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She reached sideways for the carnations, eyebrows arched at his pause. “But?”
His gaze shifted to the flowers, and he gave a slight shake of his head. “Nothing.” He pushed away from the counter and unbuttoned the cuff on his shirtsleeve to start rolling it to his elbow. “Lead the way, Ian.”
“What do you want to drink?” she asked, her gaze lingering on his muscled forearm until he was out of sight down the hall.
“Milk, please,” he called back.
She smiled as she heard Ian ask, “You like milk?”
“Of course,” Merit answered. “It’s good for your bones. Helps you grow big and strong.”
“That’s what Mom says. Think I’ll grow as big and strong as you?”
“Maybe. Keep drinking your milk and—”
Running water drowned out their voices. Mae resisted the temptation to flatten herself against the wall outside the bathroom to listen and finished putting the flowers in water before pouring three glasses of milk.
Chapter 23
“That’s the last one, Scoob, then it’s bedtime.”
Merit relaxed in his lawn chair next to Mae’s, watching as Ian speared another marshmallow on the roasting stick. It was a little after nine p.m., and after pizza earlier, he and Ian had washed dishes while Mae was supposed to take a nap. She’d ended up doing laundry.
Then he and Ian had cut the grass before the three of them tossed a football back and forth, kicked the soccer ball around, and finally relaxed to roast s’mores over the campfire.
“Aw, come on, Mom. Why do I have to go to bed when Merit’s still here?”
“I’m heading home soon,” he said right before leaning over to stage whisper behind his hand, “But for now, roast that marshmallow slow.”
Ian grinned and lifted the treat away from the flame.
Mae glared at him, but he saw the corner of her mouth twitch with humor. She was so beautiful sitting there in those sexy short shorts and sweatshirt, the firelight playing over her happy features and golden hair. After that kiss in her kitchen, it sucked not being able to touch her and kiss her at will, yet he knew that wasn’t an option in front of her son.
Not yet, anyway.
Hard to believe the first half of his day had been complete shit, and the second half of the day was the best he’d had in years. Well, other than the night of Asher’s wedding, and last Saturday. The only dark spot was that he hadn’t worked up the nerve to tell her he’d lied about a job to shut his dad up.
He’d made an attempt in the kitchen before the pizza, but then she’d grabbed the flowers on the counter, and he didn’t want to fuck up his apology only seconds after being forgiven.
Wanting to shake off the black cloud, he lolled his head toward Mae’s chair. “I haven’t done anything like this in a very long time. Thanks for letting me stay. It’s been great.”
“It has been,” she agreed, the joy in her smiling blue eyes echoing her words.
“We have campfires all the time in the summer,” Ian said as he hovered his roasting stick over the fire, then away, over, then away. “Sometimes we even go over to Uncle A’s for one. He has a huge backyard.”
Assuming Uncle A was his brother, Asher, Merit had to agree his backyard was a lot bigger than this one. “Uncle A, hey?”
“Yep. He was gonna build a tree house in the back and said I could sleep in it when it was done, but now he moved into Auntie H’s house and he’s selling his.”
Merit perked up at that news. “I thought he was going to rent it out?”
That question was for Mae, and she shook her head. “Honor said they didn’t want to deal with renters right across the street.”
Huh. He hadn’t known his brother was selling his house.
“He has the best tree ever,” Ian enthused. “We laid on the grass, and he pointed out all the good branches.”
“Yeah...that tree would be perfect,” Mae agreed, her commiseration sounding more than a little wistful. They sighed together as Ian swung his marshmallow back over the flames.
