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“I hope neither of you ever have to go through anything like that again,” he said.
They continued walking, and after about a minute, his mom slowed a little. “Was there more?”
“Yeah. He, uh, got engaged.”
She didn’t respond with excitement, and he looked over at her. She regarded him in that knowing way moms do. “Why does that upset you?”
“It doesn’t. I think it’s great.”
“I know when my own son is blowing smoke up my ass.” She pursed her lips.
“Mom.” Logan did a double take. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to her referring to him as her son so casually, so naturally. But more so, he rarely heard her say a curse word.
“Something’s bothering you. What is it?”
He angled his head away, his gaze drifting along the houses and parked cars they passed. He never talked to his mom about women. But Jeni wasn’t just any woman, was she? She was the only one he’d brought home to meet his mother. The only one who took a dive into his heart and never came up for air. She’d jumped off the deep end to take a chance with him, that’s for sure. He’d never find anyone like her. And yet, she wasn’t willing to share herself with him completely.
“Jeni never wants to get married.”
His mom was quiet for a moment. “Why not?”
“She was married once before. Didn’t go so well. I think she’s kind of lost faith in the whole idea.”
“That’s understandable.”
“I know.” He let his hand drift over a mailbox as they walked. “Why did you agree to marry Dad?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” A smile was in her voice. “I was head over heels for that man and jumped at the chance to be his wife. I didn’t hesitate even for a second.”
“You didn’t worry about losing yourself? Or that by marrying him you might be limiting things, like your career or interests?”
She balked like the thought had never occurred to her. “No, never. We were a team, and we approached every decision as a team. He’d never have stifled me like that.”
“Jeni’s first husband did. He was selfish and forced her to live a life she hated.”
“That’s terrible.”
“It is. It makes me want to track him down and—” He glanced over at his mom, and she tilted her face up with brows raised. “Uh, it just makes me really mad. I hate that she was so unhappy, but even more, I hate that she thinks marriage to anyone will be the same.”
“Do you want to get married? I’ve never heard you mention it before.”
They rounded the corner that took them back down his mother’s street.
“Yeah, I do. But I’d never had a specific woman in mind before I met Jeni. And now I’ve fallen in love with her and realized she’s my one. You and Dad were the model relationship, and your marriage was so solid. I guess I always figured I’d want that someday, and that day came when I found her. I want to share everything with her, like you and Dad did.” His parents were the only people he’d known who’d demonstrated the meaning of true love. “People have come and gone a lot in my life—and gone more often than they stayed. I don’t want that kind of relationship anymore, and I want that security, I guess. It feels like taking that step strengthens the bond between two people, and I think I need that commitment.”
“With the life you’ve lived, that’s understandable. More, you deserve that.”
“Maybe. But I just want to be with her so much. I don’t want to lose her. Even if it means never getting married.”
“Have you talked to her about it?”
“Several times. I told her I’d never do what her ex-husband did and that it could be totally different with someone else. With me.” His shoulders slumped, like a hundred-pound weight had settled there. “I’ve tried to understand her perspective, and it’s not all that uncommon for people to not get married nowadays. Even though I want it, it’s a lot, I guess. To ask her to go back on a promise she’d made herself and retry something that made her so miserable the first time.”
“The hell it is,” his mom snapped, and Logan jerked his head around to look at her.
“What’s with you tonight?” First ass, and now hell?
Suddenly, she was no longer beside him, and he stopped, realizing they were back at her house. She stood stiffly on the sidewalk, her chin trembling.
