Page 18 of My Surprising Valentine

“Don’t you ‘Mrs. Carlisle’ me, young man! I’ve known you since you were twelve years old. How many times do I have to tell you—it’s Linda.” And then she threw her arms around him, too, actually sniffling now. “I always hoped … I mean, the way you two would look at each other when you thought no one was watching?—”

“Mom!” I hissed, heat crawling up my neck.

Shit. This was precisely what I’d been afraid of.

My mother ignored me completely as she commenced patting Max’s cheeks like a stereotypical Nonna in some movie featuring an Italian-American grandmother. “I can’t tell you how happy I am that you two finally figured it out! Though I suppose it makes sense that you’d wait until you were both established in your careers. Very sensible.” She pulled her hands from his face to dab at her eyes with a tissue she’d excavated from her cleavage before turning her attention to me. “Though honestly, Hannah, thirty-five is pushing it a bit if you want to give me grandchildren.”

“Mother,” I cut in, my voice loud enough to draw several pairs of eyes our way. I smiled—grimaced?—and waved at my family across the room as Max’s hand found the small of my back. “The last thing either of us needs right now is pressure about kids. We want to take things slow.” I held her gaze, lettingher see that I meant business and absolutely would not, under any circumstances, entertain this topic of conversation.

My mother’s eyes narrowed. “Taking things slow?” she said, her voice rising several octaves. “Maxwell James Bennett!” She pushed up onto her toes and smacked the side of his head. “You’ve been in love with my daughter since well before you had any right to be. Don’t you dare try to tell me after all this time you’re treating her like one of your usual cast-offs.” She huffed out an offended snort, turning her face away from him and lifting her proud chin high in the air as his hand twitched against my back.

So much for not drawing any undo attention, I thought, risking a glance at Max to see how he was handling my mother’s ridiculous behavior. His expression remained carefully neutral, but there was a tightness around his eyes I’d never seen before.

Frankly, I didn’t know whether to be happy or embarrassed about my mom’s sudden protectiveness. Not once in the history of ever had she defended my supposed honor the way she had just now. I’d always been on the receiving end of one of her diatribes, usually focused on all the ways in which I was ruining my life by not making myself more available to men who might be interested.

And yet, while a small part of me thought it was nice that, for once in my life, my mom perceived someone else to be the problem, I couldn’t help but also wish she might have kept her voice down while laying into the man standing next to me.

I wasn’t the only one, either.

“Linda!” My Aunt Marie’s voice cut through the lobby as she bustled over, drawn by her sister’s outburst. “What in heaven’s name are you shouting about?”

My mother spun around, practically vibrating with excitement, her mouth split into a wide smile. “Marie! You’ll never believe it—Hannah and Max are together!”

“Together?” Another voice chimed in—my cousin Rachel this time, materializing with her younger sister Jessica in tow. “As intogethertogether?” She screwed up her face in apparent disbelief as Jessica’s eyes went wide with shock.

“Finally!” Aunt Marie clasped her hands together. “I always said they’d figure it out eventually.”

I watched in horror as more relatives began drifting over, seemingly drawn by the commotion. My mother, holding court in front of an ever-growing audience, was practically glowing.

“What do you meanfinally?” Rachel asked through gritted teeth.

That was when I remembered I wasn’t the only woman in the DeLuca family who’d been pining after Max. A couple of years ago, he and Rachel had attended a dinner party where they’d been seated next to one another as the only singles the host had invited. Over beers at my brother’s a few nights later, he’d told us how he’d recognized our cousin from all the times David had dragged him to family events and, not wanting to seem rude, had approached her over cocktails to say hello. In his version of the story, Rachel had spent the whole night hitting on him even though he’d tried his best not to encourage her advances.

When Rachel called me up that same week to press me for details on “that smoke show doctor your brother is friends with,” her version of events was drastically different. According to Rachel, Max hadn’t been able to keep his eyes off of her and, at the end of the night, had practically begged for her number. Not wanting to hurt my cousin’s feelings, I’d tried to gently explain to her that Max wasn’t really a relationship kind of guy and that she might want to slow her roll when it came to planning their wedding. She’d huffed and told me I was just jealous before hanging up on me. We hadn’t really spoken much since then, and the dirty look she currently shot my way told me exactly what she thought of Max and I dating now.

My mother turned to my cousin, her face beaming with happiness. “Everyone knows these two were meant for each other.” She turned to my Aunt Marie. “Remember when Hannah graduated nursing school? Max flew back early from that big conference in London just to be there. And he brought this enormous bouquet of daisies because Hannah had once mentioned they were her favorite flower—back when she was, what, fourteen?”

That memory hit me like a punch to the gut. All day, I’d been so stressed about starting my new job at the hospital, wondering if I could handle the pressure, but then I’d looked up to see Max striding across the lawn carrying what had to have been every daisy in the greater Boston area.

Rachel huffed, crossed her arms over her chest, and then turned on her very high heel to stomp away. When she’d gone ten feet, she turned around and barked at Jessica, “Well? Are you coming or not?”

Jessica gave me a small, sympathetic smile before following her older sister across the lobby.

“Mom,” I tried, mortified over the direction this situation was heading. But she was well and truly on a roll now, and when she got this way, nothing short of a natural disaster could stop Linda DeLuca Carlisle.

“And remember when he drove back from Boston in that terrible snowstorm just because Hannah was home sick with the flu?” She turned to Max, her eyes sparkling. “David told me you didn’t even hesitate. Just got in your car the minute Hannah called asking him to bring her medicine.”

“That’s not—” I started, but Max cut me off.

“She had a fever of 103,” he said quietly. “And David was stuck in Portland.” His thumb traced a small circle against my back, probably meant to be comforting, but it sent shivers down my spine instead. “Of course I came.”

Something in his voice made my chest tight. I remembered that night—how he’d shown up at my door with soup and medicine, how he’d stayed up watching terrible reality TV with me until my fever broke. I’d always assumed David had asked him to, but the way he was looking at me now …

“And now look at you two!” my mother continued, dabbing at her eyes again. “Together at last. Though I have to say, Hannah, I’m a little hurt you didn’t tell me sooner. How long has this been going on?”

“We wanted to keep it quiet,” Max answered smoothly before I could fumble for a response. “Make sure it was real before we told everyone.”

My mother’s eyes narrowed as she directed her next question my way. “Is that why you’ve been avoiding my calls lately?”

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