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“Well, you do know that your girls are upset with you. They feel that, as your daughters, they should have known that their mom was on the verge of getting married.”
Beside him, Pam stiffened. If there was one thing that meant more to her than anything in the world, it was her daughters.
Mark tried not to allow his fingers to curl into a fist. It angered him that her mom seemed to take great delight in coming between Pam and her daughters. Especially now that both of the girls were out of the house. It was almost as though her mom saw their affection as competition, and her mom wanted to win.
It was hard to believe that a mother could be like that with her daughter, but Lynn was not exactly a normal mother.
Or maybe she was. Maybe she just wasn’t a good mother.
He supposed there were a lot of people who had a tendency toward selfishness over kindness and love. Mothers weren’t immune from that.
It was one of the reasons why he really admired Pam. She had seen how her mother was and had determined that she would be different, even if it meant loving her mother when her mother did things that hurt her.
“I was out helping Mark today, and I didn’t have a chance to talk to them.”
He felt bad that he had been the reason she hadn’t talked to her girls. But she probably needed a little bit of time to figure out what to say to them anyway.
“Pam and I wanted to get cleaned up before we ran to the diner, but you’re probably hungry.”
“I am. And I don’t like to eat too late. Going to sleep with a full stomach gives me heartburn all night long.”
He looked down at Pam, with his brows raised, asking her if she would be okay if they didn’t shower.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll run in and change my clothes. I’ll wait to take a shower until we get back from the diner.”
“That’s fine.” He smiled. Then he tacked on, “Sweetheart.”
Humor lit her eyes, as she saw what he did. He was glad she approved.
They shared a little bit of laughter between them without laughing at all before she ran off to change.
Leaving him with her mother.
“So tell me what’s really up.” Lynn didn’t waste any time.
“Well, we were planting trees today, and it’s hard to find good workers, so I married Pam just so she’d be around all the time whenever I need someone to help me.”
Her mother snorted. “Like I’m going to believe that.”
“Well, you don’t seem to believe that I married her because I wanted to. Which is the truth.” It really was the truth. He was more than willing to marry her. It had been a shock at first, but it seemed like something that was natural. In fact, when he had been talking about a honeymoon earlier, he actually thought that... Maybe he’d like to go on one. He wouldn’t mind at all spending time with Pam. In fact, if he had to choose one person in all the world to spend time with, it would be her.
“I know that you guys were friends, maybe better friends than what I would like to see you be. She needs to get out with people her own age, women. Anyway, what happened? Did you guys just look at each other and decide that you like each other like lovers instead of friends?”
“Yeah.” He didn’t elaborate. That’s exactly the way it happened. Only, they were married before he had looked at her and decided that...maybe he liked her for a lover rather than a friend. Or both. Definitely both.
“And when did that happen?”
Just a few minutes ago, but he could hardly say that. Before he was able to figure out if he could say anything that wouldn’t give away their ruse, another car pulled in the driveway. It barely fit, but it didn’t need to.
He recognized his sister’s car immediately.
Paulette jumped out, almost before the motor shut off, and went running to him.
“Mark Gregory Shields.” Her hands perched on her hips as she walked closer, and she gave him the look that only a sister who thought that her brother should be in the deepest, darkest amount of trouble possible could give. “What have you done?”
“Well, I planted trees today,” he began. Only to have Lynn interrupt him.
“That’s what he was telling me too. Some song and dance about planting trees. Like I wasn’t here because they got married. I suppose that’s why you’re here too.”
