Evan:Wait.
Evan:You went from nothing for the last year and a half to meeting the guy’s mother?
Evan:What is up with you right now?
Me:I’m taking your advice.
I smirked at my phone. I knew my best friend was probably vibrating at the other end, wanting to know what I was up to. Payback was a bitch. My phone buzzed again.
Evan:I did not advise you to meet the man’s mother. You hardly know him. I didn’t meet Raphael’s parents until we’d been dating for almost four months.
Me:I have to go now. We just got to his mom’s place.
Evan:You better call me later!
Me:Tomorrow. I have a date tonight. I’ll be VERY busy.
Evan:Pictures, or it didn’t happen!
I chuckled and slipped my phone into my jacket pocket. Sean put the car in park and glanced over at me. “What’s so funny?”
“Evan is going crazy because I’m out on a date.”
Sean looked confused. “He doesn’t want you to date?”
“Oh, he wants me to date,” I replied. “He’s the one who encouraged me to get”—I put my fingers up in air quotes—“‘hot and heavy’ while I was here. He’s just freaked out because I told him we were visiting your mother.”
“But you’re not freaked out,” Sean said. It was a statement, not a question.
I shrugged. “No. Before Raphael, Evan was a one-and-done kind of guy. The thought of meeting someone’s parents would have sent him screaming for the hills. Me, while I had my time of club hookups and such, I tend more toward serial monogamy.” I blew out a breath as I realized what I’d said. “I hope I didn’t just scare you away.”
Sean laughed and kissed me on the cheek. “I’m the one bringing you to my mother’s house.” He opened his car door. “We’d better go in before she comes out to get us.”
Sean’s mother’s house was a little smaller than the ones near the hotel, but it was still a large home. The front steps led to a porch that spanned the front of the house. The dark-wood front door had a large, leaded-glass window, similar to the ones in the dining room at Moonlight. Sean opened the door without knocking and motioned me inside.
Home. That’s what the O’Neil house felt like. Gleaming hardwood covered all the floors, which were decorated with plush area rugs. On my left was a staircase leading up to the second floor. On my right was a doorway that opened to the living room, where I spotted an upright piano. The cream-colored walls of the foyer were covered with pictures of Sean’s family. One photo, in particular, caught my attention. It was a picture taken when Sean was much younger and his father was still alive. The resemblance between Sean and his father was striking. The family was on the beach, and they all looked very happy. Sean came up behind me and wrapped his free arm around my waist. “That was taken about a year and a half before my dad died. Liam had just graduated from high school, and we had a big family celebration on the beach.”
“Sean?” his mother called in the Irish brogue I thought I’d caught when I overheard Sean’s phone conversation.
“Yeah, Mom, we’re here.”
“I’m in the kitchen, a leanbh.”
I turned my head and whispered, “What does that mean?”
Sean took the opportunity to kiss me before he answered. “It means my child. Mom reverts to Irish when she’s tired.” He took my hand and led me down the hallway to the kitchen.
Sean’s mother was a petite woman with short, dark hair with a touch of gray at the temples. She wore a pair of black yoga pants and an oversized sweatshirt and stood at the stove cooking something that smelled delicious. She turned when she heard us walk in and gave Sean a huge smile. “Come give your mother a hug.”
Sean put the cake on the counter and swept his mother into a big bear hug. Her laughter was infectious, and I couldn’t help but smile with them. He put her down and kissed her cheek. He grabbed the takeout box and presented it to her with a flourish. “Your cake, Madam.”
She took the box almost reverently. “Ah, look, she even put whipped cream on it. Please send my love and thanks to Joanna.”
“I will,” Sean replied.
His mother looked over at me and said, “Are you going to introduce me to your friend?”
Sean took my arm and drew me forward. “Mom, this is Jeremy Fitzgerald. Jeremy, this is my mother, Moira O’Neil.”
