Page 119 of All for Love

MERCEDES

Two days before New Year’s, still in that weird lull between Christmas and the official ringing in of a whole new year, I met my mother at a coffee shop down the block from Kody’s place. I’d spent the last four nights there, and I’d gone to collect a few more things from my place just last night.

No doubt things would settle between us once we went back to work, but for now, we were enjoying being a new couple both off from work for the holidays. On the other hand, I liked the way things were now and I knew he did too.

We definitely weren’t stupid enough to move in together our first week of dating—not with our history—but it wasn’t as weird as I might’ve thought it would be to semi-live with him. As I looked around the coffee shop, I realized it was time to end my mental rambling.

My mother was a few minutes late, but she’d just walked in and it was time to get my head in the game. The café was still decorated for Christmas and seasonal drinks were still for sale. Some people were still wearing their festive brooches and others just rolled their eyes at it all.

It was a stark reminder that it’d been only a few days since Christmas, but also that those days had also passed while I’d been wrapped up with Kody at his place. I hadn’t spoken to my mom at all since Christmas Day except for a handful of texts we’d exchanged, and even though it had only been those few days, it felt like a lot longer.

Maybe that was because we hadn’t actually spent any time alone together or had any meaningful, proper conversations with one another in weeks. I got up when she was a few feet away from the table, smiling. I opened my arms.

“Thanks for coming, Mom,” I said against her hair as she hugged me. “I was pretty scared you were going to tell me that you changed your mind about coffee.”

She smiled as she pulled away. “I would never change my mind about talking to you, darling. My only regret is that we got to a point where you thought I might.”

I took my seat and she did the same, and we each ordered coffee before I cleared my throat. Kody and I had talked about my meeting with my mom today, and I’d decided to jump right in. He thought it was better to ease her into it, but she and I both knew what we were here to talk about and I wanted to get it out of the way so I could spend some time with her without the elephant in the room.

“I’m glad we could make some time to see each other today,” I said. “I really want us to go into the new year on good terms, and I feel like we can’t do that without talking about everything that’s happened.”

Mom smiled fondly as she nodded. “That’s my girl. I’m glad to see he hasn’t changed you just yet.”

“He’s not going to change me, Mom. For what it’s worth, he also doesn’t want to change me. He loves me exactly the way I am and I feel the same way about him.”

Doubt crept into her eyes and that fond smile faded, but then she dragged in a deep breath and spread her hands out on the table. “Look, baby, I know that the Wagner men know how to treat a woman like gold. I’ve experienced it firsthand and I’ve seen Kaden with Brooke. It’s not that I don’t think Kody is going to treat you well. I’m just worried. This is his first serious relationship and he has a reputation. One he’s earned.”

“I know.” My stomach plummeted and my hope crashed and burned right next to it, but then she reached out and took my hand.

“I’m not saying he’s a bad guy or even that I’m against your relationship with him. All I’m saying is that I don’t understand. I’d like to, but not even his own father always understands him. Why choose a man like that over every other guy out there?”

Surprised by the way she’d turned this around, I allowed the hope to resurrect itself in my chest as I searched for the words I needed. “Do you really want the honest answer to that?”

She winced slightly, but then she nodded. “Not if it’s crude or about his genitalia, but other than that, yes.”

I laughed and felt the warm blush covering my cheeks. “It’s not about his genitalia, Mom.”

“Thank God.” She pretended to fan herself in relief, then gave me a soft, reassuring smile. “In that case, I absolutely want to know. I’m still your mother, darling.” She dragged in a deep, shaky breath. “This is your first serious relationship too. The first boy you’ve told me you love. That’s another reason why I’m so worried about it. You two are both so new at this. Everyone keeps reminding me that you’re grownups and blah, blah, but you’ll always be my baby and he’s a man who made you fall in love with him but he has no idea what he’s doing either.”

“We’re figuring it out together,” I said, using the confidence in my heart to fuel my belief in what I was saying. “This may be our first serious relationship, but we’ve both done plenty of dating. It just never worked out because it wasn’t with the right people.”

“So you genuinely believe he’s the right person?”

I nodded. “Kody was unplanned. Neither of us went after the other thinking anything like this would ever happen. I didn’t chase him. I didn’t make a decision to fall in love with him, so to answer your earlier question, I chose him because I couldn’t not choose him.”

“You’re going to have to explain that one to me.”

I smiled as I thought back to the early days. “What I mean is that if I could have picked anyone else to fall in love with, I would have. Not because I don’t want him or because I don’t genuinely love him, but because it would save everyone a lot of anxiety, and hurt, and tension if he and I had never happened.”

“We don’t get to pick who we fall in love with, though,” she said with a wise smile on her lips. “Try as we might, that’s just not our decision. We either love a person or we don’t.”

“Exactly. I’m so glad you understand.”

She chuckled as her eyes rolled. “Of course, I understand that part, darling. I’ve tried to find love in many places I shouldn’t have been looking for it. I know that now. Do you think I planned on falling in love with a man who is so much older than me? Do you think I don’t know what people are whispering behind our backs? The names they’re calling me?”

For a moment, I was stunned. “Well, I kind of figured you’d know what it looked like, but did you ever really worry about that?”

“Of course, I did. That’s another reason I’m so worried about your business when people start finding out you’re seeing your stepbrother. Wagner Industries is a giant. They’re unavoidable and undeniable and they make their own rules because they’re the game-maker, but your company is different. Your reputation can’t afford to take the same kind of battering.”