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“It’s great to be here, Mrs. Holloway.”
“Oh now, call me Jan. Please, we’ve known each otherso long.” The smile on my mother’s face is so forced I’m worried she’s going to pull a muscle.
It’s going to be a long afternoon. At least my kids are cute. Hopefully, they’ll be a good distraction.
My parents lead us into the house, and my children immediately turn into spoiled monsters. This is only worsened by my father showing them the new games they got for the PlayStation.
It takes everything inside me not to roll my eyes.
Luke gives my hand a squeeze and smiles, flaring his eyes as if reminding me to keep my cool.
We’ll see.
“Zoey, darling, will you help me in the kitchen?”
I inhale sharply and look up at Luke. He quickly kisses my cheek and says, “Go. It’s okay. The boys want to teach me all about this new game, anyway.” When I don’t move, he leans in close and whispers, “I’ll be fine. I love you. Go talk to your mom.”
I make it a point to kiss him right on the lips. She’s going to give me shit, anyway. Might as well give her a really good reason. “I love you too,” I whisper. Then I turn and follow my mother into the kitchen.
There’s a pot of pasta bubbling, chicken baking in the oven, a homemade cream sauce on the stove, and spinach waiting to be added. Of the many complaints I could make about my mother, her skill at cooking isn’t one of them.
I reach for the wooden spoon and give the pasta a stir before my mother huffs. “Stop fussing. Sit down.”
I drop onto a stool at the island. “What? You said you needed myhelp.” I take a bite of the nearby Italian bread and stare at her.
“No, dear. I think it’s you who needs help.”
“Here we go.”
“Luke? Really? Of all the people in the world you could choose, you had to choose someone who—”
“Loves me? Treats me right? Respects me? Actually values me? The horror!”
She rolls her eyes. “Love is nice, but it’s not a life.”
“What does that even mean?”
“You had a good life with Tad.”
“No, I had money and a life that looked pretty on the outside. What I actually had was an asshole of a husband who didn’t value or respect me, who tried to turn my children into misogynistic little robots, and who never truly loved me. And you may not value love, Mom, but I do. My entire career is built around it. It’s who I’ve always been. You’ve never wanted to see or accept it, but it’s the truth. And when it comes to Luke, you should be grateful I chose a man who not only loves and respects me, but loves the boys and shows them what a man should be.”
My mother huffs out a breath. “Yes, if covered in tattoos is what you want my grandchildren to be—”
“Knock it off, mother. I mean it. I will haul the boys out to the car if you so much as breathe a word like that in front of Luke. He is good to me. He loves me. He—”
“You say that, but do you really think he can give you the life you want? The life you deserve?”
I level my mother with the most withering glare I have. “He’s already given me more than that. And if you can’t see that, you’re the one who’s going to miss out. He treats me like I’ve always dreamed of being treated. He loves me like I’ve only dreamed of being loved. He’s shared his life with me and given me his heart. He loves the boys with everything inside him. There is nothing,nothingmore that I could ever want than that. You should be ashamed of yourself if that’s not exactly what you think I deserve to have.” I hold her gaze for a second longer, then hop off the stool and walk back into the living room.
Luke
Hearing Zoey’s mother basically say I wasn’t good enough for her daughter didn’t feel good. I wish I could say I let it roll off my back, but it’s hard to do. Especially knowing there are things I can’t give her.Like a bigger family.
“Luke O’Brien, where the hell did you go?”
I snap my eyes to Zoey, who is staring at me with raised eyebrows.
She squeezes my hand as I turn onto my parents’ road. Yesterday was the strange and forcedmeet the parentsat her parents’ house. Today will be a much more relaxed and hopefully fun Sunday dinner at my parents’ house. I know this is where both of us would rather be. I’m especially excited to tell my mother. Zoey and the boys always come to Sunday dinner. She’s just not expecting them to be with me.
