Page 47 of Deep in Her Marrow

Those three took to my mother like a fish to water. Danny’s frown got progressively deeper as the time went on, especially when my mother told them to “Enjoy being young with great bodies. Settling down is for your thirties.”I thought Danny was going to blow a gasket, and my dad made sure to usher us out, much to the dismay of everyone but Danny.

I look back at the woman in question from my position at the counter where I’m chopping up stuff for dinner. She’s sitting at the kitchen table peeling potatoes for me and glances up when she sees me staring. “What?” she asks.

I shake my head. “I still can’t believe you told the girls to enjoy being young and to not settle down until they’re thirty.”

She shrugs. “It’s true. Youth is wasted on the young. And girls like them should be having a ton of fun.” Her hands fly over the potato, making me envious. If I ever tried to go that fast, I would be at the hospital after removing all of the skin on my fingers.

“You and Dad got married when you were like twenty,” I tell her.

“Eh, it was different times back then.”

My eyes narrow as my lips purse. “I’m not close to thirty and you’re trying to encouraging me to have babies.”

“Yes, dear, but I’m not their mother. She’s probably young enough to not want grandchildren right now. I, on the other hand, am not getting any younger and would like to still be able to get around after them without having to use a walker.” She sniffs. “You could be a little more thoughtful.”

“You’ll probably outlive me.” I roll my eyes heavenward.

“Not if I don’t have any grandbabies to keep me young,” she growls.

“Mom,” I huff, “you both are only in your very early seventies. People your age are still working full time.”

“Only fools who didn’t invest in their retirement properly,” she scowls and shakes her head. “Those dopes will be working until the day they die. Your father made sure that would never be us. We plan to enjoy our retirement and travel.”

“Good, you can take your imaginary grandchildren with you,” I grumble, although that would probably be great. Marrow and I could have weeks of being kid free.

Her eyes narrow like she can read my mind. “Absolutely not. We raised our baby. That part sucks, trust me, you’ll see one day. Now we get to spoil our grandbabies and give them right the hell back to you.”

“Good grandparents would spoil their grandkids with trips to Disney World.” I smile sweetly.

“Who’s going to Disney World?” Marrow asks while looking mildly terrified walking in from the patio with my dad on his heels. They both have been“setting up”the grill. Why that takes two of them over forty minutes to do, I’ll never know.

I smile brightly at him, enjoying his discomfort just a tiny bit. “My parents will be taking our non-existent children there so they can be the world’s best grandparents and spoil them rotten.”

“That sounds like fun,” my dad chimes in happily. He really is so mellow and easy going. I suppose he would have to be though, considering my mother is the human equivalent of a wrecking ball.

Marrow’s lips twitch; he’s eyeing my bright and innocent smile mischievously. “I’m guessing we would be left at home, since we would probably encroach on the spoiling, huh?”

I nod sadly. “Yes, we would be no fun. We would be stuck at home, all alone, child-free.”

“Like I said,” my mother huffs and throws at potato skin at me that hits me in the shoulder, “I already raised my baby. Spoiling comes in during visits that allow me to sugar them up and pass them right back to you. I am too old to deal with tantrums.”

After dinner we all sit around the fireplace in the living room, mom and I having wine while dad and Marrow each have a glass of whiskey. Yuck. That stuff smells all the way from the other end of the couch.

Marrow has been checking his phone like crazy all day. I swear it’s like every two minutes.

“Is everything okay?” I ask. “If something is happening at work, please don’t stay here with us because you think that you have to do so.” I know how hard he works to make sure that everything is perfect when it comes to his company and clients. I would hate to think that something was messed up, and he didn’t fix it because he felt obligated to stay here with my parents and me.

He looks over at me with a warm smile. “Nope, everything is fine at work.” I raise my eyebrow and look pointedly at his phone. He shakes his head with a smile. “Just a bunch of nosey asses from the club.” He rolls his eyes. “Apparently, word has gotten around about your parents being here and they’re curious.” His tone is jovial enough, but something still makes me think he’s hiding something, though I have no idea what. Just seems a bit odd that they would be texting him so much.

But I’m probably just paranoid. And after Edge and JT met my mom, I have no doubt that the rest of the guys have heard about her. He’s probably just trying to be nice and not say anything bad in front of my mom. I can only imagine how they described her, especially after she chided them for beingman sluts.I’m pretty sure that she meant manwhore, but it was definitely entertaining to watch all of those guys turn bright red.

“Okay, if you’re sure,” I say in a low voice.

“She’s right, son,” my dad says from his spot next to my mom, “don’t let us keep you from business. The world doesn’t stop just because you have some visitors. Having a good work ethic is an important quality in a man.” He starts to slur towards the end making me take a good look at him. His face is red and his eyes are glassy. Oh, Lord, he’s drunk.

“Dad,” I giggle but try to hide it behind my wine glass, “how much did you have to drink?”

“Just this and few beers before,” he says slowly, purposely so that he doesn’t slur anymore, obviously hoping to convince us he’s totally sober.

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