Page 69 of Loving You

My hand shook as I knocked on Mom’s office door. June had cringed the second I walked into the B&B, and it was such a familiar sight that I knew right away I was about to be stood up.

Well, sorry not sorry, Mom, that shit just isn’t gonna fly today.

It wasn’t onlymeshe’d stand up if she bailed. It’d also be Eric and Jenna, and there was no way in hell I’d allow that to happen. We’d decided to make the mediation just the four of us so it wasn’t as awkward, and I wasn’t about to let my mom ruin it.

“Mom, you ready?” I asked, trying to keep my anger out of my tone.

Her delicate sniff told me I hadn’t succeeded. “Change of plans, darling. I won’t be able to join you for coffee this morning. So much to do, so little time.”

I felt my control starting to slip, so I took a steadying breath. “Yep. Being a business owner is hard work. Totally get it. But you promised you’d sit down and smooth things over with Jenna, and it would mean a lot to me if you kept that promise.”

For a terrifying second, I thought she’d tell me to fuck off—in her prissy way, of course—but then she flattened her lips into a tight line and glanced at the clock. “I can spare a few minutes, I suppose.”

Wow.

Honestly, I probably would’ve handled thefuck offbetter than those particular words. It was her favorite way to tell us she kinda cared about whatever it was we wanted to speak with her about, but she was also low-key too busy to care, so we’d better make it fast.

She’d said it to May when she wanted advice on what she should major in, and I’d never forget the disappointment in my sister’s eyes when she realized how little her life goals mattered to our mom.

She’d said it to me shortly after I’d moved home, when I’d wanted to open up to her and see if she could help me pick up the pieces of my life, only to learn she wasn’t the sort of mom to sit on the bathroom floor with me and let me cry on her shoulder.

And, probably worst of all, I’d heard her say it to my dad more than once back in the day during sweet moments she should have appreciated. It’d felt like he was truly trying to make an effort to connect with her in those moments, like when he’d take a midday break and invite her to join him for lunch.

Bet that helped their shitty marriage.

“Um, yeah, no,” I sputtered, anger causing my fists to clench as hard as my teeth. I stepped deeper into the pretty, windowless room. “You’re not going tospare a few minutesfor this coffee date with the Walkers. You’re going to show up, take it seriously, and stay for as long as it takes for you and Jenna to work out your shit.”

Startled, my mom gaped at me. Well, at least I thought that was what she was doing, but the Botox made it a little tough to tell.

“April Marie, what’s gotten into you?” she asked.

“I’m tired of this, Mom, and so are the Walkers. This conversation between you and Jenna is long overdue. With Jake and Ellie’s wedding coming up, and—” I paused, briefly wondering if I should save this speech for when I had Eric as backup. “With Jake and Ellie’s wedding coming up, andotherthings that are important factors, I really need you to give this a chance. I don’t ask for much, but I’m asking for this, and I need you to cut the crap and do it.”

My mom blinked rapidly as she processed my rampage, then wordlessly picked up her Kate Spade purse and breezed past me. We didn’t speak the entire way to the coffee shop on Main—neutral territory, Eric’s brilliant idea—and when we made it to the door, I almost cried with relief when he immediately opened it for us from within.

He must have seen us coming, and when my mom walked in without so much as ahelloto him, I lifted up on my toes and gave him a hard kiss on the mouth. “My hero.”

“Opening the door qualifies as Herculean to you? I didn’t realize you were so easy to please.”

I swatted him on the chest, then my gaze wandered to the spot on the sidewalk where I’d nearly fallen off my heels when I’d spotted Cliff in the coffee shop at the start of all this.

How had so much happened since then? It felt like only yesterday.

In the time since, I’d managed to get rescued by Eric by moving into his home and fall head over way-too-high heels in love with him, and maybe because of that inevitability he’d spoken of on our date, it was impossible to imagine so much happening in such a short period of time.

Impossible, and yet…

“You ready, love?” he asked, his voice low in my ear as he leaned in. His stance was protective, almost like he could tell what I’d been remembering and wanted to get me off this sidewalk and away from the memory of that day.

Lucky for me, his presence in my life—his love for me—had all but erased the fear attached to that day. And I knew that because just as quickly as I’d realized where I was standing, I’d started thinking about my love for him.

Strengthened by that realization, I beamed up at him with a raised chin. “I’m more than ready. Let’s do this.”

He kissed my forehead and followed me inside, and we moved to the table where our moms were silently seated.

“Thanks for meeting us,” Eric said to my mother. His tone paired with the polo and slacks he wore suggested he was all business as he took a seat next to his mom and across from me.

I glanced to my left where my mom sat ramrod straight in her chair, not surprised to find her giving him an equally businesslike nod. Her smile and posture were prim as could be, whereas Jenna just looked… real.

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