Her smile faltered. “And definitely no husband?”
Tom cleared his throat, loudly.
“Just checking,” exclaimed Renee. “Sorry. I won’t say another word about it. I promise.”
Patrick rubbed at his face with one hand.
“I can understand why you’d have reservations,” I said. “Your son getting engaged all of a sudden to a woman you’ve never even met.”
“It has been a little nerve-wracking,” agreed Renee in a quiet voice.
“I made her dinner on our first date,” said Patrick, in a valiant effort to distract them. His boot tap, tap, tapped against the floor. Talk about stressed.
“You made me dinner?” I asked, ignoring his parents for the moment. “You?”
“Don’t you remember?”
“I do, I do. It’s just . . . is made really the right word?” I gave him a teasing smile. “I mean, you put reheatable meals in the oven.”
Amusement filled his gaze. “I said what I said.”
“Your intentions were pure, I’ll give you that.”
“Thanks, cupcake,” he said in his usual dry tone. His shoulders had eased down some and the lines of tension on his face relaxed just a little.
“Cupcake? Oh, no. There’s no way I’m answering to that.”
“No?” A small smile graced his mouth. And just for a moment there was him and me and some breathing room. Thank God for that. “But you’re sweet as a cupcake. Pretty as one.”
I laughed. “It’s awful. But thank you for the compliments.”
“Hmm. I guess we’ll see.”
It was me and Patrick Walsh against the world. Or at least presenting as a united front against his parents. Which was nice. Very nice.
“I tried to get him interested in cooking, Norah,” said Renee, taking charge of the conversation once more. “It never worked. Unlike Abby, our middle child. She is a baker and a half, that girl. Her cinnamon scrolls are second to none.”
Tom nodded in placid agreement.
“Abby is the veterinarian,” said Patrick. “Remember I told you all about her and my other sister? About our whole family history, really. And I showed you all of those pictures, too.”
“Oh, yes,” I lied. Way for the man to throw me in the deep end. If we’d been sitting at a table I’d have stomped his foot. Honestly. “I remember now. Of course I do. We’ve talked about so many deep and personal things. I just kind of forgot there for a minute.”
“That’s okay,” said the jerk with a smirk. At least he was enjoying himself.
“Lord only knows what Patrick has told you. I’ll just take it from the top. Our youngest is Emily. She’s married to Guadalupe and they have one-year-old twins. Would you like to see pictures?” In no time at all, Renee retrieved her cell from her handbag and shoved said pictures under my nose.
“Those are some very cute babies.”
“Aren’t they just?” She smiled. “Look at those little faces. Don’t they make you want—”
“Stop,” barked Patrick. “Mother. We talked about this.”
“Sorry. Sorry. I solemnly swear to not raise the topic of you two having babies again.” Renee put the cell away. “This visit.”
Patrick just sighed.
But her husband bit back a smile. “Nice save, sweetie. You just can’t help yourself, can you?”
Holy hell. My uterus had never been under so much pressure to perform. Also, I found it interesting that Tom always seemed to refer to his wife as sweetie. Guess that’s where Patrick came by his penchant for pet names.
“What line of work are you in, Norah?” asked Tom.
“She’s a waitress,” said Renee. “I read those news articles to you, remember?”
“Yes, I am. Or I was.” I forced a smile on my face. “I, ah . . .”
“She’s taking some time off right now to be with me,” said Patrick. “But she’s been thinking about doing some online college courses.”
“Great idea,” enthused Renee.
“I’m still looking into it.” I nodded. “It wouldn’t have worked, me being at the restaurant with all of the media interest in your son and me.”
“No, of course not,” said Tom. “They’re damn vultures, aren’t they?”
Renee shook her head. “We even had some outside our house after all of that nonsense that we’re not talking about happened. It was awful.”
“I’m sorry, Mom.” Patrick’s frown was back in place. Dammit.
“Yes, well . . . we all survived.” Renee crossed her arms. “The media are a necessary evil, unfortunately. They’re not going to go away for as long as Paddy’s in the business of making movies. Will you be able to handle that?”
“Yes,” I said.
They both waited for more. Sheesh. Even Patrick just watched me.
“I’m not saying I like or enjoy it.” I shrugged. “And I’m