Page 119 of Love & Other Disasters

They found his mom propped in bed, the television tuned to a rerun.

“In bed early?” he asked. Her eyes immediately went to Violet.

“Who did you bring?”

“Mom, this is Violet. She’s visiting from Nashville.”

“You told me?” she asked. “The girlfriend.”

“My girlfriend,” J.P. confirmed, glancing at Violet. Her pink sweater and jeans made him wish he’d had more alone time with her earlier.

“Hi, Mrs. Harper, it’s nice to meet you,” Violet said, still clinging to his arm.

“It’s Evelyn,” she replied, her voice low. “I haven’t been a Mrs. Anything in years. It was too much trouble. His dad was a nightmare, but I’ve raised him to be better. Don’t you worry. And if he’s not, tell me. I’ll set him straight.”

“Mom,” J.P. said, taken aback by the revelations about his dad. She’d never said that to him.

Violet laughed. “Don’t worry, Ms. Evelyn, we’ve had our share of bumps, but I think we’ve both learned from our mistakes.”

His heart lightened at his mom’s smile. It hadn’t made many appearances lately.

“Sit…” she motioned to the bed at her feet. “Sit and tell me all about yourself.”

Violet did as she was told, and he retrieved a chair and pulled it up next to the bed while Violet told his mom a little about herself. She moved her hands around while she spoke, and he smiled while he watched her. He’d talked to her about kids, and it didn’t freak him out. If she wanted his children, he’d like that. This must be what everyone called maturing.

He turned and locked eyes with his mom, who gave him a broad, sweet smile, and returned her attention to Violet. After a while, her lids became heavy and despite the conversation, dozed.

“We’ll be going, Mom,” he said, standing.

“Dear,” she said, grabbing Violet’s wrist.

“Yes,” Violet said, not moving.

“You will come back, right?”

“Of course.”

“Good,” she sighed, patting Violet’s hand. “Glencoe is a wonderful town, and I moved here to give my boys a lovely place to make a home.”

Violet smiled, then moved toward the door. He leaned over to kiss his mom goodbye.

“It’s so nice to see you in love,” she said.

Was it that obvious? “Huh,” he said.

His mom smiled. “I’ve been waiting for the day you bring home the one.”

“The one what?”

“The one you’re going to marry, of course. Violet.”

“Mom, I don’t know what to say,” he turned, but Violet had stepped into the hallway. “We haven’t been together all that long yet.”

“Ah, you haven’t figured it out, yet. You will. Now don’t argue with me.”

“Yes ma’am,” J.P. said, kissing her on the forehead. He found Violet at the end of the hallway in the facility living room staring out the window at the garden.

“This is a really nice place. I’m glad you could do this for her.”

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