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“That’s wonderful. I always say you need someone to look after you. Someone to fatten you up,” she said, and poked at his side. Robbie chuckled, and she pulled away a little to look at his face. “What?”
“It’s nothing. You two… You’re just like your ma, that’s all. She said the exact same thing to me the other day.”
“Then we must be right,” she said, and smiled warmly. “Are you going to go on another date? Or is it more than that now? Do you have a new boyfriend? You can tell me.”
Robbie thought of Priest, and then Julien, and decided something. “It is more than dating. But we’re still working out all the other stuff.” We’re being the operative word. When her eyes lit up, Robbie started laughing.
“Do I at least get a name?”
“Nope,” Robbie said, and made a show of zipping his lips. “That’ll jinx it.”
“Fine.” She sighed. “But can I at least tell you how pleased I am to see you so happy?”
“You can tell me that.”
She squeezed Robbie in close and kissed his cheek. “You crazy boy. I love you, you know that?”
“I know.”
“And all your father and I want is for you to be happy.”
“I know, Ma,” Robbie said as she kissed him again, and he did. Ever since he could remember, she had been her children’s biggest cheerleader, while their father was the backbone of the Bianchi clan. Neither of them had batted an eyelash when he came out, and had supported him every step of the way since. They weren’t immune to his…charm—in fact, they’d been the ones to nurture it and let him feel safe enough to be himself.
He had an amazing family, and he thanked his lucky stars every day that he had such a wonderful support system—even if most of them were a bunch of gossipy women.
“So,” Robbie said, “I guess I need to start looking for an apartment, then, huh?”
“There’s no rush,” she said. “And you could always come and stay with me for a little while.”
“In Oshkosh?” Robbie said, and then laughed. “That’s a bit of a commute to work, Ma.”
“Well, a mother can dream. I miss having your coats and scarves to go through when I need something happy to wear.”
“Yeah, that’s why I left in the first place. Damn females, stealing all my clothes.” Robbie laughed, remembering how his mother and sisters would rifle through his clothes and makeup. Used to drive him insane. “What about Vanessa? Have you heard from her? Does she know about this?”
“Yes. She stopped by the hospital this morning before she went home to get some sleep. She has a friend with a spare room she’s going to stay with.”
“Okay,” Robbie said, and then thought over what he was going to do next. “So how long are you here for? What can I do?”
“Nothing right now. I’m going to go and stay with Nonna tonight at the hospital, and then head back to her place in the morning and start to go through things at the house to get them in order for her.”
“Can I help at all?”
His mother smiled and shook her head. “No. All you have to do is look for a place and work on that love life of yours. Okay?”
Robbie rolled his eyes. “Do you really think that’s all I’m going to do? I want to help.”
“After you get your stuff in order. Then we can talk. But until then…”
Robbie knew his ma wouldn’t budge about this. She was as stubborn as a mule when she wanted to be. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to be there helping where he could.
“Then I guess I better get going so I can start looking for an apartment before I head to work tonight. Can you let Nonna know I’m thinking of her and I’ll come and see her tomorrow?”
“Of course. I need to head back to the hospital myself. Don’t work too hard and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I won’t, I won’t,” Robbie said, as she moved out from the booth.
When they were both standing, she said by his ear, “I know these aren’t the best of circumstances, but it’s so nice to be able to sit down and have a coffee with you, baby.”
Robbie wrapped her in a hug and kissed her cheek. “It really is. You call me if you need me. The hospital isn’t that far from The Popped Cherry.”
“Oh yes, okay. I might have to come and see you there one night.”
Robbie grinned. “You should. I think you’d like it.”
“I will before I leave. I promise. See you tomorrow.”
She slipped her purse strap over her shoulder and then gave him a final wave as she headed for the front door, then Robbie placed a coffee order for Priest—three sugars and cream—and started to think about everything that had happened over the past twenty-four hours.
