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Avalynn’s mouth hung open to form a wide oval. So she reallywasdealing with a Southern momma who wore curlers to bed and got her mail in her bathrobe. She tried to picture an older female version of Julius and failed.
He issued a low sound of complaint, which his mother took as an invitation to go on.
“I couldn’t even drink my coffee on the porch with all those reporters fromTMZmilling around. It wasnota good start to my day, Julius!”
“Sorry to hear that, Momma.”
“Do you have any idea what your father is doing right now? He’s working on settingcement.” She said the word with the emphasis on the first syllable, so it came out as CE-ment.
“What in the world is he doing with cement?” Julius said it the same way, which made Avalynn shake with silent laughter.
He flashed a grin and grabbed her hand with her new engagement ring, squeezing it.
“He’s putting up a privacy fence! Thirty years here, first time we’ve ever needed a fence. We’re in the middle of nowhere. What do we need privacy from? Cows?”
He gave Avalynn a look of apology for his mother’s rant.
She flicked her fingers at Julius.Let me talk to her, she mouthed.
He gaped at her for what felt like a full minute while his mother continued to rail about paparazzi, how they surely got photos of her looking like the back end of one of those neighbor’s cows and the hard work his poor father was putting in mixing the ce-ment.
“Momma, I’m putting Avalynn on the line.”
“Ava—Oh my stars!”
Avalynn grinned at the expression and focused on the woman on the line. A woman who would temporarily be her mother-in-law.
“Hi, Mrs. Abel. This is Avalynn Ray.”
“Thecountry music star?”
“Yes, ma’am.” She and Julius exchanged a grin. Why did it feel like they were two kids making prank phone calls?
He continued to hold her hand, occasionally sweeping his callused thumb over her knuckle. Her body liked that a little too much. It was too easy to remember just how that hand felt on her breasts…and between her thighs.
Shaking herself, she said, “I’m awful sorry about the paparazzi, ma’am.”
“No need to call me ma’am! You just call me Laurel. So…the rumors are true? You and my son…?”
She sobered, staring down at her hand clasped in his. Her fiancé.
“The rumors are true, Laurel.”
“Well! When was that little shit son of mine gonna tell his momma that he fell in love and done got engaged?”
Julius dropped his face into his palm, and Avalynn’s laugh bubbled out. “It all happened really quickly.”
He lifted his head and fixed her in a stare that sent shivers low.
“Oh! A reporter is speaking to Julius’s father now.”
“Crap.” He took over the call. “Momma, tell Dad to get inside and not to say a word to anybody. I’m real sorry for the trouble.”
She barked out a laugh. “Who do you think you’re talking to, Julius? I’ve been putting up with you and your brothers’ antics since birth!”
“It will blow over soon, I promise,” he assured her in the same calm voice that had soothed Avalynn more than once.
His momma drew in a big, noisy breath as though gearing up for a tirade. “Since that sweet young girl is off the phone now, I can give you a proper tongue lashing. I am so embarrassed! Why didn’t you tell me she was sitting right there?”
