“Whyact so surprised?”Hishands slid down my arms. “Yes,I’dlove to spendChristmaswith your family.AndifMomdoesn’t have other plans,I’msure she’ll say the same.”
“Thenit’s a date.”
“Yousure you don’t want to shake on it?” he teased. “Maybepinky swear?”
Ishoved him away playfully and stood. “Keepit up, andI’llask you to swear to it with blood.”
“Youknow,I’mstarting to thinkIliked you more when you were the grumpy old man next door.”Herose, following me into the bedroom.
Ifwe were going to his mom’s today, we needed to get ready.Atforty-five years old,Iwas about to face my first official meet-the-parents moment.Lovely.Iwasn’t counting the other times becauseKevinandIhadn’t been together then.
19
KEVIN
Momwasn’tin the bubbly mood she’d been in lately whenAnsonandIwalked through the door.Infact, she seemed to hover somewhere between pissed off and sad.Ansonlooked at me, andIsimply shrugged.Ihad no clue what was happening.
“Hey, what’s got you out of sorts?”Bartlumbered directly over to her recliner, dropping his head onto her lap.Thatat least got a hint of a smile from her as she scratched between his ears.Iturned back toAnson. “Ishould have warned you,BartlikesMomeven better than me.”
“Traitor.”Hescowled at the dog, but there was no bitterness in his words. “He’sjust a sl—Imean, he’ll do whatever it takes to convince someone they’re the only one who gives him any attention.”
Ichuckled as he cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck.Itwas cute to see him out of sorts for a change.Icould have let him worry about almost uttering the word slut in my mom’s presence but decided to let him off the hook.Islipped my hand onto the small of his back, leading him over to the couch. “Relax.Mom’snot a prude.Geta couple of glasses of wine in her, and she’d probably be the one making you blush with her colorful vocabulary.”
“Myson’s a liar,” she scoffed, her mood instantly lifting.Doublebonus.
Insteadof sitting next to me,Ansoncrossed to the other side of the room, offering his hand toMom. “It’sgreat to meet you whenI’mnot running around trying to make sure everything’s ready for a party or being pulled in a million different directions.”
“Thepleasure’s mine.”Shesmoothed a hand over her hair. “Theparty was wonderful last night.Youand your brothers should be proud of the work you’re doing in town.Iwish there’d been a place likeHarmonyHousewhenKevinwas younger.Itwould have helped him acclimate to a new town and make friends.”
Ifit wasn’t so true,Imight have thought she was trying to pay me back for my little quip about her and wine. “Mom,Ihave friends.”
“Youknow whatImean.”Idid.Whilethere were peopleIwas friendly with,Ididn’t have many close friends.Andback then, it hadn’t been possible for most of us to be our authentic selves at school.Jasperwas the only one, and he was a couple of years younger than the rest of us.Seeingthe hell he went through, we took him under our wing, but that didn’t mean we’d been as brave as he was. “It’srefreshing to see how much more accepting kids these days are than when you were in school.”
“Theycertainly are.”Insteadof taking the opposite end of the couch from me,Ansonsat on the middle cushion, close enough to put his hand over mine between our legs.Therewas a polite distance between us, but he was clearly trying to show my mom he wasn’t trying to pass us off as nothing more than friends. “Andlast night was truly a team effort.I’malmost ashamed to say none of us realized how the youth programs have fallen by the wayside over the years.ItwasKevinwho pushed for us to put something together when we’d have likely put it off until next year.”
Mychest warmed when he gave my hand a quick squeeze.Wespent a while chatting about everyone’s contributions to the party, andMomeven threw out some ideas for events and programs she’d love to see around town.Atheart,Momwas the type of woman who wanted to help others, even if she’d lost her way with that for a long time.
“It’lltake time, butI’dlove to start doing more to make sure we’re building a secure future for those who callHarmonyGrovehome.”Itwasn’t his intention, but he sounded so much like a politicianIhad to laugh.Hequirked his head to the side.Ishook my head, silently telling him to ignore me. “Thepast month has opened my eyes to a lot of unacknowledged areas of need.”
“Itcould be a tough run for you going up againstMayorThompson, butIreally hope you give it a shot.”Ansonsquirmed in his seat.Hestill hadn’t made a decision about running for mayor, andIknew it weighed heavily on his mind.Ifhe did, it needed to be because he wanted to lead the city into the future, not because he’d run his mouth and wanted to save face. “Ifyou bring the same passion you have today, your odds will improve considerably.”
“Thankyou, ma’am.”Notit was my turn to tense.Momhatedbeing called ma’am.Shesaid it made her feel old, butIknew it was more that she hated the formality.
“Noneof that.Please, call meApril.”Okay, so that went better than it usually did.Itwas likely she understoodAnsonwas trying to make a good impression.Also, the way he’d been raised played a part in how he showed respect to his elders, even if they were closer in age thanIwanted to admit. “Iwouldn’t say you have a shot ifIthought it was a fool’s journey.We’veneeded to get that misogynistic fool out of city hall for a while now.Ifit wasn’t for the fact his family has been around since the dawn of time and he’s seen as a leader at that farce of a church on the edge of town,Idon’t know that he would have won.Ifthere’s anythingIcan do to help you out, just let me know.”
“Thankyou,April.Iwill.”
Myshoulders relaxed, andItook a full breath for the first time since we’d walked in.Ihadn’t mentioned my concern to either of them, butI’dworried one would flip when they realized the age spread between everyone.Iwas glad they hadn’t because it shouldn’t be a problem now that everyone was well into adulthood.
Someday,I’dbringAnsonover on aSundaywhen we were cooking together.He’dprobably get a kick out ofhelping us meal prep, and she’d love having someone new to teach her favorite recipes to.SinceIhad to work tonight, we were going out to lunch soIcould get home for a nap.Momloved the diner, and it had been months since we’d visited.
“Ifyou want, you could callKeithand see if he wants to join us,”Ioffered on our way to the car.Sincewe were getting introductions out of the way, it would be a low-pressure chance for her to integrateKeithinto our lives too.
Bartwas pouting at the back door, upset that he wasn’t coming with us.Anson’sworry about leaving him in an unfamiliar space was quickly replaced by amusement whenItold him how frequentlyIbrought his dog to visit when he was at work.
“He’sout with the kids andTrinitytoday.”Sheblushed at the mention of his name. “Hecame over this morning with coffee fromHearth&Foam.”
Myhackles went up.He’dbeen at her place in the morning, and she’d been upset when we arrived.Maybeit wasn’t the right time to bring it up, butIdidn’t want her to get hurt. “Didsomething happen?”
