“Where are you right now, sweetie? I don’t recognize the background.”
He caught Mabel’s eye and silently asked the question they hadn’t discussed yet:am I telling my mom about you?To her surprise, the answer that clawed its way to the surface washellyes. She nodded, and he rewarded her with one of his big, for-her-only smiles, which was fast becoming one of her favorite things in the world.
He turned back to his phone and said, “I’m, uh, I’m at Mabel’s actually,” and the tiny bit of bashfulness in his voice traveled straight to Mabel’s heart.
It clearly had the same effect on his mother too, because she gasped and pressed her fingers to her mouth and breathed, “You’re atMabel’s!”
Jake had inherited his brown eyes from his mother, and hers were busy scanning the parts of Mabel’s living room visible over Jake’s shoulder. Hmm. When was the last time she’d dusted?
“C-can I say hello to her?” his mother asked tentatively.
Another questioning glance from Jake, but this one found her straightening in alarm. “I’m not cute!” she mouthed at him, looking down in dismay at her sloppy sweatshirt and leggings and slapping her hands over her makeup-free face.
But he looked at her with his usual steady warmth and murmured, “Always beautiful, remember?”
Then he jerked his head to summon her over, and she joined him on the couch without a second thought. He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her temple, and then she turned to the face on the phone.
“Hi, Mrs. Carey. I’m Mabel.” She gave a little wave.
“Call me Shannon, honey. I’m so glad to meet you.So glad. Jake’s told me…” She blinked rapidly and swiped at her eyes. “Well, let’s just say that Jake’s been waiting for you for a long time.”
Mabel felt tears threaten too, and she turned to look at the man on the couch next to her. “I can’t tell you how glad I am that he found me.”
He smiled back at her, and for a moment she forgot that they had an audience as she let the warmth of his gaze wash over her. But his mother’s sniffle pulled her out of the moment, and she looked back at the screen to find Shannon beaming at them.
“I’m just so happy. So happy he’s happy, that you’re both happy.” The older woman sniffled once more, then brightened. “So Jake says you’re a deejay?”
“I am!” Mabel chirped, nervously aware that this was her first chance to impress the mom. “Face for radio and all that.”
She laughed a little awkwardly, and Jake nudged her. “Yeah, such a burden to look at every day.”
Shannon’s own face, ruddy-cheeked and creased with lines under her brutally short salt-and-pepper hair, glowed as she looked between Mabel and her son. “Are you joining us for Christmas? We’d love to have you. Have you met Jake’s sister yet? She’ll be there with her boyfriend. I’d love to have all of you come.”
Excitement colored Shannon’s voice, but Mabel wasn’t about to crash the Carey Christmas without a longer discussion with Jake. “Oh, um, we hadn’t really talked about—”
“If I can talk her into it, yes,” he said firmly.
She turned her head to whisper, “Really?” He looked back at her like that was the most ridiculous question about a foregone conclusion he’d ever heard, and she melted. “Okay, it looks like I’m joining you for Christmas.”
“Well, that’s…” His mother drew a deep breath and placed a hand over her heart. “That’s just wonderful.”
Shannon looked to be on the verge of tearing up again, but Jake steered the conversation toward practicalities. “I bought the turkey, so that’ll be delivered along with a couple of pies on Christmas Eve.”
“I keep telling you, you don’t have to take care of that every year.” Shannon’s exasperated voice made Mabel think this wasn’t their first conversation about the topic.
“You know I want to.” Topic closed, based on Jake’s tone. “Oh, and I just had a conference call with my BPS bosses, and they’re thrilled with the work I’m doing down here. Things are looking great.”
“That’s nice, sweetie. I know that’s important to you,” Shannon said before turning to Mabel again. “But I want to know all about the beautiful girl who makes my son smile like that. Where are you from? Do you want kids?”
“Mom!” Jake groaned, but Mabel lightly flicked his ear.
“Hush. Your mother and I are talking.”
As she answered all Shannon’s questions, Jake’s comment burrowed into the back of her brain. “Things are looking good.” Was he referring to the partnership? And what did that mean for the two of them? As Shannon peppered her with questions, Mabel glanced at Jake, who watched their exchange with such contentment that it eased the tension in her chest. He was in this, just as much as she was, and she trusted him to let her know if there were any bumps on the horizon. If he wasn’t worried about their future, then she wouldn’t worry either.
Thirty-Four
“We’re going to be late!”
