Page 104 of Drunk on Love

He wasn’t sure how to feel about this. Six months ago hewould have been thrilled. He should still feel that way, shouldn’t he? He guessed he sort of did. Flattered? Yeah, definitely. Triumphant that they’d come back to him, after everything? Yeah, that, too, he supposed. Nervous? Suspicious? Maybe a little angry, all over again, at how they’d treated him?

All of that, too.

Was this for real? Craig had always been good to him. He wouldn’t have reached out if they already had someone else in mind and this was just some bullshit fake interview, right?

He walked into the inn, but before he could set his coffee down and figure out how to reply to Craig’s text, his mom walked in with Pete.

“Before you yell at me, I’m only here for a second to sign those checks,” she said.

“I was going to bring those to your house later on today, you know,” he said. He knew she was only here because she couldn’t stay away.

“I know, I know, but you’ve done so much for me already. Plus, Pete had to take me to the doctor today, so it was on the way.” He just looked at her. “Well, okay, not that far out of the way.”

“I tried,” Pete said.

He looked at Pete and they both laughed.

“But look, I have a new cast!” his mom said. “A lighter one!”

“You’re still supposed to rest for the next few weeks, that’s what the doctor said,” Pete said.

She made a face.

“I will, I swear. But I’ve missed this place.” She looked around the lobby, a smile on her face. “How was your weekend?”

He’d spent every moment of it that he could with Margot. She’d been at the winery a lot, but they’d been together everynight and every morning. She’d cooked an elaborate meal for him the night before, and he had leftovers for lunch.

“It was great,” he said.

His mom beamed at him.Oh. Oh no. He could feel that smile that had been on his face. It had been involuntary—it must have just appeared there when he’d thought about Margot. And his mom must think...

“You spent it with Avery, then?” she asked. “Good, I’m glad she got some time off, too. That girl works too much.”

He wanted to correct her, tell her that no, he hadn’t been with Avery, he’d been with Margot. That he wasn’twithAvery, he was with Margot.

He couldn’t tell her that, though. He was stuck now, in this lie that he’d been stuck in for weeks. At first, it had felt harmless, even kind of funny. A joke between him and Avery, a silly story to his mom, but one that was no big deal, one that he’d correct eventually, once he figured out what he was doing next.

But now it felt so false, when he was smiling like that about Margot, for his mom to think that it was about Avery. It almost felt like a betrayal of Margot. It definitely felt like a real lie, not just the fudging of the truth it had been at the beginning, where he mostly just hadn’t corrected his mom. And he really fucking hated it.

And he’d done this to himself, all because of that job?

“Lauren, we really should get you home,” Pete said.

His mom sighed.

“I know.” She leaned over and gave Luke a hug. “Thanks again, Luke. I don’t know what I’d do without you. On sabbatical from your big-time job and you jump in to help your mom. How did I get this lucky?”

Luke gave her a tight squeeze.

“Just get home and get some rest.” He looked up at Pete. “Let me know if I can bring over anything, okay?”

Pete nodded.

“Will do.”

Luke watched them walk out, his mind still on everything his mom had said. On sabbatical from his big-time job. Right. He had to do something to end this farce. And plus, he had to see if this whole thing about interviewing for Brian’s job was for real.

He pulled out his phone.

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