“Not really,” I reply. “He’s supposed to be resting his leg, but you know how he is.”
She chuckles and nods. “I do, yes. So I guess I need to wish you luck then. That boy of mine will definitely keep you on your toes.”
“You better be in the kitchen and you better be naked!”
Oh. My. God.
Before I can say anything, like warn him to the fact his mom is standing right here, Cade comes around the corner. Praise the Lord above he’s wearing a towel. Oh my word, it just hit me he could have very easily walked around the corner wearing nothing but a smile.
“Mom.” Cade stops in the doorway, his gaze darting between me and the woman standing next to me. “Hi.”
“Hello, Cade,” she replies with a grin. She steps forward and kisses his cheek. “I was just having a lovely chat with Oaklee.”
“Yeah?” he asks, turning his attention to me and giving me a slightly worried look.
I give him a reassuring grin, letting him know I’m okay. “Your mom brought you chicken and dumplings.”
He looks her way. “My favorite.”
“Well, I thought you could use some comfort food after cutting your leg and having to get stitches.”
“How’d you hear?” he asks.
“Charli. She heard it from Quinn, who heard it from Camden. I assume he talked to Collin after he ran into one of your coworkers at the bar.”
“Ahh,” he replies, as if it were no big deal that half the town was talking about him getting injured at work. “Well, thank you for the dumplings. I’ll have it for lunch tomorrow.”
“I made plenty so Oaklee can have some too,” his mom says. “Well, I’ll leave you two to get back to your evening together. I’m glad you’re feeling okay.”
He waves her off. “Nothing a good needle and thread couldn’t fix.”
She shakes her head and glances my way. “More stitches than I could count, and two broken bones.”
“Two?” I ask. The nurse in me is very much intrigued to hear the details.
“Arm and a nose.”
“And not at the same time,” his mom adds. “You two have a good one. Oaklee, it was lovely to finally meet you. I hope to see you again soon.” She steps forward and gives me a warm hug.
Something causes my eyes to burn at the friendly gesture. Maybe it’s because my grandparents weren’t huggers, nor was my mom. I don’t recall a lot of exchanges like this growing up, and for some reason, having this woman give me a simple hug is almost too much for me.
“It was nice to meet you, Mrs. Miller,” I finally croak out, clearing the emotion from my throat.
“Linda, please. I’ll see you both soon. We’ll be celebrating Cade’s dad’s birthday in a couple weeks, and we’d love to have you join us.”
“Oh,” I spit out, not really knowing what to say. Hanging out with friends is one thing, but going to a family function is an entirely different animal.
“I’m sure Oaklee will be there if she can,” Cade says, catching me by complete surprise.
“Good. I’ll keep you posted on the date and time,” she says, going back over and hugging her son. She’s quite a bit smaller than he is, especially when he wraps his arms around her and squeezes.
“Love you,” he tells her, walking her to the front door.
“Enjoy your night,” she says before throwing me a final wave and walking out the door.
He watches to make sure she gets to her car safely, not even caring he’s standing in the doorway wearing a towel. When she backs out of his driveway, he finally steps back and closes the door. Turning my way, he places his hands on his hips and says, “You’re not naked.”
“Uh, no. It would have been very rude to answer the door for your mother wearing nothing but my birthday suit.”
