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Boone chuckled. “I seriously doubt you can pull off the super fake nice shit, but good luck with that.”
Three days later, I planned to prove my brother wrong during my visit with York’s mom.
Jessica Lacroix lived in a posh assisted living community. The three-story building had well-manicured grounds, a restaurant, and a theater. Her corner apartment was on the third floor and had a pond view. York claimed he paid out the ass to get her that unit.
After pulling his black truck into the parking lot, York sighed dramatically. I laughed at his concern, which only made him sigh again.
“I don’t care if she likes me,” I reminded him. “I’m just curious about the woman who brought you into the world.”
“I do care if she likes you.”
“Why? You two aren’t even close.”
“I know, but she’s still my mom. Jessica and I are the only people left in my family.”
Stroking his jaw, I drew his gaze away from the building and toward me. “If she doesn’t like me, you can visit her alone as you’ve done for years. Nothing will change. As for your small family, you’re making one with me. You have a brother with Boone and a sister with Nova. You’ve got a second set of parents. Lyric and Skylar are your nieces. Plus, we’ll have at least one kid. Bam, you’re no longer the last of your bloodline. Now, let’s go meet this old broad, so I can get something to eat.”
A grinning York mellowed out. He helped me out of the truck and unfolded the wheelchair. Though I moved easily around the house, I didn’t want to waste energy dealing with the large parking lot and lobby.
After checking in at the front desk, York pushed me to the elevator. I ran my fingers through my loose brown hair. For today, I had toned down my usual dark eyeliner and wore no lipstick.
Yarrow had suggested I trick Jessica into liking a fake version of me before hitting her with my real personality.
“Ginger taught me to do that with your teachers,” Yarrow explained during a phone call. “They thought I was a nice, normal person in the beginning. Once they liked me, I slowly revealed that I was mentally unstable and would kill them if they wronged you. It kept them on their back foot.”
Of course, I never planned to reveal my scary side to Jessica. Instead, I would put forth my “Boring Goldie” plan!
I wore a thin long-sleeved shirt to hide my tattoos. I finished off my look with SAHM-leggings and baby-blue Converse.
York noticed my appearance and behavior but didn’t say anything negative.
“With your natural hair, I see a lot of Yarrow in you,” he said as we rode the elevator.
York wasn’t a romantic man. Yet, when he put a little effort into sweet talk, he could easily make me swoon. Today, he looked handsome in his black buttoned-up shirt and jeans.
“I hope we have a little boy with your eyes,” I said as the elevator doors opened.
“I hope we have a little girl with your everything.”
“Kiss-ass,” I said before shaking my head. “Be boring, so I can be boring.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Jessica answered the door like she was so surprised to see us. Normally, I’d roll my eyes at such fake behavior. However, Boring Goldie only smiled.
Jessica was a petite, lanky woman with bright white hair and warm brown eyes. She wore gray chinos, a white blouse, and a flower-printed scarf.
York rolled me into her apartment. Everything was white or creamy beige, even the hardwood floors. I settled onto her off-white couch and took the coffee she offered.
“You’re a biker?” Jessica asked after sitting in her nearby matching chair.
“Yes, ma’am. I wanted to ride motorcycles, like my dad does. It’s a family thing.”
“Oh, York’s dad was a financial analyst. I also worked with numbers. York didn’t choose to follow in our footsteps.”
“He’s a rebel,” I said and eyed him. “He’s so handsome, don’t you think? Just a sexy, rebellious man with a heart of gold.”
Oh, boy, Jessica loved that! I figured I couldn’t win her over by being as super boring as her elderly gal pals. But I knew from York that his mom was part of a romance book club and enjoyed romantic movies.
