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He swallowed. Every day, this was getting tougher. Lying to people. Hiding his feelings.
And yet he couldn’t stay away from her if he tried.
* * *
As soon as he arrived atChairson Friday, Michael knew exactly why his mom was so insistent he should attend before leaving for Charleston.
Before she and Cam had left the house she’d asked him three times if he was still going to join them by the creek. Eventually, Cam had dragged her out and given Michael a sympathetic smile.
And now, as he walked across the grass, his mom was grinning widely at him. And next to her was a woman wearing a pretty summer dress.
Not just any woman. Rhona. The nurse who’d been taking care of his mom since she’d started treatment.
“Honey, look who’s here,” his mom said, her face shining with happiness. “Doesn’t Rhona look pretty?”
Goddamn. He was walking straight into a set up. Which would have been funny if he wasn’t heading to Charleston with Grace this evening.
“Hey Rhona.” He nodded at her. He’d exchanged casual conversation with her while his mom had her treatment, but that was it.
“Hi Michael.” She smiled at him. “You look handsome.”
“Isn’t it lovely that Rhona could join us?” his mom asked. “Maybe you could get her a drink?”
Fuck.“Sure.” He nodded. “What would you like?”
“What do you have?” Rhona asked. He’d thought she was older when she was wearing her scrubs, but in a dress she looked like she was in her mid thirties.
Older than Grace. Younger than him. Damn, he wished his mom would stop smiling like the cat that got the cream.
“Lemonade?”
“Get her a beer,” his mom said. “No need to be shy.”
“On it.” He nodded and walked over to the drinks table. He scanned the crowd for Grace, but there was no sign of her. So he pulled his phone out and quickly sent her a text.
Are you here yet? – M
I just parked. And I thought we were radio silence until Charleston? I was enjoying pretending to be Jane Bond. – G
She sounded happy. And light-hearted. Behind him, he could hear his mom and Rhona laughing about something. His head was throbbing.
Okay. I just need you to hear me out. My mom’s set me up with a friend of hers. This isn’t my doing. I’m going to try to get out of here and head up to Charleston early. – M
What do you mean, set you up? As in a date? – G
I don’t know. She was just really insistent on me coming tonight and now this woman is here and I’m almost certain my mom’s trying to match make. It means nothing. – M
Of course it means something. – G
He let out a long breath. He couldn’t tell if Grace was annoyed or not. Couldn’t tell anything from her words. But there was no way he could slink away and call her without somebody noticing.
This was hell, wrapped up in a small town gathering.
He should have headed to Charleston earlier.
“Can you grab me a beer, too?” Cam asked, joining him at the table.
“There you go.” Michael popped a cap on a bottle and passed it to him. “Did you know about this?” He looked over Cam’s shoulder and Cam turned to follow his gaze to where Michael’s mom and Rhona were standing.
