AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yes, I had some chicken. It was delicious.”
“Good.” He pauses. “I had a chance to talk to your mother.” The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Crap, what did she say to him?
“Oh? What did she say?”
“Not much.” He pauses again. “You’re right, though, she does like Evan.” Oh no, she didn’t.
“What did she say?” My words are harsher than I intended them to be.
“Just how good you guys were together, and that she hopes I’m just as good to you.”
“She had blinders on when it came to Evan,” I inform him.
“I hope so.”
“She never witnessed the fights we had. He was beyond possessive and controlling.”
“Really? Someone had control over you? I find that very hard to believe.” I’m not quite sure whether he’s joking or not.
“I was young and didn’t know any better,” I say resigned.
“Well, you have me now.” He leans down and kisses the top of my head. It makes me happy for him to say that he’s mine.
It’s getting late and people start to trickle out as they call it a night. The wait staff finishes cleaning up and are out the door by eleven. Right around midnight, my work friends say their goodbyes. Brenda and my mom remain. My mom drank way more than she usually does, and I’m not comfortable with her going home so late. Brenda is too drunk to go anywhere as well. I set up the sofa bed for Brenda and help my mom into the spare bedroom. Once I get them both settled, it’s just Chase and me.
“Are you staying?” I ask.
“I think you’ll have enough to deal with in the morning,” he chuckles. I’m not laughing.
“Fine,” I murmur disappointed. He sweeps me into a hug, nuzzling my hair.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll have nothing to do but spend time with you.” He leans down and kisses me tenderly, lingering just long enough to regret his decision to leave.
“I’ll take my mom out to breakfast in the morning. Do you want to come?”
“If you want me to, but you should spend some alone time with her. She misses you.”
“Okay. I’ll call you in the morning.” He releases me and heads out the front door.
I take both my mom and Brenda out for breakfast down on the pier. South Street Seaport isn’t far from my apartment, and it’s a gorgeous day. The only issue is working through my mom’s hangover. I give her two Motrin before our walk in hopes they’ll take effect by the time we get to breakfast.
I take them to a cute restaurant called Meade’s. It has a bottomless brunch, which includes mimosas. We take a seat inside since my mom complains that it’s hot out.
We sit and drink. And eat. And drink. It’s been a long time since the three of us have sat down together and actually talked about everything and nothing. It’s a fantastic morning.
Back at my apartment, my mom gets her things together. There is a car waiting for her outside to take her home, courtesy of Chase. Brenda leaves to be at work by six. I walk my mom out to the car to find Chase standing next to it. She gives me a quick kiss. Chase opens the door for her, and she’s on her way home. Chase saunters over to me and pulls me into his arms. “Good morning, beautiful.”
“It’s afternoon now,” I tease. He rolls his eyes at me. I narrow mine, but he knows I’m playing.
“How was your family breakfast?”
“Quite pleasant, actually. It’s been a while since we all spent time like that together.” He kisses the top of my head.
“Are you ready to spend some quality time with me?” he asks.
“How can I resist?”
It’s been a crazy week already, and it’s only Wednesday. I have been on location at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge every day and not getting home until after dark. Chase has a new property his firm has been working on acquiring, and he’s been really busy. I still can’t believe how sweet he was last weekend, getting everyone together the way he did. I’m also glad we spent some quality time together on Sunday. All day Sunday.
