Page 47 of His Greatest Treasure

“Mom. Time to go,” I say, hoping to fucking God she can read me well enough by now to know I’m not kidding.

One look at me and she’s nodding before hugging Avery and standing beside me. I pulse my jaw to keep focused and head for the door.

“Oliver—” Avery starts, a single footstep following my name. “Thank you.”

“No worries.”

I step onto the street, and Mom slips her arm through mine as the door shuts behind us. Counting the seconds, I wait for her to speak, knowing she has something to say.

“He seems like a piece of work.”

“Yeah. But he’s Nova’s dad.”

“Dad or not, he’s still an ass,” Mom huffs.

Slipping my keys out of my pocket, I unlock my SUV doors. “You should stop by again and help her once the flowers arrive.”

“I will. Nova’s first ballet lesson is Wednesday. I’ll talk to Avery about it then.”

“Good.”

“Will you be there too?”

I turn my head, brows furrowed. “Why would I be there?”

“You’re not working, are you?” she asks, the picture of innocence.

With a shake of my head, I open the passenger door for her and wait for her to slip into the SUV before answering, “I don’t know shit about ballet other than what you’ve told me.”

“No, but you seem to know quite a lot about Avery. Much more than I expected after so long apart.”

I pin her with an expression that I hope portrays how little I want to talk about this and shut the door when she pouts up at me. The second I slide into the driver’s seat and slip the keys into the ignition, she’s cranking the AC and fiddling with the music.

“Does she know you had a crush on her growing up?” she asks a beat later.

I freeze, holding my breath. “You knew about that?”

She nods firmly. “I’m your mother. I know everything.”

“You never said anything.”

“If I had, you would have done everything in your power to hide your feelings from me. Once you stopped asking about her, I figured you’d outgrown it. Was I wrong?”

I spread my hands over the steering wheel before holding it tight. “I was young. She had a boyfriend and never came back to visit again. Of course I outgrew it.”

“Mm, you’re sure about that?”

“She had a daughter with another man.”

“And? If you’re about to say something about not being interested in her because of that, I’ll smack you upside the head, Oliver Bateman. There is nothing wrong with her being separated from her daughter’s father.”

“Jesus, Mom. I wasn’t going to say that.” I release a breath and, with a glance at the shop from the rear-view window, pull away from the curb. “I don’t know why I mentioned that at all.”

She stares at me across the cab before reaching across the console to pat my bicep. “Yes you do. You said it because it upset you to see them all together. I saw the way you stared at Nova and Chris back there. Like you?—”

“Like Inothing. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“Oh, my love. Okay, I’ll leave it alone,” she murmurs. “But if you change your mind, I’m here.”

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