“Yeah. I’ll talk him through it at the gym now too. I’m meeting him in half an hour.”
“He told me,” I said. “I wish we would just tell him about us. I hate sneaking around like this.”
“We’ll talk to him,” Parker promised. “I hate hiding this from him too. Let’s get your mom’s thing out of the way, and then we’ll deal with Ryan. One thing at a time.”
I agreed with him. It was better to do it that way. Ryan wasn’t going to be happy with us, that much was sure. But, maybe, it wouldn’t be so bad—maybe, he would be okay with it once he got used to the idea. Parker and I had been going strong for almost a month now. It wasn’t just a fling—we were getting serious about each other.
“How are things going for Mrs. Collier?” Parker asked.
“Better than I expected,” I said. “We’re wrapping up soon, and then we can start on your place.”
Parker had insisted that I take care of Mrs. Collier—someone he didn’t end up knowing, but I didn’t need him to intervene after I pitched my idea to her successfully—and I would do his apartment once her project was wrapped up.
I appreciated how much he supported me.
“I have to go,” Parker said. “But I’ll see you soon.”
“Have fun,” I said.
We ended the call, and I smiled. Things were going to work out yet. We just had to get through lunch with my mom and Ryan, and then a meeting with my brother about our relationship
And then everything would be fine.
The next day, I stopped in front of Oregano and took a moment in the car to pull myself together. My stomach twisted with nerves. My mom could be great if she wanted to be, but I worried that she was going to make life hard for Ryan since he hadn’t visited her for so long.
But this wasn’t my problem. I took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. I wasn’t the one who hadn’t spent time with her. I wasn’t the one who’d refused to talk to her. It was all on Ryan, and he was a big boy. He could deal with whatever came his way because of his actions.
That was how life worked.
God, I wished Parker could join us for a bit of support. But until Ryan knew about the two of us, I had to figure this out on my own. My mom had asked over and over when she would get to meet Parker, but again, until Ryan knew ...
When I walked into the café, Mom waved at me from a booth in the back. She sat alone—Ryan wasn’t here yet.
I smiled and walked to her.
“I thought you and your brother would come together,” Mom said when she hugged me.
“We have separate jobs and separate lives, Mom. He’s probably running a little late.”
“You think so?”
I nodded. Ihopedso. The last thing I needed right now was for Ryan to skip out on this lunch, and I had to deal with the fallout.
But a moment later, Ryan walked in and looked around until he spotted us. He didn’t smile when he walked toward us. Mom stood up, holding out her arms with a grin on her face like he was the prodigal son returned.
“Oh, it’s so good to see you!” she said, hugging Ryan. He only patted her on the back with one arm. It wasn’t hard to see he wasn’t all for the display of affection.
“Hi, Mom,” he said.
“Sit, sit,” Mom said, and I shuffled deeper into the booth so that Ryan could sit down next to me. “How are you? Oh, look at you, both my kids together again.” She lifted her phone to snap a photo. Ryan grimaced. I smiled.
“We’vebeen together all this time, Mom,” Ryan pointed out when she lowered the camera. “Just not aroundyou.”
Mom waved her hand. “You know what I mean.”
Ryan only glanced at me.
A server arrived and took an order for drinks. Coffees all around—things were nice and simple so far.