The last thing I needed was my mother bumbling into this more, even if we were on the same side at this point. First, I needed to figure out where my mother was coming from before I could get her off my back.
“What about Emily?” I said, keeping my tone neutral. No reason to make my mother angry. The last thing I needed was another woman in my life upset with me.
“Are you still seeing her?”
“I haven’t gone blind last time I checked.”
Sometimes it’s hard to resist a little sass.
“Oh, don’t be that way, Logan. I wanted to make sure you’re going to see her again.”
“You mean her mother isn’t telling you everything?”
“Emily doesn’t always tell her mother everything, so I don’t know everything.”
I snickered and tucked that little tidbit away. I didn’t know if it’d be useful, but it was good to know.
The light turned red, and I brought my car to a stop. At least it wasn’t raining today.
“Mother, I can’t have you calling me every day asking me about Emily.”
“This is my one chance for six months, Logan. Of course, I’m going to make sure you don’t mess it up.”
My hands tightened around the steering wheel. I loved my mother, and, yeah, maybe some might even say I could be a bit of mama’s boy, but this was getting out of hand.
“Just because I’m not married,” I said through gritted teeth, “doesn’t mean I don’t know how to date women. This isn’t the first woman I’ve gone out with.”
“No, it’s not, but you’ve never gotten serious, and it’s been a while since you’ve even done much dating.”
“I’ve been busy running a Fortune 500 company and keeping our economy going.”
The light turned green, and I accelerated down the street.
Another long sigh from my mother followed. “I want grandchildren before I’m too old to enjoy them.”
I muttered under my breath. No point in fighting her when she was getting what she wanted anyway.
“I’m on my way to see Emily now. Her daughter is having a performance at her school, and I was invited.”
I could practically see my mother’s smile over the phone when she spoke. “Oh, that’s wonderful then. I’ll leave you to it. Have a good day, Logan. I love you.”
“I love you, too, Mother.”
She hung up, and I shook my head. Things had changed. Yes, I’d gone on the first date because my mother had badgered me, but after the fundraiser dinner, I couldn’t get Emily out of my mind.
* * *
After parking in the crowded lot and maneuvering through the jostling crowds, I finally spotted Emily in the auditorium, sitting in a gray metal chair near the back. Her shoulders were slumped, and her face was filled with defeat.
Her body language confused me. She was about to see her cute little daughter sing a song, and she looked like she’d swallowed ten crickets. Why would she be so upset?
My stomach tightened. I hoped she wasn’t upset because she had to spend time with me. I wasn’t going to make any assumptions right away, especially ones that put me at the center of the problem. It might have only been a few dates and a couple of hot kisses, but I wasn’t prepared to give her up, not yet, not without a fight.
I made my way through the crowd and dropped into an empty seat beside her. It took Emily several seconds to even notice I’d arrived.
“Oh, hi, Logan,” she said, barely looking my way. She sighed.
“Something wrong?”