Page 22 of Rescue Them

“Good, then we can go out for brunch.”She turned to James.“And you and I can get better acquainted.”

“Mom.This is not the Spanish Inquisition.”He knew her so well.In the past when he’d introduced boyfriends, she had sent a few of them running for the hills.Of course she told him that they weren’t good enough anyway.But he really liked James.

“Don’t worry,” James told him.“I don’t get run off that easily, and I can give just as good as I get.”

Lyle hurried upstairs and cleaned up quickly before getting dressed.He wasn’t sure he wanted to leave his mother alone with James, because who knew exactly what sort of things they were going to talk about, but he was pretty sure it was going to involve him.And he did not want his mother sharing baby stories.

By the time he returned, James and his mother were as tense as bowstrings.“This is not a duel at twenty paces,” Lyle told both of them.

“Of course not.I was just asking James about his classes and what his plans were for the future.A man needs a plan.”Jesus, she was really digging in with the third degree.Maybe he would have preferred her to share baby stories.

“Mom, we just met, and you are not allowed to scare him away,” Lyle said, his frustration simmering below the surface.“Go on upstairs and finish dressing,” he told James.“I’ll understand if you have work you need to do.”He was determined to give James an out with this whole impromptu mama visit.

James couldn’t get out of there fast enough, or that was how it seemed to him.“Can’t you just be nice?”Lyle scolded his mother.He sat on the sofa, and the dogs jumped up, all vying for the prime spot on his lap.Lyle petted all of them and sat back with a smile.“You pop in here without calling and….”He swallowed as he thought about him and James upstairs together… in his bed.Right now, he would so rather be up there having naked time with James than down here talking to his mother.

“Yes, I know.I interrupted the little morning delight that you had going on.”She rolled her eyes.

“I like him.James is a good person.He goes to law school and he works part-time at the dog rescue.”

She sighed dramatically.“Speaking of dogs.What are you going to do with these?There are four of them.That’s a lot for one person.That many is going to really tie you down.If you want to go on vacation, or come visit your mother in some exotic location, you can’t bring them.”

James came back downstairs and stood next to where he sat.Lyle drew him down and kissed him.“Sorry,” he said softly.

“It’s okay.”He leaned closer.“I’ll just have to make your eyes roll to the back of your head, later.”James smirked, and Lyle felt himself blushing.Not in front of his mother.But as he glanced over, Lyle realized that maybe that was exactly the point.

“I need to take the dogs outside before we go.I’ll be a few minutes.”

“Why don’t you let me do that,” James offered, and after lightly caressing his cheek, he called the dogs, and they followed him downstairs.

“Okay,” Mom said after Lyle fixed her with a glare.“I’ll be nice.He seems like a good enough person that I’ll reserve judgment on him… for now.But you and I need to discuss all these dogs.”

“No, we don’t.Corky willed them to me, and I’m going to keep them.They’re sweet little things, and they’re really quite good.I know there are four of them, but they get along and look after one another.They’re really very comforting.”She pursed her lips, and Lyle could tell she wasn’t going to give up on this, or any of her conclusions, easily.That was his mother.She always thought she knew best, whether she actually did or not.

She pursed her lips once more, but Lyle ignored it.Sometimes she just wasn’t going to get what she wanted.The dogs clamored up the stairs, bounded into the room and right up to him.He petted all of them before checking that they had dry food and water.“Shall we go?”he asked once he was done.“I’m not sure where to go.Carlisle isn’t exactly a Sunday-brunch kind of town.”

“I already took care of that,” she told them both before standing as regally as ever.Lyle exchanged a glance with James before following her outside and locking the door.

“What are you going to do?Kidnap a chef?”

“No, dear,” she said indulgently.“The Hook and Flask has a wonderful brunch.It’s fairly simple, but I ate there the last time I was in town.”

“Mom, they closed last week, permanently,” Lyle told her.

“Oh….”She paused outside the door.“Well, there’s always Fay’s.They have been around forever.”Nothing fazed her, including going to Fay’s on a Sunday morning.The line was likely to be out the door, but Mom was not deterred and drove them over.

In an extraordinary bit of luck, they got a table right away.The server took their drink orders and hurried away once she gave them menus.“Lyle told me you travel a great deal for work.Where did you just come in from?”James asked.

“I was in Singapore last week, and then spent some time on Los Angeles working with a branch office before returning home.I’ll be here for a week or so, then then I fly to Paris for the fall shows.From there it’s back to Asia for a few weeks.I’ll be home for Thanksgiving, and the plan is to stay home until after Christmas.So you and I will have a chance to reconnect.”

Lyle wasn’t quite sure what his mother meant.“It’s nice that you’ll be here for the holidays.”He checked out the menu and then closed it, having made up his mind.James gently placed his hand on his leg under the table.His mother was making him jittery as hell because he was getting the idea that there was something she wasn’t telling him.

“You usually go all year long,” Lyle said.“Last year you spent the holidays in Switzerland, I believe.So what’s different?”

The server returned and they placed their orders.“So suspicious.I knew I raised you well.”

He waited until the server was gone.“What is it?”

She sighed.“It’s nothing.I need to have some surgery, and it’s scheduled for when I get back.It’s women’s things, and I really don’t want to get into it.But my schedule opened up, so I decided to take a few weeks of downtime and have it done.”She sounded as though she were going to the country club for lunch.