Page 36 of Inked Persuasion

I’d worry about whatever the hell was going on in my life later.

By the end of the evening, I was exhausted, a tension headache coming on hard, but Seressia’s root canal had gone well, Dustin’s mother was awake, alert, and on the way to a full recovery, and we were taking the weekend off.

Well, asoffas I normally did.

“I’ll see you all on Monday,” I ordered. “Take some time for yourselves. If we work ourselves to the bone now, we’ll be no use to our clients later when we get swamped.”

They all groaned at my attempt at a joke, and we went our separate ways. I needed to go home and change, but first, I wanted to head to my parents’. I’d promised I would stop by to say hello, and that was one thing I wouldn’t change, no matter what.

I pulled into the driveway and let myself into the house, not bothering to knock. “Hey, Dad,” I said as my father looked up from his recliner. Dad smiled and pulled his glasses away from his face. “Hey, your mom was in her little nook reading. I’m trying to do the same.”

“Decided to do it in a different room?” I asked, teasing.

“This is our thirty minutes away from each other so we don’t get tired of one another. But I usually only last ten,” my father added, grinning.

I saw the sadness in his eyes. Knew why it was there. But I ignored it. There was no use harping when it was evident. We made our way into the bedroom where Mom’s reading nook was, and I noticed the photo of Jonah and Annabelle beside her on the table. It was right next to a picture of Susan and me, though both frames were slightly behind a larger one of Jonah and me.

My mother wanted to have the memories close, but I was glad they weren’t in my face every time I came over.

“Hey, there’s my baby boy,” Mom said, holding out her hand towards me. Her fingers were closed, her limb shaking, but she could at least move her arm today slightly. I moved forward and took her hand, kissed her cool skin, and then leaned forward to kiss her cheek.

“Hello, my favorite mom.”

“I love being favorites,” Mom teased.

“Have a hard day at work, son?” Dad asked as he handed me a glass of water and then put Mom’s water bottle next to her, the straw close to her lips.

“It was a tough day. Seressia had a root canal. And Dustin’s mother had heart surgery.”

“Oh, that’s horrible. Is everyone okay?” Mom asked.

“Everybody is on the mend,” I answered. “But it was a tough day, and things just piled up. I’m glad we have a weekend to at least be out of the office. I have a few files to go over as usual, but I’m going to try not to work too hard.”

“You need to have a life. Go out. Meet someone,” my mother said, and I held back a wince, even though it gave me the opening I was looking for. While Annabelle and I planned to be casual and not get too serious, I wasn’t going to hide anything. And I knew Annabelle felt the same. I only hoped we didn’t screw everything up by doing what we were.

“Well, speaking of getting a life, I’m going out tonight.”

Mom’s eyes brightened, and my dad grinned. “Really? On a date?” Dad asked, sounding almost incredulous.

I scowled. “I date. You don’t need to sound so surprised.”

My mom’s gaze moved to the photo of Susan, and I sighed. “Well, I’m at least going to start dating. It’s nothing serious, though,” I added quickly.

“That’s not quite what I like to hear from my son,” Mom said.

“We’re just taking it slow,” I said, thinking that had to be the truth. Though we’d already had sex in my kitchen, so I didn’t know if that counted as slow. But it needed to be something. “Actually, I’m taking Annabelle out tonight.”

Mom grinned, while dad’s eyes narrowed. “Really? Oh, that’s wonderful.”

“Really? You sure that’s wise, son?”

They were reacting as I’d expected them to. But Annabelle and I didn’t want secrets, so this is what we were doing.

“We’re just taking it slow, hanging out as friends. It might be a date, but it’s not too serious. Stop stressing. Both of you. Even if your reasons are opposite each other.”

My parents met gazes, a thousand unsaid words sliding between them.

What would it be like to know somebody so well that you didn’t have to speak to have an entire conversation? I envied that, even if I knew it would never be for me. I’d tried it with Susan, and it hadn’t worked. Now, my dad would, one day soon, not have that anymore. Why would you risk everything for the kind of pain you knew was coming? For the type of pain they’d already felt for Jonah. No, that wasn’t for me. I knew I was blessed to at least have a fragment of it with my parents in my life.

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