“We’re here,” he said quietly, maybe being careful not to wake me abruptly.
I lifted my head from the window and turned to face him. “It’s gorgeous. Is this your childhood home?”
His smile was tight. “Yeah. Everything happened here. Sometimes—sometimes I wish Mom and Dad would move… but I get why they want to hold on to it as well. All our memories are here.”
I nodded, watching as different emotions from happiness to absolute devastation danced across his face. His eyes watered before he wiped at them and gripped the steering wheel, turning away from me. “Anyway, we should probably get inside. If we don’t, Mom will come out here in a minute, wondering what’s keeping us.”
As if on cue, the main door swung open and a woman who looked to be in her late fifties to early sixties stepped onto the front porch. She wore jeans and a long-sleeved shirt with an apron over it. Gray streaks highlighted her brown hair as she waved excitedly.
“It looks like she already spotted us.” Malcolm groaned as I opened the door and climbed out of the car, blasted with the chilly air. The other downside to keeping the vehicle at such a warmer temperature.
“Hello!” the woman called, making her way down the two front steps and onto the walkway to the parking strip.
Malcolm was out of the car and in front of me before she could reach me. “Mom. We would have been inside in a minute. There was no reason to meet us out here.”
She waved him off. “Nonsense. I had to come see this man you’re bringing—”
“Mom.” He cut her off, wrapping an arm around her and leading her toward the house. I looked back at the car, but the doors clicked locked and the alarm was set. Guess we’d be getting our things later. “What did I tell you about David?”
I followed behind the two of them as they kept talking as if I weren’t there.
“I know, but a mother can hope that things change.” She looked over her shoulder, giving me a huge grin. “Besides, he’s so handsome, and things sounded so promising the first time we spoke on the phone.”
Chapter 15
Malcolm
Iloved my mother. I really, really did. It was times like these that I wanted to pull her aside and beg her to just keep her mouth shut. It had taken a lot to convince her that David and I were nothing more than coworkers. She probably still didn’t believe it.
When we entered the house, I kicked off my shoes and let go of Mom to look at David. He stood awkwardly in the entryway with his hands stuffed in his pockets, looking around. “David, this is my mother, Dana. She means well, but… please give her a little grace.”
He only smiled, and that squirmy, uncomfortable feeling came flooding back to my gut. Had I been making a mistake by pushing him away? I’d never had a successful relationship. Hell, I was lucky if I saw the first date. Here was this man who was still there… visiting my family after just a few weeks.
“Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Fisher.”
She waved him off. “Oh, none of that now. Dana or Mom.” She dipped out of the space, and I rolled my eyes. A shout came from the kitchen. “Why don’t you show him the room, honey?”
“The… room?” Where he’d be staying while he was here, probably. The last time I’d been there, Marcus’s room was still untouched. A shrine to what we’d all lost. There was no way she’d have him staying in there. That meant he would stay with me, and I cursed under my breath. Maybe she hadn’t disappointed me, and there would be an air mattress or something set up for David.
I shrugged and motioned for David to follow me. Heat rose along my neck as I led him up the stairs to where my brother’s and my rooms had been. As suspected, Marcus’s door was shut while mine was wide open. Any hope I had that my mother hadn’t pulled any shenanigans died the second I walked into the room. One bed. One queen-sized bed graced the middle of the room, covered in blue flannel sheets and a thick comforter. The walls still housed all the posters of various sports stars I’d hung when I was in high school.
Mom and Dad had never judged my sexuality. They understood I liked who I liked, no matter their gender. Or maybe they just hadn’t wanted to be dicks and lose the only kid they had left. Either way, it was comfortable being at home. I never felt out of place.
“This looks nice…” David trailed off as he looked around my room. Maybe it was stupid that it still looked like a teenager’s room, being in my thirties, but my parents were sentimental people. We were here for a week, and it would probably feel more comfortable if the room were a bit more grown-up. Oh well.
“It served its purpose at one point,” I sighed as I turned to lead him back out to retrieve our things from the car.
He chuckled, following close behind as we walked down the stairs and out the front door. “Oh yeah? You ever gotten into any kind of trouble in that room?”
I turned and raised an eyebrow at him. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
We both laughed before I opened the trunk and started pulling bags out. I frowned when I looked at David’s and then at mine. His bore a designer logo. I’d never had anything flashy in my life outside of my car. I hadn’t been kidding when I’d said that I’d splurged a little to buy it.
“Is everything okay?”
A hand landed on my shoulder, snapping me from my thoughts and making me jump.
“It’s great. Sorry, let’s just get this stuff inside and then see what my mom’s up to in the kitchen. She only brings out the aprons when she’s doing something big. Knowing her, she’s trying to impress you.”
