Page 20 of Laugh

Mom squares her shoulders and plants her fists on her hips. “Absolutely not. You two need to get over yourselves. Talk to me, Beau.”

“Fine.” I know I’m pouting, but I can’t say no to her. “What do you want to know about her?” I can easily hide how I feel about Haddie with my dad, but not mom. I’m dreading that she’ll see right through me. She’ll know that Haddie is something more than just a librarian to me.

“Tell me about her. What’s with the ‘Happy’ thing?”

I let out a dry chuckle.Fucking Happy.“I met her a few weeks ago when I went out with some friends down at O’Reilly’s. When she was introduced, I misheard and thought her name was Happy. It’s Haddie. She rolled with it and apparently loves the ‘happy’ thing. It’s sort of sticking.”

She covers her mouth when she laughs. “I like it. Does it fit her?”

Snorting, I cross my arms and lean back in the kitchen chair. “Oh yeah, she’s definitely a happy person.”

Mom’s smile slowly grows. “You like her?”

Shrugging, I decide to be honest. “I think so. She’s… different. Not in a bad way, just not like someone I’ve ever been interested in before. She throws me off.”

“Interesting... In what way? You said she works at the library?” I know she’s digging for more than what’s there, but I want to talk it out with someone. Mom is, and always has been, the safest person for me.

“Yeah, she’s one of the librarians there. Not sure how long she’s had the job, but she knows her shit. She’s very outspoken. Cracks jokes all the time and has an interesting side hobby. The woman has no filter and actually did research on awful football jokes before I picked her up last week. They were justawfulmom.”

Both of her eyebrows raise when she realizes I know quite a bit about her and I chew on my lip, waiting for her feedback.

“Interesting…” she mumbles again, then trails off.

I’m not angry at her, but I glare nonetheless. “Spit it out, ma. I know you’ve got something rolling around in that head of yours.”

Smirking at me, she levels me with the same glare. I learned from the best.

“It’sinterestingthat she’s made an impression on you. Normally, when you talk about a woman, the first thing you typically describe is what she looks like. You haven’t described one thing about her physically.”

My jaw drops, then I snap it shut. “She’s really lovely. Long, wavy, crazy red hair, freckles, petite-ish. Bright green eyes.”

I get the ‘mom’ look from her before she leans forward on the counter, planting her chin in her hand, and studies me. “So, this Haddie. She works at the library and is meeting with your boys? Are you there too?”

“I was for the first meeting. Helped get them organized and set up a schedule. They’re meeting three times a week with her for a few hours.”

“That’s a lot of time for her to spend with just them while she’s at work.”

Shaking my head, I explain. “She doesn’t meet with them while she’s working all the time. Sometimes she comes in off hours to help out. From what the guys have told me, she’s been a huge help so far.”

Mom’s face drops into a scowl. “Wait a minute. She’s working with them after hours? Are you paying her?”

“No. She refused money. Ididoffer,” I defend. It still bothers me that she’s putting in all that work for nothing in return.

Tapping her fingers on her cheek in thought, she asks, “Did they ask her to help them? Or was it you?”

“Me. Why?”

Sighing loudly, she stands up and turns her back to me. “Oh, honey. You’re an idiot.”

“What the hell, ma?” I ask incredulously.What the hell did I do now?

“And you haven’t been there when they meet, aside from the first time?”

I love my mom, but right now, she’s pissing me off. “No. Why does that matter? They don’t need me there!”

Pointing at me with her spatula over her shoulder, she doesn’t look at me when she says, “You. Are. An. Idiot. I’m sure she’s happy to help them out, but she’s not there for them. She’s there foryou. Kind of makes you an ass for not showing up. You ought to do something nice for her. That’s a lot of work for someone to put in for no pay and nothing in return. She likes you, sweetheart.”

My shoulders fall. Iaman idiot. I don’t know if mom is entirely right about her being there for me, but I should have done something for her. Not dumping my guys on her shoulders and walking away like it’s not my problem.

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