Chapter 26
Chapter
Vivian
* * *
Lola and I had missed Lennon when he’d picked up his dog after the away series, and he’d had a game that next night and another on Tuesday, so all that meant he and I hadn’t spent much time together in nearly two weeks. Nor had he seen much of his mother.
Fortunately, Lola had handled the initial round of chemo rather well, and Lennon finally stopped by this afternoon with a meal he’d made for Lola and me.
“I can’t stay long. I have to go over to Cormac’s to watch film,” he said apologetically.
“I know you’re busy, m’ijo,” Lola said. She hugged him hard but Lennon kept his grasp gentle.
“I’ll come by for longer after our next game,” he promised her. “I want to spend time with you.”
Lola smiled as she patted his cheek. “And you wonder how I know you’re the best son in the world.”
I enjoyed their interaction, even as it made my heart ache. I missed those moments with my mother, and I wanted that type of closeness with Lennon. He was clearly capable of it, and he’d told me he not only wanted intimacy with me, but he was ready for it. I had to decide if I trusted him and if I trusted myself enough to give in to the fall required for a real connection to form between us.
As I pondered this, Lennon came up to me in the kitchen and kissed my cheek. I sucked in a breath, my skin tingling where his lips had touched. The longing in his eyes stole my breath, causing my heart to pound.
“You’re beautiful, Vivi,” he whispered in my ear. “Thank you for caring for my mother. I know she’s doing so well because of you.”
I blinked at him, at a loss even as he turned and headed out the door.
The man had serious charm, and I was in deeper now than I’d been back in September.
“Let’s see what Lennon made us, shall we?” Lola asked. “Oh, yum! Green chile stew.”
I ate an early dinner with Lola and then went over to Hana’s to watch the game. As I drove there, I ruminated on my conversation with her and the girls the other day. They’d helped me see that Lennon had been blindsided by how quickly our relationship had progressed. So he was likely playing catch up, just as I was.
“How are you, Vivian?” Hana asked with a hug.
“Good. I think I’m really good.”
She smiled. “I’m so glad. Grab a drink.” She gestured to the large island that held a variety of bottles and cans. Behind the slab of granite was the most ornate—obviously French—range I’d ever seen. It was show-stoppingly beautiful. I eyed it with a bit of envy before I grabbed a juice-infused sparkling water.
“Get ready for a continuation of our conversation from earlier this week,” Hana said as she poured herself a glass of white wine. “And you’ll finally get to meet Millie and Keelie.”
In no time the other ladies arrived, and both Millie and Keelie seemed very kind. I liked them a lot. As Hana predicted, our conversation quickly turned to my concerns with dating Lennon.
“Loving a hockey man isn’t easy, but it is worth it—if you pick a good one,” Ida Jane said from the end of the couch. She raised her violently pink drink to toast her comment.
“Oh, I have to know how you pick a good one,” Naomi said, clinking her margarita glass with Ida Jane’s drink.
“Pssh… You got one, Naomi. We all do,” Ida Jane said. “One, they see us, and they still love us, even with our faults. Two, they want us to be happy and fulfilled. How many men do that? And three, they’re elite athletes. That means they have stamina.”
Naomi fell back into the couch cushions, cackling.
I pursed my lips as I remembered how I’d also believed my mother wanted me to be with Lennon—if such a thing were possible. Back in Michigan, I’d grasped my burgeoning feelings with both hands and thrown myself into them with reckless abandon. Lennon pulling away had been a shock, but knowing that he’d done so because he cared about me had eased a lot of my fears.
Not all, but a lot.
Reconnecting with Hana and making these new friends added another layer to the foundation I was laying here in Houston. I liked that. I drove home after the Wildcatter win, feeling fully happy and content for the first time in years.
Since my arrival in Houston, I’d found I loved spending time with Lola, too. She had an acerbic wit and a no-nonsense attitude that must have been a huge asset as she’d pretty much singlehandedly raised four kids. But it also meant she liked getting her own way, which wasn’t always possible for a cancer patient.
