grin.
“What?”
“Accepting help.” He chuckled when I made a face at him, then he set his cup down in the sink. “I’ve missed mornings with you.”
I watched as he pulled on his jacket, the material landing neatly across his wide back. I didn’t look away when he caught me looking; instead we stared at each other for a moment, neither one willing to be the first to back down.
He looked as if he wanted to say something. Thankfully, he just said “Bye,” before heading out.
I thought about his words long after my coffee was gone. It wasn’t so much that I didn’t like asking for help. I mean, true, I didn’t. But I’d been self-sufficient for so long that actually needing help made me feel like less of a woman, less like myself. I was used to helping Luke, not the other way around. It was disconcerting and not a feeling I liked. At all.
6
LUKE
“You’re unusually chipper this morning,” my mother said as I pulled out a chair for her at the Blue Fin restaurant. “And you’re wearing your favorite suit.”
“Am I?” I asked, taking the leather seat next to her. “I thought I’d look presentable for our weekly lunch.”
She studied me with one eyebrow raised. “Okay, what is it? Something’s put that perma-smile on your face.”
“I’m just having a good day.”
“Cut the crap, son. Wait—did you get a recording contract?”
That effectively wiped the smile off my face. “No, I didn’t.”
“I wish you’d let me call my friend—”
I held out my palm. “I appreciate it but you know I want to do this on my own.”
She grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “I know. But there’s no harm in getting a little help now and then.”
I nodded. Hadn’t I just essentially said the same thing to Kat this morning? But somehow this was different. There was a distinction between real help and a handout.
My mother continued her interrogation, which continued long after we’d received our plates of food.
“Why are you so curious?” I asked, lifting a piece of salmon sashimi to my mouth.
“Because you are my flesh and blood. It is a mother’s prerogative to know that her son has fallen in love.”
I kept chewing calmly as she eyed me, no doubt trying to see if she’d hit the mark.
“Aha! So this is about a girl,” she said with a triumphant laugh.
I couldn’t help the smile from taking over my face. “Perhaps.”
“Does that mean you’re through pining for that girl in Alaska?”
“She is that girl from Alaska.” I told her the story about the day I’d found Kat in the subway. “Her apartment burned down so I’ve asked her to stay with me until she can get back on her feet.”
Mom’s face was lit with glee. You’d think the woman had never seen me like this before. “I must meet her!” she declared in that voice that said she was issuing a decree.
“We’re not together, Mom. I can’t just introduce her to you, not when she’s already skittish enough.”
Mom ate her food in silence and looked at me with her perceptive grey eyes. I’d seen that look before, as if she’s trying to use her motherly ESP to read my mind. “But you still love her.”
Her words took me by surprise; I almost choked on my spider roll. I nodded in place of a real answer, gulping down water.
“You never stopped,” she said, setting her napkin down and leaning back in her seat with a smug smile on her face.
“No. I never did.”
I left work right at five, much to Lisa’s delight. She had never gone home on time two days in a row. “My husband says thank you!” she sang on the way out the door as she swung her purse in time with her hips.
I rushed home as quickly as I could, given the train timetables, eager to see Kat, needing proof that I hadn’t just imagined the entire situation.
I ran into the woman in question at the lobby elevator. “Where are you headed?” I asked as she stepped out.
“To my apartment to see if anything survived.”
“What?”
“Accepting help.” He chuckled when I made a face at him, then he set his cup down in the sink. “I’ve missed mornings with you.”
I watched as he pulled on his jacket, the material landing neatly across his wide back. I didn’t look away when he caught me looking; instead we stared at each other for a moment, neither one willing to be the first to back down.
He looked as if he wanted to say something. Thankfully, he just said “Bye,” before heading out.
I thought about his words long after my coffee was gone. It wasn’t so much that I didn’t like asking for help. I mean, true, I didn’t. But I’d been self-sufficient for so long that actually needing help made me feel like less of a woman, less like myself. I was used to helping Luke, not the other way around. It was disconcerting and not a feeling I liked. At all.
6
LUKE
“You’re unusually chipper this morning,” my mother said as I pulled out a chair for her at the Blue Fin restaurant. “And you’re wearing your favorite suit.”
“Am I?” I asked, taking the leather seat next to her. “I thought I’d look presentable for our weekly lunch.”
She studied me with one eyebrow raised. “Okay, what is it? Something’s put that perma-smile on your face.”
“I’m just having a good day.”
“Cut the crap, son. Wait—did you get a recording contract?”
That effectively wiped the smile off my face. “No, I didn’t.”
“I wish you’d let me call my friend—”
I held out my palm. “I appreciate it but you know I want to do this on my own.”
She grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “I know. But there’s no harm in getting a little help now and then.”
I nodded. Hadn’t I just essentially said the same thing to Kat this morning? But somehow this was different. There was a distinction between real help and a handout.
My mother continued her interrogation, which continued long after we’d received our plates of food.
“Why are you so curious?” I asked, lifting a piece of salmon sashimi to my mouth.
“Because you are my flesh and blood. It is a mother’s prerogative to know that her son has fallen in love.”
I kept chewing calmly as she eyed me, no doubt trying to see if she’d hit the mark.
“Aha! So this is about a girl,” she said with a triumphant laugh.
I couldn’t help the smile from taking over my face. “Perhaps.”
“Does that mean you’re through pining for that girl in Alaska?”
“She is that girl from Alaska.” I told her the story about the day I’d found Kat in the subway. “Her apartment burned down so I’ve asked her to stay with me until she can get back on her feet.”
Mom’s face was lit with glee. You’d think the woman had never seen me like this before. “I must meet her!” she declared in that voice that said she was issuing a decree.
“We’re not together, Mom. I can’t just introduce her to you, not when she’s already skittish enough.”
Mom ate her food in silence and looked at me with her perceptive grey eyes. I’d seen that look before, as if she’s trying to use her motherly ESP to read my mind. “But you still love her.”
Her words took me by surprise; I almost choked on my spider roll. I nodded in place of a real answer, gulping down water.
“You never stopped,” she said, setting her napkin down and leaning back in her seat with a smug smile on her face.
“No. I never did.”
I left work right at five, much to Lisa’s delight. She had never gone home on time two days in a row. “My husband says thank you!” she sang on the way out the door as she swung her purse in time with her hips.
I rushed home as quickly as I could, given the train timetables, eager to see Kat, needing proof that I hadn’t just imagined the entire situation.
I ran into the woman in question at the lobby elevator. “Where are you headed?” I asked as she stepped out.
“To my apartment to see if anything survived.”
Similar Books
