Page 15 of So Right
“You both look like you just showered,” she said, glancing back and forth between them. “Did you just get home from work?”
Jamie answered between bites. “Yep.”
Mom frowned. “It’s eight o’clock. You boys work too much.”
Uh-oh, here it came. Luke braced himself as he slid a look toward his brother. Jamie cast his gaze to the ceiling very briefly before sending a brilliant smile toward Mom. “We’re young and single. What else should we be doing? Perhaps you’d like it better if we went clubbing or maybe dabbled in drugs?”
Mom’s gaze turned icy for a moment, then she waved her hand again. “You’re kidding. Stop that. You said it yourself: you’re both single. I can hardly believe that your brother is getting married before either one of you.”
No one could believe it. Cameron had gone through a bitter breakup after college, and it had taken him the better part of eight years to finally move on. He’d done a lot of clubbing, actually, but no drugs.
Luke picked up his beer and raised it in a toast. “Yay for Cam.”
Mom folded her arms across her chest and pursed her lips at both of them. “You’re both nice boys. Why aren’t you even dating? There are plenty of lovely young women in Ribbon Ridge.”
Jamie gave Luke a wide-eyed glance that said he clearly didn’t agree with that assessment. Luke fought not to laugh. Ribbon Ridge was a small town. Yes, there were lovely young women here, but “plenty” was perhaps a stretch. An image of Kelsey popped into Luke’s head. She was lovely. And young. And very much a woman.
Jamie served himself another helping of lasagna. “Maybe one of us will beat Cam to the altar. They haven’t set a wedding date yet.”
“Good point,” Luke said before crunching a bite of salad. “One of us could have a whirlwind romance and elope.”
Jamie nodded. “Like Sean and Tori.”
Sean Hennessy and Tori Archer had done just that and kept their marriage secret for months. Luke grinned at their mother, knowing they were torturing her but not able to stop himself. “Hell, maybe one of us is already married.”
Now it was Mom’s turn to roll her eyes. “You’re both terrible.” She speared Luke with a sharp look. “Whatever happened with Paige? She was nice.”
Luke forked up a bite of lasagna. “She was. She still is, I’m sure.”
Mom cocked her head to the side. “Then why did you break up exactly?”
“Because I moved here, and long-distance relationships suck?” Luke didn’t want to talk about Paige or why they hadn’t worked out. Mom would just pester him even more. “You have to let that go, Mom. Paige and I simply didn’t work out. I’m fine with that. You should be too.”
She exhaled. “I suppose.” She turned to Jamie. “And you, why aren’t you and Madison seeing each other anymore?”
Jamie shrugged. “We simply didn’t work out.” He winked at Luke as he picked up his beer, and Luke rushed to sweep his bottle from the table so they could toast each other.
“I think you’re ganging up on me,” Mom said, clearly growing frustrated.
Jamie set his beer down and reached over to touch her elbow. “We’re sorry. We’re just giving you a hard time, which is kind of what you’re doing. We’re both busy with work right now. We’re happy. We’re healthy. It’s all good.”
“I know. Is it so bad that I just want to see all my boys settled?” She unfolded her arms and patted Jamie’s shoulder.
Jamie finally served himself some salad, albeit a rather small helping. “You mean married. We’re quite settled, right, Luke?”
Luke wasn’t sure he agreed with that, not with their current living arrangement. He loved his brother, but he liked his own space. That he’d endured having him for a roommate for two years kind of blew his mind. However, time and money had factored into the decision to stay together. For now. Luke was just about done.
Feeling suddenly claustrophobic, he stood up and took his plates to the sink. He rinsed them and put them in the dishwasher, leaving it open as an unsubtle hint that Jamie should do the same. He wasn’t great at cleaning up after himself.
Mom stood. “I’ll go. Enjoy your lasagna. I’ll pick up the pan next week.” She grabbed the empty casserole tote and leaned down to kiss Jamie’s cheek.
Luke moved away from the dishwasher. “I’ll walk you out.”
She smiled at him. “Thanks.”
He held the door for her and closed it behind him once they were outside. The fall evening was cool, but not uncomfortably so. The scent of crisp, dry leaves and a fire from some farmer’s property filled the air.
“I’m sorry if I annoyed you,” she said as she used her remote to unlock her mini-SUV.
