Mom came in to talk while the potatoes baked, and she looked as thrilled as Dad about this situation.
I could only think about how badly I wanted to kiss Rebecca again. Hell, I wanted more. My body was still reacting to what happened between us. I shifted in my seat, and Mom glanced at me. I leaned back. Rebecca laughed and looked sideways at me.
Fuck me. I was worse than a teenager right now.
Mom stood up to finish dinner after about forty-five minutes, by which time I was both aroused and starving. Rebecca went in to help her finish and set the table. I listened to them laughing together. I shook my head with a chuckle.
Dad gave me a smile. “I’ve missed this sound,” he told me.
I nodded in agreement, feeling painfully sentimental. Nothing in New York felt like this.
They called us to the table. Dad sat down and stared at the thick ribeye steak on his plate. “Did you buy these, Sally?”
“I asked Austin to grab them for me. I didn’t specify the cuts I wanted, but he took the liberty of buying these.” She reached over to grab my arm for a moment. Rebecca smiled at us. “Thank you, son. It was a pleasure to cook these for you tonight, as well as you.” She glanced at Rebecca and seemed to be on the verge of getting emotional for a moment.
I took that moment to cut into my steak, giving Mom some privacy. She was so happy tonight, and I hated all the sentimental shit I was feeling for a second before I looked around the table. I appreciated all this right now.
“Has there been any news about the library?” Mom asked Rebecca kindly.
Rebecca’s face fell. “It doesn’t look good. Kim’s talking about moving a few hours away to work at another library.” Rebecca shook her head sadly, and I wanted to jump across the table and pull her into my arms. “I can’t believe it.”
“The factory closing was a bad thing for the town,” Dad said sadly. “It shifted everything around, and folks started moving.”
“I know,” Rebecca said. “Kim told me all of this, but I still don’t want to believe it.” Rebecca looked like she was going to cry now, making me realize that all her family would be gone. She’d be alone.
I knew a lot about business living in New York, and what they were discussing wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Creative economic destruction did as much good as it did bad, but I knew that tonight would not be a good time to point that out. This wasn’t New York, and it was affecting a town that was near and dear to my heart. It was affecting Rebecca. I chose to remain quiet and not sound like an insensitive asshole.
I also realized that New York was far bigger than North Reed and perhaps some of the damage was harder to see.
I didn’t feel like the guy who lived in New York tonight. I felt like I was the kid in elementary school who loved his small town and his extended family here. That boy was reacting to people having to move away from a place that they loved due to the economy. He felt sad.
I took a bite of steak and chewed it slowly as I thought back to my childhood.
I’d been happy growing up, and I learned a lot from my parents. Mom taught me the true meaning of compassion, and Dad showed me what it was to work hard every day for his family. Despite our differences, I was the man that I was today because of both of them. I might be cold in business, but that was the way it worked sometimes. The people who were close to me knew I would do anything for them, though those were hard to find if I looked closely at my life right now.
Out of all the people in the city, Preston made that list, and here he was, working his ass off at a hotel across town for me. This deal took a lot more time than I ever thought it would. I felt kind of bad for Preston and had shut off work since I left to get Rebecca a few hours ago. My phone was in the car, more than likely dying.
“Austin, are you with us?” Mom asked.
I blinked and returned my attention to the table.
“Yeah. I was just thinking back to being a kid here. It is all because of both of you that I made it.” I looked at her for a long moment and then Dad. “I’m the man I am today because of you. Thank you.”
“Oh, honey,” Mom said as tears slid down her cheeks. “Here I miss you so much, and you tell me something like that.” She wiped a tear from her eye.
She came over to hug me, and Rebecca smiled tenderly at us. I held Mom tight as she clung to me, giving into her emotions.
I was turning into a girl tonight. I appreciated when Dad merely cleared his throat and told me how proud he was of me.
We finished the meal, and Mom poured coffee for her and Dad. Rebecca filled our glasses with some tea. A freshly baked apple pie rested in the kitchen, but we’d wait for that.
We settled in the living room to keep talking. Rebecca told Mom some of the salon gossip, rolling her gorgeous eyes at some of the more outlandish rumors. For a small town, news traveled like wildfire. I knew people would already be talking about seeing us at the store together. And if word got out that Rebecca was here, I was sure there would be marriage rumors. Second chance romance was big with women, and I couldn’t see the ones who lived here passing up on that.
It was going to be an interesting few weeks.
We ended up watching some of the local news together and enjoying dessert. The night felt so right, and it seemed like time flew by. I hadn’t relaxed like this in a long time, even though I could feel the current of electricity buzzing between Rebecca and me. I enjoyed it since there was nothing like this with the other women I’d been with over the years.
The initial thrill of beautiful women wanting me faded quickly once I realized they were after my money and connections, making me just use them for casual sex. That’s what they did with me most of the time, though women like Mia got their claws in and wanted me to give them everything. They still didn’t know the real me.