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9
“Grandma!” Archie shouted, the moment Phyllis Sterling appeared in the living room.
Willow followed behind him, and Ethan watched as his mother bee-lined through the area to give his kids a hug.
Asking her to come for Mother’s Day brunch had worked. She’d be in town for a couple of days, but that was all he could handle anyway.
Having his mother over meant he probably had way less time to be with Poppy at night. If any.
She had worked now for a month, and his foolish infatuation for her only grew to become a sentiment he preferred not to address out loud—or in his mind, as a matter of fact. She’d taken a weekend off to attend her cousin Kira’s wedding party in Texas, and he thought the frustration of not seeing her would eat him up inside. Whenever those impulses assailed him, he redirected his mind, and remembered to enjoy the moment. Though how hard was it, when the moment was so good you didn’t want to let go?
“Hi, my loves,” his mother said, with an affectionate tone in her voice that she saved for the children. For everyone else, her tone was a lot drier and more incisive. “Grandma bought some gift cards for those online games you enjoy.”
“Yay,” Archie said, jumping up and down. “Dad, can I stay up until late today?”
“Sure,” he said, though he knew what Archie really wanted was to play on his tablet with the gift card his grandma had given. Still, he’d probably do it by her side, which in modern times meant quality time.
Poppy joined them in the living room, quietly waving to his mom. “Hi,” she said, her tone demure and so unlike her. “I’m Poppy, the nanny,” she said, erasing the gap between them and stretching out her hand.
His mother took a step back, her eyes traveling up and down Poppy’s figure, and a beat later, accepted her hand and offered her a small smile. “Phyllis Sterling. Nice to meet you.”
“It’s my pleasure. The kids were so looking forward for your visit.”
“So was I,” she said. “I’d visit more often, but of course Ethan never calls. He also lives in New York, not my favorite place.”
Ah.It started. He bit back a smile, and exchanged a glance with Poppy.
His father was a long-suffering man, bless him. His mother was a brilliant, retired attorney who should have done some consultancy services instead, since she had too much time on her hands.
“I helped Miss Poppy make dinner,” Willow said.
“You did, didn’t you?” Phyllis said. “I can’t wait to hear all about Poppy,” she added, with a spark of interest in her eyes.
Later, he sat across from his mother in the living area.
Poppy had gone upstairs to make sure the kids went to bed, even if that meant letting Archie hang out with his iPad for a bit longer as per agreed upon.
Ethan took a sip of his mother’s favorite dessert wine. “Thank you for coming, Mom,” he said.
She put her phone aside, which she’d been using to take a look at the weather app, and lifted her glass. “I would come more often, you know.”
“I know,” he said. “And I appreciate that,” he added, opting to leave out that as much as he enjoyed her visit, she couldn’t really come for longer stretches of time and drive him crazy. His mother was smart, quick witted, but a full week or more with Archie would destroy her. She no longer had the energy she once did, as much as she would deny that until her last breath.
“Tell me more about your nanny,” she said, and he could taste the bitterness in her words.
He glanced at the red contents in his small glass. “She’s doing this temporarily, and is great help.”
His mother scooted to the edge of the sofa, her head tilting to the side. “Why temporarily?”
Oh, fuck. Despite his best intentions, his mother must have noticed something was going on between he and Poppy. Knowing her, she wouldn’t stop probing and poking until she heard the truth. “Because she has other aspirations. She’s helping me out while her podcast business takes off,” he gave her the short version. He wouldn’t go in great detail about his plan to open his firm just yet. His mother would see it as a great opportunity to try and convince him to move back to Colorado, and he wasn’t having that discussion again.
Phyllis narrowed her eyes, not buying the short version. “Doesn’t make sense to hire someone so the kids fall in love with her then let her go. Unless…” She tapped her manicured fingers on her chin, looking up at the ceiling. Her gaze darted to him. “You’re not falling for her also, right?”
His blood chilled, and it was like he was a teenage boy getting caught with a very inappropriate magazine. “What? No,” he said, wishing he believed his words. “Where did you get that from?” he asked, his voice not convincing even himself.
His mother reached for her wine and took a slow slip, basking in being right no doubt. “She had dinner with us. And you two barely looked at each other.”
“There you go.”
