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“What happened?”
“Before I could do much, Lucy had a suite at the Four Seasons booked, along with dinner in her room because she washammered, and then she escorted her out to the Uber. And it just occurred to me, why was my mother in anUber? Why wasn’t she in a black car or a limo?”
“I have no idea. Did she say why she came?”
“She didn’t have to. I know why. The new husband is boring her, and she wants attention. She does this about every five years or so. But this time, her timing washorrible,and I was so fucking embarrassed, Drew. She was drunk, like I said, and ridiculous. Of course, your family was wonderful, as always. Did you know that your aunt Meg had a horrible mom?”
“Oh, yeah, the stories I’ve heard are crazy. My uncle Will paid that woman a quarter of a million dollars to make sure she never came back and asked for another dime. She had to sign a contract and everything.”
London blinks at me. “Wow. I wonder if that would work with my mom.”
“Is that what you want? For her to go away so you never have to deal with her again?”
“Yes, actually. I know that my father isn’t the best. I mean, he seriously thought I should be with that asshole, Felix. But you know what? He was around. He looked in on us. He didn’t just leave us with the nannies and completely forget about us for months at a time.”
“But that’s what she did.”
“Yeah, it’s like once she had kids, she thought that her responsibility to give my dad heirs was over, and she could just go do her own thing. Which is exactly what she did. Finally, he divorced her and cut his losses. He’s not the dad of the year, but he’s adad.I don’t know her. I don’twantto know her.”
“I think you need to tell her that.” I move over and squat before her, taking her hands in mine. “She’ll yell and cry and carry on, I’m sure, but then you can disassociate yourself and move on with your life,withoutyour mother interrupting every few years.”
“I’m supposed to arrange to have dinner with her this week,” she says, nodding slowly.
“Christmas is just a few days away.”
“She has great timing.” London’s voice is as dry as the Sahara. “And I’m sure that was part of her plan. Come in the middle of Christmas. I’m not giving that to her. Caleb doesn’t even know her, and I want him to have a good holiday. She gets dinner, and I’m going to tell her to get lost. But not until after Sunday. We’re going to have a fun week together, Drew.”
“Agreed. I think that sounds reasonable, and you’re right. We’re going to have fun this week. Caleb’s going to flip his shit when he finds out he gets to go to the game. He was talking about it again tonight.”
That brings a small smile to her plump lips. “Good. I talked with Brynna about the game tonight, and she understands my hesitation. She said she’d talk to your dad about it, and they’ll make sure we have extra security for the family suite. I offered to have it done, but she said that it would garner attention if I saw to it. Iftheydo it, it’s no big deal.”
“My mom’s pretty damn smart.”
“I hope this works.” She cups my face in her hands. “BecauseIwould like to go to the games and watch you work. It’s really sexy.”
“It’s sexy when I yell at professional football players?”
“Yeah, I like it when you’re bossy.”
I lean in and kiss her, pleased when she sighs against me. “How about if I get a little bossy right now?”
“Yes, please. But first,” she pushes back on my chest, “I have a Christmas present for you.”
“Thisismy present, sweetheart.”
She laughs and disappears into the closet, then returns holding a box wrapped in gold paper with a green bow.
“This is for you.”
“It’s not Christmas yet.”
“Just open it, Drew.” She sits on the side of the bed and smiles as I start to rip into the paper.
“It’s a book,” I say in surprise. But it’s not justanybook. This is a photo album with a brown leather cover embossed with a heart in the center.
And when I open it, I just about swallow my tongue.
“I made an appointment with your aunt Natalie, and she’s a freakinggenius.”
