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I rolled my eyes and gave her another hug. “You see me every week Ma.” Did I mention she had a flair for the dramatic? “You might not be a born and raised southerner, but you got the exaggeration gene by osmosis.”
She tossed her head back and laughed before she gave me a playful shove. “Smart ass. You’re lucky it’s served you well in life.”
“Must’ve gotten it from you,” I told her with a smirk and went to take care of the repairs she wouldn’t ask for help with until she absolutely had to, because she was used to doing things herself. For as long as I could remember it was just me and Ma, and until I was old enough, she’d taken care of everything.
“You should be so lucky.” While I worked, she managed to catch me up on the latest gossip of nearly every man and woman who lived in Pilgrim, whether I wanted the info or not. “How was dinner with Sophie’s cousin?”
“Fine. Preston is like Sophie, a regular guy. But he’s also still in good favor with his parents. And hers.” Sophie had gotten used to her black sheep status, but once in a while, you could see how hurt she was by their callous behavior. “His wife is unexpected.” I told her all about Nina and her tattoos and her penchant for swearing. “Calls Sabrina Worthington, The Dragon.”
Ma tossed her head back and laughed for a good long while. Sophie had practically grown up in this house, and Ma was more familiar with the Worthingtons than she otherwise would be.
“I like her already. Tea?”
“Peach?”
She nodded. “And blueberry.”
My favorite. “You knew I was coming by today.” It wasn’t a question.
Ma shrugged and turned back to the carrots she peeled over the sink. “I always have peach tea in the fridge for my boy. Sophie brought the blueberries from the Martin Farm a couple days ago. Such a sweet girl. How’s work?”
“Good. Preston mentioned that the gym in Tulip is getting ready to close, so I’m looking into a fourth location.” It was just an outline of an idea at the moment, but the opportunity was ripe for the taking and my business manager was excited about the prospect.
When Maggie Lawson fell silent, it was time to worry. I felt the stirrings of a lecture and sat at the table to drink my tea. Ma dropped a bag of potatoes, a bowl of water and a peeler in front of me. “Since you love working so much, peel these.”
“Says the woman making a whole roast dinner for no reason at all.”
Her hearty laugh bounced off the olive green walls in the kitchen that were at odds with the new high end appliances I’d updated as soon as I could afford to do it, and as soon as she’d allowed.
“The difference is that I love to cook, especially for my loved ones. Working your behind off won’t make your feelings for our sweet Sophie go away, Stone.”
“I know.” Lord knows I’d heard those words enough over the years from Ma, from Xander and Ben and Oliver. From pretty much everyone. Some days I wondered if they were all just too nice to just tell me that I didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell with Sophie as anything more than a friend, and move on was just a kinder way to deliver the news. Most days, I just accepted the reality of their words. “And when I find a woman that I want to spend time with, I will. I do.” It had been a while, but I did spend time with women who weren’t Sophie.
Ma snorted and pointed a wooden spoon at me, that I swear she produced out of thin air. “I ain’t talking about your sex life, boy.”
After I nearly choked on a blueberry, I glared at my dear, sweet mother. “Neither am I, woman. Get your mind out of the gutter.”
“I just don’t want you to wind up like me and shut down just because love didn’t work out. Once.” She turned again, and this time her green eyes were serious, all traces of playfulness gone. “Your father was a terrible husband to me, and by all accounts, he’s good to his new wife. He wasn’t even the love of my life, and still, I haven’t had a real relationship since he up and left us.”
“He betrayed us both and then left us high and dry. I don’t give a damn if he’s some house boy to a rich bi-, woman.” Ma would allow bad talk about my father’s mistress turned wife, but not disrespect.
“That’s true enough, but I let that hurt and betrayal spiral into something dark and debilitating. Something that hardened my heart against love and romance. Now I’m old and I’m fat, and all alone.”
