Page 68 of Designs on You

Natalie followed behind.

“But I talked to Hazel,” her mom continued, “and the two of us realized that something needed to be done.”

“Something needed to be done about what?”

“Could I have some coffee?”

“Oh. Of course.” She brewed a cup of coffee for her mom, then brought cream and sugar to the table where her mom had taken a seat. Natalie pulled up a chair across the table.

Mom took her sweet time pouring the cream and adding a teaspoon of sugar. Then stirring, stirring, stirring.

“Mom.”

“Yes.” She took a sip of coffee.

“What’s this about?”

She laid the cup down. “Well. Hazel called me and told me about your planned trip to New York, and your horrible ex-husband’s inability to care for his own children.”

“Oh. That.”

“Yes, that. Natalie, while you can’t do much about Sean other than his contractual visitation obligations, you can always rely on your family. All you have to do is ask.”

“If it was some kind of emergency or a work situation, I absolutely would, Mom. But you have a job and a life of your own. And this is just a fun trip. I can say no to Eugene.”

“You’re entitled to have a good time, Natalie, something that was sorely lacking in your marriage to Sean. I have a very flexible work schedule, so Paul and I will watch the children on the days Sean is”—she coughed for emphasis—“unavailable. And Hazel will watch your dog. Now make your plans with Eugene and go have a good time.”

Her mother had always been so stern with her and so fond of Sean. Even after Natalie told her they were divorcing, Mom had been so certain it would be a mistake. Until Natalie had cried and spilled everything about how unhappy she’d been.

Her ex wasn’t a monster. He just liked things his way, and her opinion had never counted. Her mom had been especially livid when Natalie had explained that she wanted more out of her life, and that she had given up her career to fulfill Sean’s family-life ideals. It was then that her mother had decided he was worse than dirt. Her mom might come off as proper and old-fashioned, butNatalie had been shocked to discover her mother was quite the feminist and thought no man should hold a woman back from her dreams.

“Okay. I’ll go.”

“Excellent.” She took another sip of her coffee. “Now that that’s settled, how about we go have a nice dinner? My treat.”

“Mom, I’d love to have dinner with you. Where’s Paul?”

She got up and waved her hand. “He’s at the country club with the guys. I do have my own life, dear. And so should you.”

Her mother was definitely right about that.

She might be opinionated as hell and often wrong about a lot of things, but it was a revelation to discover that her mom was always in her corner. She probably always had been, but Natalie had butted heads with her so much she hadn’t noticed.

And that felt great.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

To be honest, Eugene was kind of surprised that Natalie had agreed to take this trip with him, especially since it was such short notice. But he was happy as hell she agreed.

He’d offered to pick her up, but she’d told him she had a bunch of stuff to do this morning so she’d meet him at the airport. They had a super early flight so he had no idea what she could possibly do before six a.m., but he didn’t question it.

After he checked in, he grabbed a coffee and took his seat in the boarding area, sending some email instructions to his team here in Orlando. He’d only be gone four days, and he knew his team would be right on the ball as usual. They knew their jobs and they did them well, but he still wanted to follow up on a few items of a critical nature.

Heath emailed him back almost immediately:Calm down boss. Go have some fun. We’ve got this. We’ll only have drunken office parties after hours and we promise to clean up after.

Eugene laughed.

“Something funny?”

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