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“Nice.” Bianca taps her fingers on the stainless steel counter.
“I just wiped that down.” I grab my cleaner. She lifts her hand so I can spray and wipe it down again. Bianca fights a smile. “So what did you hear about him?” I fish. I don’t know why I try to hide what I’m doing. Bianca is beyond sharp.
“They say he’s brilliant. I worried he was only trying to get you to his house because he had a crush, but the man’s past is clean.”
“What does that mean?”
“He doesn’t have one when it comes to romance or sex for that matter. There was nothing to be found, and if there was something, I’d find it.” She leans her hip against the side of the counter. “You think really smart people aren't into sex or dating because they can see what a mess it can be?”
“So, you don’t think he has a crush on me?” Why do I feel so disappointed? When a smirk lights up my sister's face, I know I walked dead into a trap. Her question was pure bullshit she made up to get a reaction out of me.
She got one. Not only for herself but for me too.
CHAPTER 11
JASE
“Your mom loved the meal the new chef prepared. She ate the whole thing.” Nurse Bri shows me the empty plate. “You should go up and see her. She’s in a very good mood and may even recognize you.”
“Wow.” I blink in surprise and lay down my briefcase. I shoot off a quick text to Calvin that I’ll be late and head for Mom’s floor.
“Do you want me to heat something up for you?” Nurse Bri calls after me.
“No. Save it for Mom.” I find her on the terrace, her basket of tangerines sitting next to an open book. “Mom,” I say so as not to startle her.
She twists around with a big smile on her face. “Jase! Isn’t it time for you to go to school?”
My chest tightens. She does recognize me although she’s ten years in the past. Doesn’t matter to me, though. “I’ll go soon. I wanted to come up and see you before I left.”
“How are your studies going? I wish I could help you, but your subjects are too advanced for me now. Besides, I was a liberal arts major. What do I know of atoms and molecules?”
“Those are dumb things anyway, Mom.” I lean down and kiss her cheek. “No one uses that stuff in real life.”
“I know that’s not true. Are you dating someone? I can’t die without a grandbaby in my arms.”
Her words are so carefree, but they stop me in my tracks. I’d forgotten she’s always wanted a grandchild.
“Yeah. She’s a chef. She made the food you ate this morning.”
“She did? My word. She is so young. How can she be this good?”
I don’t know if I’m high school Jase or college Jase or post-graduate Jason in her mind, so I reply, “A child prodigy.”
“Truly. Next time she comes over to cook, bring her upstairs. I want to meet her.”
“I will.”
“You go on now. I don’t want you to be late. Even though you’re in college now, you still should be timely.” She pats my cheek. “Love you, Jase.”
“I love you too,” I say with my tongue thick on my mouth.
At the lab, I dive into the study. I can’t cure my mom. She’s too far gone for that, but maybe I can have a few more moments like this morning if I work hard enough. At some point, Calvin appears with a plate of something that resembles pasta.
“I brought you some lunch, although it’s closer to dinner time. It’s from a café down the street. We ordered Italian since you like it.”
“Great,” I reply, but inwardly I’m having doubts about this. The pasta looks like it’s already congealing, and the tomatoes don’t look well blended. Lucia wouldn’t have served this. “Just set it over there, and I’ll have it later.”
Calvin obliges. “Any progress?”
“Not yet.”
“Eat or you’re going to pass out.”
“Fine. Fine. Anything to get you to stop nagging me. You’re worse than a wife.”
“Thank you. I’ve worked hard on this skill. Ross says I get better at it every year.”
Ross is Calvin’s husband. “I don’t think that was a compliment.” But I pick up the fork because, unlike Ross, I don’t enjoy getting hounded by Calvin.
“It was. We have a different relationship that outsiders don’t understand.”
“Leaving your relationship a mystery for the rest of us is the wise decision.”
“You say that because you’re single and miserable.” He nudges the plate. “Eat this so that at least you aren’t hungry, single, and miserable.”
“I’m not miserable.”
“You spend eighty percent of your life in this lab. If that’s not misery, what is?”
“I thought you loved your job.”
“Because you pay well despite being a terrible boss.”
