Page 64 of Under My Skin
“Oh. We’re not—it’s not—I’m just in town for a few days.”
She nods but doesn’t seem discouraged in the slightest.
“I’m just here to pack up my childhood bedroom.”
“Right,” she says, but nothing about her demeanor has changed.
“And then I’m leaving.”
“Mhm.”
“Back to Denver.”
“I hear it’s beautiful there.”
My mouth opens, but I have no idea what she’s playing at. There’s no way she couldknowsomething happened between Everett and me last night . . . could she? I take another sip of my water. “It really is.”
The conversation stalls, and for the first time since getting here I wish Everett would hurry up and finish whatever he’s doing. The way his mom is looking at me like she knows more about my life than I do is making me a little uneasy.
“You know,” she finally says as she sets down her drink. “I don’t know you very well, but I know my son.” Lowering her voice, she points up in the direction Everett disappeared to a little while ago. “And he does not bring girls to my house. I didn’t evenmeet his ex until they decided to move in together and he couldn’t hide her from me anymore.”
My eyes jump to the top of the staircase even though Everett is still out of sight. Hearing his mom talk about his past makes me wish I knew more.
“To be fair, I offered to come with him today.” I let out a light laugh. “I basically invited myself.”
“That may be,” she answers simply. “But the fact that you’re sitting here tells me he’s different with you. Even if it’s not like that and you’re leaving.”
I want to point out that maybe he’s different with mebecausehe knows I’m not staying. There’s no risk of me hanging around longer than I should. Before I can say anything though, Everett’s footsteps create a steady rhythm overhead. My eyes jump to the top of the stairs again, this time to find him making his way downstairs.
He pauses when he sees we’ve both stopped talking, and instead, our focus has shifted to him. His eyes lock on his mother. “What did you do?”
“Nothing!” she says with her hands in the air. “We had a great chat.” She winks at me before grabbing her drink and heading for the kitchen.
Everett watches her go, then blows out a breath and heads down the rest of the stairs with a shake of his head. Seeing his discomfort somehow eases my own, and by the time he reaches me, I’m biting back a smile. “Hey.”
He cranes his neck to look in the direction his mom went. “Hey.”
“Everything fixed?”
Everett looks back at me, his expression softening. “I think so.” The sound of running water comes from the kitchen, and he lowers his voice as he points a finger between the kitchen and me. “Was thisweird?”
“A little,” I say with a laugh. “But I like your mom. She’s got spunk.”
Everett huffs out a breath as he scratches the side of his jaw. “Yeah, she’s got something.” He puts his hands in his pockets and nods over his shoulder toward the door. “Ready to go?”
“Sure.”
As I get to my feet, Nancy comes back into the living room. “Heading out?” she asks. Her voice is light, but her eyes dim with disappointment.
Everett runs a hand over his hair. “Uh, yeah. Lucy has some work she needs to get done.”
I look at him, but his eyes stay fixed on his mother. I don’t mind that he’s using me as an excuse to leave. He’s not lying. I’ve already sent my client an email promising I’d get them the final files by the end of the day.
“Of course,” Nancy says with a sincere smile. “Well, it was great seeing you.” Her eyes linger on Everett for a moment before falling on me as she adds, “Both of you.”
“Thanks,” I say. “It was great seeing you, too.”
She nods to my response, but then her eyes pull to her tall son standing next to me. “Do you know if you’ll be back soon?”
