He ran his fingers through my hair. “Are you sure, Matt? She can wait, I promise.”
“Yeah, I’ll give it a try. Just… don’t leave, okay?”
Visions of me freezing up ran through my head, and I could see Charlie’s disappointed expression clear as a bell in my mind.
“Not going anywhere. Last chance. And before you answer, let me warn you… they’re not like normal people. That might have a lot to do with how I turned out.”
“You turned out just fine,” I assured him. “I’m ready.” I tried to keep my voice steady, even though my hands were shaking.
He pulled out his phone and dialed. He sat there, looking so pleased, and I curled up against him for the steadying contact.
“Hey, Mom. Good, thanks. How about you? Really? Excellent!” He pushed the mute button. “She went to the doctor for some tests, and he gave her a clean bill of health.”
I smiled inwardly that he shared something so private with me. “Oh, awesome.”
He let the button go and said, “Hey, Mom? I have someone here who would like to say hello. Just do me a favor—remember what we talked about. I don’t want you scaring him away.”
I heard the whoop in the background, as well as her calling for Alan, which I assumed was Charlie’s father’s name.
“Yeah, Mom? See, that right there is the kind of thing I’m talking about.” Charlie gave me a look and rolled his eyes. “You’re absolutely sure you want to subject yourself to this?” Charlie teased.
I heard his mother squawk indignantly, which made Charlie laugh.
“Mom, I’m going to give him the phone now. Please, I beg you, best behavior. Don’t scare this one away.”
“Hey!” I protested.
Charlie held the phone out to me. I wasn’t surprised to find my palms sweating, my chest getting tighter, and my throat drying up like a desert.
“H-hello?” I croaked into the phone.
A soft sigh on the other end of the line. “You sound lovely,” Charlie’s mom gushed.
“Um. Thank you?”
Her laughter sounded like the song of some of my birds. I could imagine her standing outside with them, engaged in a duet to see which had the sweetest voice.
“So you’re Matt? I’m so glad you felt safe enough to call.”
“Can you… uh… hang on a second?” I asked, then hit the mute button before she could reply. I glared at Charlie. “What the hell did you tell her about me?”
He at least had the decency to flush. “I told her you lived alone because you were nervous around people, especially new ones. And, so you know, the only reason I talked to her was I needed her advice on how to woo you.”
“Woo? No one says woo,” I snapped. But secretly I was delighted that he had asked his mother.
“Woo is a nice word. My mom was the one who used it, so blame her. Do you want me to take the phone back?”
Did I? “No.”
I let go of the mute button and tried to instill some confidence in my voice. “It’s a pleasure to talk to you, Mrs. Carver.”
“Oh, honey, no. You’ll call me Gail. I much prefer that to Mrs. Carver.” She paused. “Is that okay?”
“Thank you, Gail. That would be fine.”
She, like her son, seemed to be too sweet for words. When she talked, I knew she was doing her best not to intimidate me, as her voice kept a soft, even tone. It should have bothered me, because I hated being treated differently, but knowing Charlie had talked to her in advance, told her about me? That made me smile.
“Charlie’s dad would like to say hello. Is that okay?”
