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“One of the men,” I tell her.
“Oh, really?” Thoughts of my brother Jonathan are probably swirling in her head. Which means she is wondering if I’m gay, too. She finally asks, “Is he cute?”
Letting her off the hook, I tell her, “I’m not gay, Mom.”
Sitting down on the side of my bed, she says, “Not that I would care if you were. But honestly with all the travelling they do, I don’t think your brother and Jacob are going to get down to business and make me a grandmother. You might be my only hope.” She pats my hand. “And that might be easier if you didn’t need to find a surrogate. Now, who’s this guy you’re going out with today?”
“He’s the new eighth-grade science teacher at the middle school.”
“I thought Steve Marks had that job.” You have to love life in a small town. Everybody knows everything.
I sit up in bed and scoot back so I’m leaning against my headboard. “Paige said he had some elective surgery that went horribly wrong.”
Passing right over Steve’s surgery, she asks, “Paige Holland? Where did you see her?” My mom has an almost predatory look in her eyes.
“I ran into her at the country club last week.” No good cancome from my telling her that we’ve seen each other more often than that.
“You should ask her out.”
It’s time to dash her hopes. “We’re just friends, Mom. In fact, she’s on the show too. We’re going to help each other find someone.”
She releases an impressive sigh. “I suppose that’s good. I trust Paige’s judgment over yours.”
“Ouch.”
“No, no, no, I just mean that …” She seems to realize I know what she meant. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t nice. All I meant is that sometimes women have better instincts. We’re not all about the boobs and shiny hair.”
“Mom!”
She stands up. “Oh, get over yourself. You men are so easily distracted by looks that you often miss the more important qualities.”
“Is that why you think I wound up with Eva?” I ask, still stinging from her assessment.
“Isn’t it?”
“Initially, maybe. But Eva had a lot of other good qualities.” I’m not so much standing up for her as I am for myself.
“Like faithfulness?”
“Okay. You win. I’m a shallow pig of a man with no sense. Are you happy now?”
She looks at me lovingly. “You are a wonderful man who deserves the best, but like the rest of your sex, you’re often waylaid by a pretty face. As such, I welcome Paige’s input in who you date next.”
Chip is waiting in the lobby as soon as I get to the country club. “I’m sorry I’m running a few minutes late,” I tell him.
He shakes my hand. “No worries, I just got here.”
After giving our coats to coat check, we walk into the dining room. “I would have suggested eating somewhere else, but we have the best Crab Benedict in the free world.” I lead the way to the table I reserved for us.
“That sounds delicious.”
Once we’re seated, I ask, “So, what do you think of Elk Lake?”
“Aside from the frigid temperatures, it’s nice.”
“I was in Los Angeles for over a decade,” I tell him. “I was so sick of beautiful weather it was starting to make me depressed.”
Chip laughs. “I guess the grass is always greener, huh?”
