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“My mom was an artist before she married my dad. She illustrated a couple children’s books and was forever working on her own comic book.”
Gage had no idea where those words came from. He hadn’t talked about Mom in years. Maybe it was because he was eating her favorite dish, the smells in the kitchen right now evoking so many memories.
Or maybe it was because he wanted to talk to Penny about her. She was a good listener, and…he wanted her to know him better. As more than her boss or her gamer friend or her damn sex tutor.
“That’s so cool. I can’t draw stick figures,” she joked.
“She was the one who taught me how to play D&D. She had an incredible imagination, and she was never too busy to play with me and my brothers. Of course, Matt was never around much after Dad got his hooks into him. And Conor always preferred his books to games. Big weirdo. So she and I would play video games together.”
Gage was glossing over the details, lying by omission, telling Penny only the parts that he could repeat without pain. Because talking about his mom’s darker days would tread too close to a place he couldn’t go. Not with her. Not even with himself.
Penny smiled. “You were lucky. My mom is shit at games. I swear to God she drives PacMan into the ghosts within the first thirty seconds every damn time.”
“That couldn’t have been easy for you,” he joked, before continuing his own story. “A lot of times, it was just me and Mom, hunkered down in the family room, fighting asteroids, racingMario Karts, rocking out toGuitar Hero. You should have seen her playing ‘Devil Went Down to Georgia.’ Never missed a note on the expert level.”
Penny’s eyes widened appropriately. “Shut up. That song was hard as fuck!”
“Tell me about it. I never managed to master it, but my mom was a natural.”
“So you don’t just look like your mom, you act like her too.”
“In some ways,” he said hesitantly.
He was saved from having to think too deeply about that when Penny took a bite of the masala, closed her eyes, and groaned. “Holy shit. This is so good.”
Gage smiled, pleased she liked it. “Right?”
“If I knew how to make this, I’d cook it every damn day.”
Gage dipped his naan in the sauce. “I’ll make it for you again sometime.” He wanted to kick himself the second the words were out. Or at least until Penny gave him a bright, delighted smile.
She had a great smile.
“Okay. I’m going to hold you to that.”
They ate in silence for a moment more, both enjoying the meal.
“So it sort of sounds like your parents were one of those opposites attract kind of couples.”
Leave it to Penny to put a romantic spin on it.
He shook his head. “No. They were a mismatch. My mom was very beautiful, and my dad liked beautiful things. He came from money, while Mom’s family was dirt poor. He saw her and decided he had to have her. So he wooed her. And my mom, who’d never had anything, had her head turned by the handsome rich boy who lavished her with gifts. Once they got married, the thrill of the chase was gone, and Dad moved on to the next challenge—which in his case was attaining more wealth, acquiring more companies, more real estate, more prestige in the community. At one point, he talked about running for political office. My dad was the type of person who only wanted something until he had it. Then he’d get bored and find something else to chase.”
“Couldn’t have been a very happy marriage for your mom.”
Penny was astute and empathetic. But she was also walking too close to a line he couldn’t cross, a conversation he couldn’t have, words he’d never say.
“She had me and my brothers,” he said dismissively. They continued to eat, the conversation moving on to safer topics. When they were finished, Gage said, “How about we fill these wine glasses and finish the tour? I’ll show you the gaming room.”
“Sure. That sounds great. But I’d prefer to pick up the tour where we left off.”
He frowned, confused. “Where we left off?”
“In your bedroom.”
