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“I should have said that too. I was pissed. I actually walked away from him and took a moment to gather my thoughts and then I just started to laugh. You see how ironic this is, right? It’s the one thing I’ve worried and stayed away from for years and yet he is staying away from me for the same reason.”
“I guess it could be funny when you say it like that. I’m assuming you told him that?”
“I did. He didn’t know what to say. He made some comment about being burned worse than me, but I didn’t ask for details. I got the impression he wouldn’t have told me anyway.”
“It will come up again if it matters,” her mother said.
“That is my thought. But then I started to doubt his reason for coming for dinner. I asked him to prove to me he was attracted.”
“I don’t know if I want those details,” her mother said drily. “But you need to control those doubts. You know that. It’s what burned you more than once.”
Her mother wasn’t telling her anything she didn’t know.
Sometimes she’d had friends or boyfriends that weren’t after her for her money or family name, but her doubts and accusations pushed them away when they got sick of having to try to prove themselves.
Which again proved the point that she needed someone else to talk to other than her mother. There was only so much she’d say and maybe she didn’t want to hear all her faults either.
“He kissed me,” she said. “Nothing more than that. More than once too. Dinner went well. I learned some about him. His parents are hard workers and they live on a farm. His mother has summers off and has a huge garden and loves to cook with her freshly grown vegetables and herbs.”
“You would love to have that,” her mother said. “Something in common.”
“I did say that,” she said. “I wish I had the space and the time to do it here. He’s the type of guy that loves food. Nothing fancy, but he’d eat fancy. I pegged him for rustic and so far am winning him over that way.”
“If you need to win him over it’s not meant,” her mother said.
Grace laughed. “I know that. I just love to cook and he loves to eat. It’s a common ground and you know I find so much pleasure in feeding people. He said when he’d come home from the service his mother had everything he loved loaded in the house for him. When he visits she sends him back with lots of food frozen to heat up.”
“Oh my God,” her mother said. “He’s dating his mother.”
Her jaw dropped. “Stop that.”
“I’m just kidding. It’s a good thing. When we are with someone we care for we find traits from other people we’ve cared for in our lives. There is probably a big part of that for him. If that makes him feel more comfortable around you and what he thinks might be something to keep your backgrounds apart, then go with it.”
“Thanks. I need to hear that. I’ve got to run now, but I’ll let you know how date number two—well, three, goes when it happens.”
“You didn’t set it yet?” her mother asked.
“No. He has Tuesdays off and then his schedule is crazy. I know that. I work nights and weekends too. We’ll figure it out or it will be next week at the same time. Not much more we can do about it.”
“You can sneak over to the hangar and drop him off some food when you know he might be there,” her mother said. “Before your shifts.”
“Good point. I’ll think about it.”
She hung up after that and left for The Retreat. Rather than go to her office, she went right to the penthouse floor and knocked.
Kayla opened it up. “Hi, Grace. I didn’t know you were coming by.”
“I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
“Just play time,” Kayla said.
Ben and Jack had toys spread out all over what used to be a formal living room but now was a play area.
“Grace,” Ben said, running toward her. “Did you bring me food?”
“No,” she said. “What do you want?”
“Cookies,” Ben said.
