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"You must be Chase," she said, inspecting him critically from head to toe.
"And you are?"
She put up a hand, a truckload of silver bracelets racking her wrist, then stepped forward and grabbed his hand, pushing her way inside and staring intensely at his palm. Tessa poked her head out of the kitchen and sighed, shaking her head.
"Angel?" he said, helpless.
"I see you've met Mom."
He glanced sideways at the woman. "Not exactly."
Tessa's mother was oblivious to the conversation and Tessa's look begged him to have patience. Some of her family were apparently a little outside of the loop.
Chase studied the woman. Tessa had her features, soft, angelically smooth, but her mother's hair was red, flame red and wild with curls. Her slender body was clothed in silks with an uneven, tattered look in shades of blue and purple. A ring circled every finger, and Chase resisted the urge to inspect her toes.
"Mom?"
Celeste looked up after a moment and smiled. She patted his hand and Chase took it back, shoving both hands into the pockets of his cutoffs and wishing he were dressed a little better.
"Tessa, darling, look at you," her mother crooned dramatically, grasping her hands and stretching her arms wide to get a decent look at her nearly eight-month tummy. Bracelets jangled and a huge tapestry handbag swung from her arm. Her mom's eyes teared. "Oh, you're just … just—"
"Pleasingly plump?" Tessa ventured when she thought her mother would cry.
Celeste laughed, a soft husky sound, and Chase knew where he'd heard it before: from Tessa, in bed.
Tessa closed her arms around her mother, savoring the warm hug, and winked at Chase over her shoulder. Celeste Lightfoot was a tiny thing.
"We were just about to have lunch."
"No red meat, I hope. Nitrates, you know."
Chase flung his arm around Tessa, pressing his lips to her temple to smother a snicker. If Celeste only knew how Tessa had devoured an inch-thick T-bone steak last night, she'd be horrified.
"Grilled chicken. Come on." She grabbed her mother's hand and the two women headed toward the kitchen.
"Chase," Tessa called when he wasn't right behind her. She popped her head out of the kitchen, motioning wildly for him to join them, looking almost panicked.
Chase gestured to the door, inching toward it. "Ahh, I have a couple errands—"
Tessa moved across the floor with more speed than he thought possible. "Do I have to bribe you?"
He swept one arm around her, settling his hand familiarly on the curve of her bottom. "What did you have in mind?" His brows wiggled, his hand squeezing.
"Chase!" she hissed, giving him a shove, aware of exactly where his mind was right then.
Her blush made him chuckle softly.
Tessa gave a furtive glance toward the kitchen. "She'll be inventorying my cupboards and tossing anything that isn't organically grown out the window, you'll see."
"Not my peanut butter cookies!" he said in mock horror.
She ribbed him. "If you hurry you might save them from total annihilation."
Urging her toward the kitchen, Chase inhaled deeply, mentally preparing himself for an afternoon with a woman he hoped would soon be his mother-in-law.
Two hours later, Chase and Celeste were relaxing on the back porch, drinking some horrific tea Celeste had prepared herself. She'd pumped him full of herbs, insisting he consumed too many nitrates, and that the tea should purify his system. Chase, not wanting to offend her, took them only after Tessa discreetly assured him he would not turn into a mutant. He smacked his lips, tasting grass and feeling like a well-grazed cow.
Tessa napped inside and Chase wanted to join her. Celeste Lightfoot was tiring on a man and he felt a pang of sympathy for Tessa's father, Walter. He'd probably died from Celeste exposure. She chatted nonstop, couldn't seem to be still, and her bracelets jangled with every gesture. But Chase liked her. She had a special energy, a oneness with the universe, as she chose to see it. And she loved her daughters.
"You're sleeping together, aren't you?"
He'd grown accustomed to her bluntness in the past hour or so. Chase nodded.
"Good."
His brows shot up. Hardly the reaction he'd expected.
"Tessa needs to feel like a woman right now. I know from experience that the bigger you get, the less attractive you feel, and you just want it over with."
"I think she's beautiful. I love her."
She reached out and patted his hand. "I know, Chase, honey. I know. And you've been patient, but it'll take a lot more to handle my Tessa."
His forehead wrinkled. "I don't want to handle her, Celeste."
Celeste scoffed, finished off her tea, then threw her legs over the side of the chaise lounge chair. She stared across the small separation at Chase. "I didn't want her to get pregnant that way. Nothing anyone could say would change her mind. She's stubborn."
