Chapter Sixteen
“Mom? Dad saidyou were looking for me,” Mason said, entering his parents’ home.
“Hey, sweetie, I’m in here,” his mother called from the kitchen. He entered, finding his petite mother, filling a box with old cookbooks. There were other boxes littering the kitchen and Mason’s heart stuttered.
“What’s going on?”
His mother’s hazel eyes met his. “I thought I’d donate some of these old cookbooks I never use anymore.”
Mason released a breath of relief. His mother talked a lot about the move, but he wasn’t quite ready for the reality of it. When his mom attempted to lift a box, he jumped in to help. “Those boxes are going to be heavy. Let me carry them. Are you already packing up for the move?”
“Not yet, but I thought it would be smart to start downsizing so that when it is time to pack, it’ll be less overwhelming. Whatever place we do move into doesn’t need to be as big as this farmhouse. Oh, that reminds me, honey, there’s some boxes with your old art projects and collectibles in the garage. Can you finally decide if you want to take it or trash it? I’m not dragging all that to Arizona with me.”
Mason was dismayed to discover his mother didn’t consider his childhood stuff as a valuable treasure to hold on to forever. “You don’t want it?”
His mother leveled a look at him over her glasses. “Come on, Mase, be serious. I can’t hold on to everything. If you want it, you should take it home with you.”
“Fine. I’ll take a look,” he replied. Although, he could think of other more important things he’d rather be doing, like planning something special for Natalie. She had mentioned she wasn’t worth a lot of effort, and he wanted to prove just how very wrong she was.
“I also wanted to see if you needed some new frying pans. I have two sets of these and will probably only take one. They’re a really nice non-stick and probably better than whatever cheap garbage you’re using now.” She showed him a pair of pans and they did look better than his current set.
He suspected his mom purposely bought two sets of everything for the purpose of eventually giving one to him. This was happening more frequently. His father had already offered to give him most of his good winter coats because he wasn’t going to need them in Arizona. Mason felt as though he was running out of time. He didn’t know what was at the end of that time, and, as much as he wanted his parents to trust him to do things his way, there was a side of him that was scared of such a major change in his life. “Do we have to do all this right now? I’m kind of in the middle of something.”
“Are you doing something for your dad?”
“No, I’m, uh, putting together a small surprise for one of the women who works in the vendor area.” Hopefully, if she did return to the farm that weekend, she’d be impressed with gestures like coffee meditation stalls.
His mom stopped, her eyes glittering. “Oh? Who is she?”
“She works the coffee truck. Her name is Natalie.”
“Wait, is this the reason you went all the way to Tahoe?” His dad had given him a hard time about the trip, and it was clear he’d mentioned something to his mother. For some reason, he wasn’t surprised.
“I don’t know why everyone is treating that as a big deal. It’s not that far and I’m a grown man who can drive where he wants.”
“I don’t care how old you are. As your mother, I’m allowed to be nervous about you driving over the pass with winter road conditions. Did she ask you to do that? Is she nice to you?”
He knew his mother was thinking about the Dakota situation. If he hadn’t lived that down in two years, he might not ever live it down. “Natalie didn’t know anything about it. And she also gave me a hard time about it when she found out. Besides, the highway was plowed the whole way, and I went early so there was hardly any traffic.”
“I just want you to be with someone who’s nice and treats you well. You give your whole heart, Mase, and you deserve someone who will appreciate that.”
He wanted that as well, but he also wanted someone who’d challenge him and had fire in her veins, someone who’d make whatever he got from her feel well earned. If he stuck it out, fought for it, it might be all worth it. And once she knew she didn’t need her stinger around him, things could be different between them, something so much sweeter. He had plenty of patience.
*
He sent atext asking if Natalie was coming back that weekend.
She responded with the word,Yup, and it put him in good spirits again.
Will you hang out with me after closing?
Maybe, she responded.
At least it wasn’t a no. He could work with that. While the Christmas tree business was constant that Saturday, it wasn’t as busy as the previous one. She was working the truck alone this time.
“Mia isn’t helping you?” he asked when stopping by for his regular Mexican hot chocolate.
“Nope, not this weekend.” She kept her focus on the task, not meeting his eyes.
