Page 30 of Easy On Me

His easy grin lit up his face, and he stepped forward, hand extended. “Pleased to meet you, ma’am.”

She held on a moment, eyes narrowed behind her big cats-eye glasses, sizing him up. He never flinched.

“Welcome to our home.” She pressed her fingers on his and let go. Her face relaxed into a genuine smile, so my tension drained away. She liked him. “Tyler’s told me a lot about you.”

He quirked a brow at me, grin widening. “I’ve talked about her to my mama, too.”

“Have you met his parents yet?” She pinned a look on me, crossing to the counter to pour drinks and passing Jase one of her patented sunrise spritzers. Her flowy dress, a peacock blue with swirls of green, gold and brown, shifted with each movement, her auburn curls that showed no signs of gray framing her face.

“No.” A hint of heat touched my cheekbones, and I ignored the glint of amusement in Jase’s eyes. “His grandparents. His grandmother is Mrs. Hatcher from Chandler-Haynes.”

Mama Nancy stilled, both hands flattened on the marble island. “Really.”

“Yes.” I lifted my chin, grimacing. “She was happy to see me.”

“She was thrilled to see you,” Jase said, his voice quiet. He stepped closer, free hand landing wide and steady and warm at the base of my spine. “My parents have been in Arkansas for the past month. Already talked to Mama about us getting together when they get back.”

“Tell me about your family.” She nudged us toward the table. Jase held my chair while Mama Nancy settled, then took his own seat.

While we fixed plates, he did. He was an only child and so was his daddy. His mama was from Valdosta, and he had an aunt and cousins over there. His mama’s parents were gone, but he was close to his daddy’s parents, Mrs. Hatcher and her husband. His voice rang with love and affection for his family, and I soaked that up, soaked him up, aware of Mama Nancy looking between us the whole time.

“What do you do?” Mama Nancy put a dainty bite of pimiento cheese on a toast point and studied him. I wrinkled my nose at her. She already knew that because I’d told her, days ago. Jase and I had been together weeks now, so I’d told her most everything.

“I’m a heavy equipment mechanic. I’ve been with the John Deere dealership out of Pelham for almost two years.” Fork poised over his chicken salad, he held Mama Nancy’s gaze, his expression open and earnest. “Before that I did the same kind of work in north Florida for a couple of years after I got out of the Air Force. I joined right out of high school and did four years.”

Mama Nancy dipped her chin, a slow nod. Lips pursed, she gestured in his direction with another toast point. “You were engaged until very recently.”

I cringed. She knew that from me, too, but at the same time, I appreciated her. I could always trust her to look out for my best interests.

“Yes, ma’am.” His mouth pinched into a grimace as a pained frown drew his brows together. “That relationship was a bad habit it took me a while to break. Mama and Daddy raised me to work on a relationship, but of course, you both have to be working toward the same thing. We weren’t.”

Mama Nancy stared, and I knew she was worrying the inside of her lip, gauging his honesty. For a moment, I thought she’d ask him more, but etiquette and respect for his privacy won out, I guess.

We drifted into less fraught topics, like Georgia versus Auburn and his time in the Air Force. He’d told me a little, but I liked hearing about it. Once we’d finished eating, he helped clear the table and wash up.

“Ms. Grant, mind if I use your restroom?” He dried his hands and folded the dishtowel over the oven door handle.

“Not at all.” She pointed down the hall toward the study. “Second door on the left.”

His loafers whispered on the gleaming hardwood. I waited until the door shut behind him to pounce on Mama Nancy. “Well?”

Glass full of a not-so-virgin sunrise in hand, she leaned against the counter and regarded me with that pursed-lips consideration once more. “I like him. He doesn’t have that air of desperation about him that Colt had. You don’t need that energy in your life, Tyler Anne.”

“I know.”

The toilet flushed down the hall. The hush of running water followed.

“Do you know he’s over that little girl who had his ring?”

“Yes, ma’am.” I couldn’t resist a smirk, but dropped the expression at Mama Nancy’s narrowed eyes.

“Tyler.”

“He is. I’m sure.” He looked at me, touched me, like I was Christmas morning and his birthday rolled into one.

Like I was everything.

And he made me believe I was.