“And Cabo isn’t going anywhere,” Carol said, waving her away like a queen shooing the peasants out of her way. Mike had to bite his lip from laughing.
“Tonight then?” Patty was worse than a dog with a bone. It was disgusting. No winder Destiny had never really told him about her. She was a nightmare. He pitied her boyfriends.
Carol nodded. “You and Ron can come by the house this evening for dinner.”
“Come by? But where will we stay? I assumed we’d stay with you. I heard you have a lovely condo.”
“Grandma only has one bedroom.” Destiny interjected.
Patty just stared at her blankly like she didn’t see what the problem was.
“Which is for Grandma.”
“What about your house?”
“I don’t have a house. I have an apartment and it also only has one room.” No she didn’t. Destiny owned a cute one-story house with two bedrooms. She planned if things got too bad with her grandma, she’d move Grandma in with her. So why was she lying to her mom?
“Where will we stay then?” Patty whined. Then it clicked. Destiny didn’t want her mom staying with her. Mike couldn’t say that he blamed her. After a few minutes of meeting her he was ready to forget the experience. It was hard to think a self-centered woman could have raised a beautiful woman like Destiny.
“You can stay at a hotel in town,” Destiny suggested.
Patty made a puckered face much like Carol had done earlier. “What constitutes as a hotel around here? A motel?”
Mike had had quite enough of this woman. First she judged him now she was judging the town? It wasn’t a major city by any means, but it was a charming town. It had more heart than she did.
“There are hotels here. I’m sure you won’t be here that long, Mother. You’ll be fine. They may not be five-star, but they are clean and comfortable,” Destiny said, trying to placate her. He wouldn’t. He’d dump her in a fleabag motel if he could and tell her to grow up. Patty needed a dose of reality, but it wasn’t his place.
Mother and daughter seemed to have a stare down when Ron stepped in and held Patty’s arms. “It’s been a long day. Flying all night. There’s a nice hotel, the Carlton, just outside of town. We’ll check in there and get a nap. Perhaps freshen up.” He looked at Destiny. “Would six o’clock be alright to come over for dinner?”
“That’s fine,” Destiny smiled in gratitude. “I should have Grandma discharged this morning. I’ll text Mom the address later.”
“Will your gentleman be there?” Patty sneered at him and he couldn’t help but return the gesture, which made her turn away from him in fear. Normally he didn’t like people’s reactions to him of fear, but in this case it was useful.
“I’ll see you tonight, Mother,” Destiny said, not bothering to respond. Mike didn’t really want to sit down to a meal with this woman and pretend to be civil to her, but if they were keeping up this charade, he might not have a choice. He needed to talk to Destiny about it. He didn’t like lying about a relationship, especially when he truly wanted one with her.
Once the two left, Destiny’s body drooped and fell against Mike, leaning her head on his shoulder. He liked her there. He also liked the fact she still hadn’t let go of his hand.
“So, that’s your Mom,” Mike pointed out needlessly, wanting to fill in the silence.
“Yep,” was all Destiny said about that subject then rolled her head back to look up at him. “Do you mind giving me a minute alone with Grandma?”
“Of course.” He wasn’t ready to step away yet, but he did so reluctantly. Hopefully Destiny’s mom wasn’t lurking in the hallway. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to curb his tongue around her.
Stepping out in the hall he breathed a sigh of relief when he found that the hallway was empty. Now all he could do was wait for Destiny and find out what the next step was.
Chapter 6
Once Mike left the room, Destiny turned to her Grandma. The woman stared her straight in the eye, not even looking guilty about the clusterfuck she caused. “Grandma, what were you thinking telling Mom that Mike and I are engaged?” She tried to keep her voice low and even, but it was hard. Her mother was difficult to deal with normally. But to add poor Mike into the mix was cruel.
“Because you two have been tiptoeing around each other for the past two months. I couldn’t take it anymore,” she said calmly as if they were talking about the weather and not lying about a relationship that would never happen.
Destiny retook her seat, needing a moment to gather her thoughts. “And what would telling her we’re engaged solve?”
“So you’ll finally tell each other the truth,” Grandma said as if it should be obvious, but it wasn’t to her.
“What truth? We’re just friends.” And she wanted to be so much more.
When Grandma announced they were engaged, it was shocking, of course, but how she wished that could be true. She had inadvertently told her mother how she really felt about Mike when her mother looked down her nose at him. Destiny had a high tolerance for her mother, but when she picked apart people she loved, she saw red and said whatever was on her mind, not caring about the consequences.
