AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘You can’t be serious?’ Part of her was still convinced that Evan was bluffing. That this was simply a way for her to drop the issue.
‘Oh, I’m very serious.’ He moved over to his laptop on the kitchen counter, opened the lid, went to video call, and selected, ‘Mom.’
In barely a breath, the call was picked up.
‘Evan, honey. This is a nice surprise. An early surprise, but a nice one. Is everything all right?’
Judging from her comment, it was early morning, and she was already wearing a full face of makeup, lashes, lipstick, the lot. This was a woman who clearly took pride in her appearance.
‘Hey, Mom.’ Evan’s grin was wide and eyes bright as he spoke. ‘Yes, everything’s good. Really good. I’m at the new house in France. We went waterskiing yesterday, and on a hike today.’
His accent was far stronger now he was talking to his mother, and it was hard not to find it cute. That was, until he turned the computer around, so the camera was facing her too.
‘Mom, this is Holly. She’s one of Fin and Jamie’s friends. Holly, this is my mum, Anne.’
This was up there with Holly’s most embarrassing situations and, considering some things she had done in her life, that was no small feat.
‘Hi, Anne.’ She offered a little wave.
‘How is my son treating you? Is he being a proper host?’
Holly’s head span with the bizarreness of the situation. She was still standing a way away but felt rude speaking from such a distance. She came and sat on the stool besides Evan.
‘Oh yes, absolutely. And the house is beautiful.’
‘I’m sure. It’s a bit hot for me at this time of year. Maybe I’ll come out later when it cools down. Evan’s stepdad is not very good with the heat either. And boy does he whine when it comes to flights. Why my only son would choose to buy a house all the way out there when we have beautiful beaches right by us, I have no idea.’
‘Because that’s not where I live.’ His voice was clipped, leading Holly to believe this wasn’t the first time they had shared this conversation, but before they could say any more on the matter, Evan was changing the subject. ‘Mom, I’m ringing you for a reason. Holly here refuses to believe that I am one of six and that I have five sisters, and I thought, who better to get the truth from than my dearest mother?’
‘This is why you called me at nine in the morning?’
‘This is why I called you.’
With a grossly exaggerated roll of her eyes, Anne looked through the screen at Holly. ‘Honey, if you’re ever blessed with children, you should learn now that they are the most wonderful, torturous gift.’
‘Actually, I already have a daughter. She’s with her dad at the minute. I would have brought her, but she’s just a baby, and well, it’s an adult do, and Jamie and Fin really wanted me to come.’
‘Oh honey, you don’t need to tell me all this. I know what life is like. Like Evan said, I’ve got six of them.’
‘How?’ Holly responded with a fraction more disbelief than was probably polite, though thankfully, Anne chuckled.
‘I must’ve asked myself that same question a hundred times a day for the last forty years. But I’d get that son of mine to fetch you a drink if I were you. This is a bit of a long story.’
‘It’s fine, Mom. She doesn’t need a long story. In fact, she doesn’t need any of the story.’ Evan turned to face Holly. ‘There, as promised, I have proven without a doubt that I am one of six, with five sisters, the photos of whom are all in my wallet. Thank you for your time, Mom.’
He moved as if to end the conversation, but Anne was having none of it.
‘Don’t you dare. I’ve raised you better than that. You can’t ring me up at whatever time you fancy and ask me to tell half a story.’
‘Technically, I didn’t ask you to tell any of the story. Besides, Holly doesn’t want to hear it.’
‘Yes, I do, thank you very much. I want to hear all about it.’
Anne smiled. It was easy to see where Evan got his looks from. She was a beautiful woman. ‘I like this one. She’s not afraid to stand up to you. Now, let me tell you where they all came from. Cathy is my eldest. I got pregnant when I was nineteen, and thankfully, she didn’t inherit any of her father’s bad traits. Not that he was on the scene long enough for me to work out what they all were. He left the moment he realised that having a baby interfered with going to watch football games.’
‘That’s American football, by the way,’ Evan interrupted. ‘Most of my family are massively into it. They get very cross if you call your football, actual football, football, even though the players use their feet more, so it is far more aptly named.’
‘I am not getting into this argument again,’ Anne said. ‘Lovely Polly here doesn’t want to hear us bickering.’
