AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Next on the left was the main house. This was where the Duke siblings had grown up. A big ranch-style home painted white with dark blue trim. It had wide front steps and flowers pretty much everywhere. His mom was in the garden wearing one of her enormous hats, pulling weeds as he drew level.
Daniel, Ryder, and Zoe, when she was around, lived there. He tooted, and his mom straightened. She waved a hand at him, which told him she had something to say, and now she would see his face, which meant questions.
Rolling down the window, he waited for her to reach him.
Tall, slim, and as beautiful as she’d always been, Robyn Duke was a strong woman who put up with no crap from her boys. She’d never dated again since the love of her life passed, and he respected that even though he knew she must be lonely.
“Hey, honey.” She leaned in and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Want to tell me what happened to that handsome face?”
“Hey, Mom, and no.”
“You sure about that? Because your brothers and uncle will get it out of you and tell me anyway.”
He sighed.
“How is it I have to hear you have a date for your cousin’s wedding from Melinda Lee Baker, when she came into the library to pay her fines, and not from you?”
Sawyer bit back another sigh. “It’s not a date, Mom. Birdie just said she’d go because she knew you and pretty much everyone else in this town were hassling me to find someone to take to Ford and Autumn’s wedding.”
There were more lines on the soft skin of her face now. But to Sawyer, she still looked like the young grieving woman who had gathered him into her arms at his father’s funeral and told him they were going to be okay.
“Is that so?”
“Yes, it is so.”
“Birdie though, Sawyer. Out of all the women that are single and would love to go with my big, handsome eldest son, you picked her.”
No one could give you the stare down like a parent. His mom had perfected the art. He could feel himself squirming in his seat like he had as a kid.
“She expects nothing from me.”And I’m blackmailing her, Mom, because I overheard her having phone sex, which by the way she does for a living. Along with the two other jobs she has, and then there’s the gambling.He kept those words in his head.
His mother smiled like she had a secret but wasn’t about to share the details.
“She’s nice and would be good for you.”
“What?” He actually shook his head. “I’m not dating her or getting serious, Mom. This is just a onetime thing.”
“We’ll see.”
“No, we won’t. There is nothing to see.”
“You’re awful testy about this.” She patted his arm. “It must be your sore face. Need me to get some salve for you?”
“No, I have the last jar you gave me, and I’m not testy. I just don’t want you building a big deal around this. Like I said, it’s a onetime thing, and Birdie is helping me out. Apparently, you all think I need to take someone to this wedding, so I am.”
She smiled.
“What?”
“Nothing, and you’re right. Birdie is way too gentle for you. And happy,” she added.
“I can be happy.” He sounded anything but.
She patted his arm again. “I know that, honey but few other people do.”
“I’m leaving.”
She kissed his cheek.
