“I smell food.” Collin heads right for the kitchen. I have everything in the oven on the lowest heat possible to keep things warm, but not let it dry out.
“I guess that’s our cue he’s not going to let us sit and talk for a while,” Mrs. Hutchinson says wryly. “Daisy, honey, let me introduce you to Thomas Peters. Tom, this is Jonathan’s girlfriend, Daisy.”
Hutch’s head whips around to see if I’m going to correct his mother. I’m not. I gave it a lot of thought last night and I came to the conclusion that if everyone already thinks I’m his girlfriend, there’s no use in denying it. He thinks of me as his and if I keep pushing, I’m doing the one thing he asked me not to do—to shut him out. And I feel like his girlfriend. There’s no denying that. I care very deeply for him despite knowing better. His persistence won out over my stubbornness.
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you. I hope the boys didn’t grill you too harshly yesterday.”
“Nothing I wasn’t expecting.” He shakes my hand and has a nice smile. I hope he turns out as nice as he appears to be. I highly doubt Hutch’s mother would put up with shit from any man. She raised her son right, which means she knows how she herself wants to be treated.
Hutch comes over and slides an arm around me, pulling me close. “Thanks for the early dinner. We’re gonna hit the gym right after to burn off all this fried food ahead of tomorrow’s practice.”
“You still think you’re going to get to play tomorrow?”
He nods. “I’m the glass half full kind of guy.”
“My money is on mostly paperwork tomorrow,” his mother says as she wanders toward the kitchen. “Collin, close that oven door. You’ll let the food get cold!”
“Yes, ma’am.” He lets the door slam shut and Kathleen cringes.
“I swear he has manners.”
“It’s fine. There’s nothing in there that’ll fall from the vibration.”
“What’s for dessert?” Collin goes snooping in the fridge.
“Blackberry cobbler.”
“Ohhh, cobbler. I love cobbler.”
“Let me start transferring food to the serving bowls and we’ll eat so Collin doesn’t pass out from hunger.”
“Bestie looking out for her bro.”
“You okay?” Hutch whispers into my ear.
“Yes. Much better today than yesterday.”
“You didn’t correct, Mom.”
“No, I didn’t.” I detach myself and go into the kitchen, leaving him frowning after me.
It doesn’t take long to get the food into serving dishes and onto the dining table. Thomas brought wine, but Collin, Hutch, and myself stick to water. Kathleen doesn’t drink anything either, stating she’ll drive home if Thomas wants a glass of wine with supper.
“You two excited for tomorrow?” Thomas asks once we’re seated and eating.
“Yeah. It’s surreal. I wish Uncle Dallas was here to see it. All the hard work he did to help me alongside of Mom finally paid off.”
“Your uncle would be very proud of you,” Kathleen says, a fond smile gracing her lips. “That man swore up and down you’d land on the home team and he was right.”
“Daisy, the boys were right about your cooking.” Thomas picks up another piece of fried chicken to add to his plate. “This is delicious.”
“It’s my nana’s recipe. The trick is always to soak it overnight in spiced buttermilk.”
“Buttermilk?” Hutch looks at the chicken in his hand like it’s offended him. “Buttermilk is some nasty shit.”
“Language!” Kathleen reprimands her son.
“Sorry, Mom.”
