Page 135 of The Puck Stops Here
‘That’s not what I?—’
‘Oh, I know that’s not what you meant, dear, but it’s how I feel. I don’t deserve it. And I wouldn’t have it, if not for them. They’re?—’
The door opened and Blake poked his head in. ‘Everything okay in here?’
They both smiled, though she sensed hers was tighter than his mother’s. ‘Of course, darling. Astrid and I are enjoying a private catch up, woman to woman. Aren’t we?’
Cynthia sent her a conspiratorial wink that instantly calmed her. So, she hadn’t fucked up… not yet anyway.
‘Everything okay with your call?’ Astrid asked.
‘Everything’s great, but I’m going to have to go.’
‘What?’
‘You are?’ Cynthia said, clearly disappointed but nowhere near as disappointed as Astrid felt.
‘Afraid so. I have an appointment.’
‘On a Sunday afternoon?’ his mother asked.
Astrid’s thoughts exactly.
‘A property’s come up that I want to take a look at and I’m away most of this week.’ He looked to Astrid. ‘Aiden’s lined up to run you home.’
‘That’s not necessary.’
‘We insist.’
But a property? Was he moving out? Had she pushed him into that with her whole co-dependency talk? Oh, God, maybe she should have kept her mouth shut. There was change and then there was a complete upheaval!
Could she really be the spark behind something so huge? She’d only been here a few weeks. And hell, she wasn’t even going to be around come next month.
She tried to smile as he strode into the room. He’d swapped the garish sweater for his trademark black and though it fitted his muscular frame to perfection, she found she missed the light-hearted reindeer.
‘I’ll see you soon, Mom. Thanks for a lovely dinner as always.’ He kissed her cheek, straightened back up and then hesitated. She could almost sense his silent ‘fuck it’ as he came up to her.
‘I’ll seeyoulater.’
Her heart leapt and she nodded, accepting his peck to her cheek with all good grace and watching him go like an addict, wondering when her next fix would come and wanting it now.
The door clicked shut and his mother gave a soft laugh. ‘Well, well, well, I never thought I’d see the day.’
Astrid pulsed out a high-pitched, ‘Hmm?’
She wished her coffee was something stronger. Much, much stronger.
‘When Aiden told me you’d been good for Blake, I didn’t believe it. That boy has been the same since he was knee-high to a grasshopper, but his brother is right, you’ve got him growing into the man he was always supposed to be.’
She gripped her coffee cup in both hands to keep it steady. ‘I think only Blake could truly do that for himself.’
Cynthia smiled, her intense blue gaze so like her sons’.
‘Perhaps. Though there’s no denying the shift in his behaviour since you came on the scene. He’s out of the penalty box more and more, he’s calmer, he’s drinking less.’
Astrid smiled. ‘It’s lovely that you think I had a hand in it, but it was all him.’
‘You shouldn’t be so modest, especially when it’s clear that my son likes you. A lot. And I’m hoping the feeling might be mutual?’
