“Well, here she is. Enjoy,” I say, kissing the side of my mom’s head.
“So, are you going to tell me about your date last night? Wren may have mentioned it this morning that you took Jade to the fair.”
“Mom,” I groan.
“What? My boy is finally putting himself out there. A mother is allowed to be excited and a little nosy. So, tell me, how did it go?”
I shake my head and smile. “I really like her, Ma.”
“Oh, Weston, you have had it deep with that girl since you met her. I want to know the details. Let’s go to the house and I’ll throw in my shepherd’s pie and we can talk about it over a nice cold glass of sweet tea.”
“That’s not necessary, Ma. I’m just getting to know her, and it’s been great.”
“She is such a sweet girl. Very friendly every time I go into the bakery. Wren has said nothing but great things since working there.”
“Wren needs to keep her mouth shut,” I mumble.
“Weston Riggs Donovan,” my mother scolds, making me flinch.
“Sorry, Ma,” I apologize. “I promise I’ll let you know how things go.”
“How about you bring her out for dinner next weekend?”
I huff out a breath at my nosy mother. “I’ll see what I can do,” I say to appease her.
“Thank you. Now, let’s go get dinner in the oven. I’m sure you’ve worked up quite the appetite building that greenhouse.”
“Sure have,” I say, rubbing my stomach and following her inside.
“Uncle West!” Maysie shouts, jumping into my arms. “Guess what!” she yells excitedly.
“What?” I ask her, matching her enthusiasm.
“Daddy took us to the fair last night! We got to go on rides and eat cotton candy and giant hot dogs, and I saw my friend Chloe from dance, and I got to go in the fun house, and Hudson won a giant stuffed shark, and–”
“Whoa there, Maysie daisy. Take a breath.” I chuckle, setting her back down onto the ground.
“It was so much fun!” she squeals, making me laugh.
“What do you think, Hudson?” I ask my nephew, who’s busy reading a book. “Was it so much fun?”
“It was pretty sweet,” he confirms, never taking his eyes off the story in front of him.
I ruffle his hair, chuckling.
“Glad you tornadoes had fun.”
Maysie goes back to playing Barbies on the floor, so I leave the kids be and go to the washroom to wash up before joining my mom in the kitchen.
“Smells amazing,” I tell my mom, the scent of shepard’s pie in the oven wafting around the kitchen.
“Hey, big brother. Sorry about last night,” Wren says, grabbing a handful of shredded cheese and shoving it into her mouth.
“No worries,” I grumble, still kind of pissed.
“What happened last night?” Ma asks, jumping into the conversation.
Wren laughs and kisses Ma on the cheek. “I interrupted our Westy boy making fishy lips with Jade.”
