Page 49 of Give Me Forever

My eyes widened. “Whoa, where did this come from?"

"I bought it. You need to eat."

"Yes, sir. Yes."

His eyes flashed, and his nostrils flared.

Okay, I don't want to know what just went through his mind.I had a few ideas, but I didn’t need them confirmed. "Are you going to eat with me?"

"I already did in the kitchen. I didn't want to disturb you."

“Sam, you wouldn't be disturbing me."

"Let me correct that—distractyou. I'm doing my best to keep my word, Avery."

"Thanks for that."

I pushed my laptop away and started eating. It was nine o'clock, so I could probably call it a day anyway.

A vibrating noise made me aware that my phone was ringing somewhere in the room.

"That's mine. I don't know where I put it," I said, looking around.

"It's on the kitchen counter," Sam said, grabbing it. "Hey, it's your mom. Here you go." He stretched his hand toward me, but then we both heard Mom's voice.

Sam’s eyebrows rose. "I might have accidentally accepted the call." Then he grinned, putting my phone to his ear.

I jumped to my feet.

"Good evening," he said in his most charming tone.

"Sam!" I heard Mom exclaim. "How are you doing?"

“I was just about to hand the phone to Avery. She's fine. Working even more than me this week."

I rolled my eyes. "That's not possible."

"I'm trying to take care of her, make sure she eats and doesn't exhaust herself. How are you, Mrs. Sinclair?" He smiled, and it was genuine. "That's good to know. Okay, I'll give Avery the phone. She's throwing daggers at me with her eyes."

I snatched the phone from him. "Hey, Mom," I said, walking a few feet away.

"Darling, you're going to burn out."

Mom was always afraid of that. I’d had a few burnouts while I was trying to hold things together when she was sick. She knew me too well.

"Don’t worry. I have a tight deadline this week, and I'm determined to make it work. Then I’ll relax."

"You ignored my calls yesterday, sweetie. Are you sure everything’s okay?"

"Oh my God, I did? I didn't even realize that. I’m sorry."

"See what I mean? Don’t overdo it, honey.”

“How are you feeling, Mom? Your checkup is coming soon, right? Don't forget about it."

She'd been sick with lymphoma all those years ago, and though she was considered completely healthy after five years, she still did bloodwork checkups twice a year.

"Yes. Don't you worry about that. Now tell me, how is living with Sam?"

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