Page 25 of Tangled with the Tight End

I step back, and she clutches my face. “You’re so freaking handsome. How did you become so beautiful? How are you?”

The couple staying in the next suite steps outside, and gawks at us. “Let’s go inside.”

“Yes. Yes.” She hastily follows my father, who’s carrying their luggage into the main room. Once they’re inside, I snap the door shut.

“Oh….” My mom places a hand over her mouth and sets a familiar white bag with a black and hot pink logo beside her feet. They must have stopped at the shop downstairs. “This place is gorgeous.” Her eyes dance as she surveys the room. “We’ve always stayed at the Evergreen Lake Inn when we were in town to see Marco and the baby.”

“This place is nice.” My dad nods. “Good quality construction to last through the years. And they’ve done a good job of renovations. Keeping the old with the new isn’t easy.” You can take the land developer out of Texas, but you can’t force him to forget everything he knows.

My mom spins on her heel to face me. As usual, she’s well-dressed in pants and a silk top. Not that she dresses for fashion over comfort. She’d rather breathe than be unable to sit down. “What do you think of the town?”

“It’s nice. I can’t complain about the scenery, and everyone is pleasant in town. The shops are good quality.” Lord, I sound like my dad.

My mom arches an eyebrow as she retrieves the bag. “Have you been to Lips & Hips?”

“Yes.” The muscles in my jaw tighten. This was not the twenty questions I expected. I anticipated they’d push for reconciliation between Sloane and me, not that they adored her or anything, but because of Gino and tradition–the Roman Catholic tradition of no divorce.

My parents are still married, and both sets of grandparents stayed true to each other through all sorts of difficulties. Although my grandmother has remarried, that didn’t happen until years after my grandfather passed. Ranch life in Texas isn’t easy. Nor is moving from Italy to the United States.

Gino sets up on the sofa cushions, and his eyes widen. “G-ma?”

“It sounds like you’ve met Norah.” My mom rushes over to hug and kiss Gino, who laughs and latches his arms around her neck.

Once they’ve both done fawning over him, Gino asks to see inside the bag.

“What do you think of Norah?” I glare at my mom as she hands Gino a cookie and gives him the twenty questions I was expecting.

“She great. She took us to a skate pond, a toy store, and books. She nice.”

“Good.” She ruffles Gino’s hair and looks up expectantly.

“Mom, don’t get any ideas.”

She raises her hands in question. “Whatever do you mean?”

“You know what I mean.” I stomp to the adjoining kitchen and grab a beer from the refrigerator. When I turn around, my dad is standing on the threshold with a frown.

“You aren’t thinking about getting back with Sloane, are you?” He keeps his voice low as my mom entertains Gino.

“No.” I twist the cap off and take a large swig of the beer.

As it drains down my throat, I groan and set it on the table. Drinking my problems away is what got me into this mess in the first place.

“Good. She was never the right woman for you.” He raises his hands in defense. “Not that we don’t love Gino, we do. He’s an amazing kid. But Sloane was selfish and high maintenance. She wanted the fame of being a football star’s wife and didn’t care which football star it was.”

“Yes, I know.” Even though hearing him say it makes me sick. “I wasn’t expecting you to be so supportive of the divorce.”

“Son, we might be stanch Catholics, but we aren’t so steeped in tradition that we want you to be miserable. It’s not healthy for you or Gino.” He marches into the room and clasps my shoulder. “We’re proud of you for working so hard on your career. For doing what you thought was right by Sloane and for stepping in and raising Gino on your own.”

I swallow over the lump in my throat. “Thank you.”

“But it’s time for you to find a nice girl. A wholesome girl with good morals. A woman who loves children. Someone like Norah.”

I cringe. Norah would hate to hear my parents pushing us to get together. We’ve already explained why it’s impossible to Marco and Eden. “I don’t need to find someone to be Gino’s mom.”

Even if Norah would make a wonderful mom. She instantly took to Gino, and he adores her.

Just because it’s convenient doesn’t make it something we want. She wants Evergreen Lake. I want…. Fuck if I know what I want. Would I say no if she threw herself at me, worshipped me, and begged to fly back to Kansas City with me?

---