against getting married again someday. Get a wife, buy a house, maybe have some kids somewhere down the line. Not because he’d never pictured any different. Not because that’s what his mother expected. Not even to prove he was nothing like his father. But this time—next time—he was determined to get it right.
He imagined trying to explain that to his mom, but he didn’t have the words. His thoughts were all tangled up in feelings.
“I’m sort of seeing somebody,” he heard himself say.
“I wondered.” Nicole set her knife down on the cutting board. “Is it serious?”
He hesitated. He didn’t know what to say. Anne was his. Something private he didn’t have to share. Something separate he didn’t have to fix.
“Hello?”
And then it was too late, because there she was, at the back door. Honey woofed and went to her, tail wagging.
“Hello to you, too,” Anne said, bending. “Who’s a good girl?”
“Anne.” His mother smiled in welcome. “What brings you here?”
Anne left off patting the dog, her gaze flying to Joe. Noone—certainly not his mother—could miss the blush washing over her face. “I, um…”
“Hailey’s at Liv’s,” Joe said.
She narrowed her eyes at him, and he wanted to kick himself. “I actually came to see you,” she said coolly. “Daanis is going into the hospital next week to have her baby, and Zack promised to get shelves up in the nursery closet. I was hoping you could give him a hand.”
