Page 112 of He's The Reason Why

She gave him a knowing look. “Ah. The call. How is Eddie the Teddy?”

He hated that nickname. It implied all kinds of things that simply weren’t true. “Jenny has the flu.”

“Oh, poor thing.” She pushed the tray out of the way and set up her computer. “I need to send her a basket. What else did he say?”

“He saw the concert.” He returned his attention to the view out the window. “He said he’s proud of me.”

It didn’t feel right to say it out loud. He had a feeling that if he said it too many times something would shatter.

“Oh.” His mother sounded as surprised as he felt. “It’s good that’s finally out in the open. He’s always been so proud of you. We both have.”

“No he hasn’t. He’s never said it before.” He didn’t like how resentful he sounded. He hadn’t realized how old or how deep this wound had buried itself until tonight.

“Sweetie, you’ve neverlethim say it before.”

He turned to look at her. “He’s my father. He should have tried harder.”

She pushed her glasses down to her nose and busied herself with something on her laptop. “You weren’t ready to hear it before. Now you are. I wonder why that is.”

Her tone implied she had a theory.

He had a feeling he wasn’t going to like it. “I don’t know, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”

Mom peered at him over the top of her reading glasses. “You’ve done nothing but talk about Piper Bellamy since I got here. She’s had a pretty big impact on you. More than Marshall, which is saying something. She must be pretty special.”

Warning bells sounded in his brain. He was about to be interrogated by a woman who was an expert at getting people to do what they were told.

“She’s been a huge help with the project.” He crossed to the table and poured himself a glass of wine. “She has an amazingnumber of contacts. You should talk to her when you start up again. She could hook you up with a fantastic costume designer.”

“Uh-huh.” Mom took off her glasses and gestured with them. “Tell me about her.”

Her voice was coy, like she already knew the answer.

“She’s nice.”

Mom lifted an eyebrow and stared him down with her best Spock impersonation.

His stiffness crumbled in spite of himself, and he chuckled. “I hate it when you make that face.”

Her eyes crinkled with amusement. “I’m glad I can still make you laugh. You know, I saw the concert. The video’s gone viral. Over two million views now. I wonder if that’s because you looked at her like she was your favorite flavor of ice cream? Talk about selling a song. Tamar must be thrilled.”

“I haven’t talked to Tamar since then.” He knew how happy Paul was; he hadn’t stopped tweeting about it.

“Is she as sweet as she seems in her coffee chats?”

“You watch Piper’sWednesday Morning Coffee Chats?” He was shocked his mother even knew they existed. “When do you have time for that?”

“I make time for the important things, dearheart. I wanted to find out more about the girl who captured your attention so completely you kept dodging my calls.”

A guilty prickle crawled up the back of his neck. “It was only one time.”

“Three. But that’s okay. I see the attraction. She’s very pretty.”

“She is.” He kept his face as neutral as he could.

“And she seems smart.”

“Yep.” He should end this right now.

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