Page 38 of Half Baked

When I’d gone to Memphis, I’d spent a lot of time with my niece and nephew, loving every minute with them. My sister was a good mother, and she’d come from the same family I had. My mother had been a good parent. For the first time, I’d not only acknowledged that I could be a better dad than my father had been, but actually believed it.

I wasn’t ready to fully jump on the fatherhood train, but when I pictured a life with Maddie, I could see the hint of kids.

But first I needed to exorcise my father’s voice from my head. As long as I gave him residence in my head, I’d never be good to anyone.

I understood why Maddie had friend zoned me, and I couldn’t blame her. Truth be told, I was frustrated with myself, so she had to be that much more frustrated. Things had been going well before I’d left. We still hadn’t slept together, although there had been a lot of kissing. We’d agreed we would wait until I came back. And instead of sweeping her off her feet into my bed, I’d told her I needed some space.

It had been hard not to reach out and touch her yesterday. When I’d dropped her off at her car, I’d practically glued my ass to my seat to keep from kissing her.

My own wants and desires could wait. I needed to prove to her that she could trust me, and helping her solve her mother’s murder was a good first step.

I was working on an excuse to leave the house to make my calls when a knock landed on the front door.

My mother was sitting at the kitchen table making a menu of freezer meals. She peered around the doorway to watch as I answered it.

When I opened the door, Lance greeted me with a grim look.

“Hey, Noah, sorry to bother you on your time off, but I’d like to run some things by you on this auto parts case.” He looked past me, and a huge smile spread across his face when he saw my mother. “Your mom’s still here.”

“She is,” I said blankly, still standing in the doorway. “Which should have been obvious since her car’s still parked in front of my house,DetectiveForrester.” He may have wanted to discuss the case with me, but he could have called. I knew why he was really here. He wanted to meet my mother. I had every intention of introducing him to her, but there was no sense in making it easy for him.

He gave me an amused look. “You gonna let me in?”

I hung onto the side of the door, trying to block his view of the interior. “I haven’t decided yet.”

“Noah,” my mother called out. “Where are your manners?”

Chuckling, I stepped back and let Lance in. Based on the look on his face, you’d think he was five years old.

He’d been to my place once, but now he looked around the place with a gleam of appreciation. “I can see you’ve been busy, Mrs. Langley. This place doesn’t look like a bachelor pad anymore.”

“Please,” I grunted. “It looked perfectly fine before.”

“He’s right, of course,” my mother said, walking into the living room. “The place looked pretty good on the surface when I showed up Tuesday night, but it was totally disorganized. I spent most of yesterday getting things in order.”

Lance grinned from ear to ear, shooting me a mischievous look.

“You must be Lance,” my mother said. “I’m Laura Langley, as you figured out. Noah’s mother. But please call me Laura.” She gave me a look of reprimand for failing to have made the introductions.

“I would have introduced you,” I said in self-defense. “But you two were having too much fun bashing my organizational skills.”

Lance held out his hand to my mother. “Pleased to meet you, Laura. Sorry if we scared you on Tuesday, but in our defense, all we knew was that there was a lot of blood. The EMTs wouldn’t tell us anything. We didn’t even think of it until Maddie suggested you should know.”

My mother’s face lit up. “Maddie?”

Lance shot me a questioning look, then turned back to her. “I thought you knew about Maddie.”

“Oh, I do,” she said with a grin. “Noah’s making arrangements for us to meet for dinner tonight, but other than that, he hasn’t mentioned her once since I’ve gotten here. I was beginning to wonder if she even existed.”

Lance laughed. “Oh, she exists all right.”

I shot him a dark look.

Lance chuckled, turning his attention to my mother. “Is he as tight-lipped with you about his personal life as he is with me?”

“I suspect even more so.”

“I need more coffee.” I walked into the kitchen, refilled my mug, and then returned to the living room. Lance and my mother had settled on the sofa and were having a lively discussion about my moodiness.

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