My heart skipped and I stared at her, knowing where this was going but I didn’t get a chance to say anything before Mom carried on.
“We don’t have it yet, we’re getting it customized so it’ll take some time but, you see, now we can come up here for the summers!” she cried.
“Nellie –” Steve started.
“Mom –” I said.
“I just hope Steve can get it up that mountain but if he can, we’ll hook it up to the side of Max’s house. It’ll be perfect.”
“Nellie –” Steve started again.
“Mom –” I repeated.
Mom waved her hand in front of her face and kept talking. “You’ll be close again. I just love this. It’s perfect.”
“Mom –” I said yet again.
“Nellie,” Steve said over me, “they’ll just be starting out.”
“Pish posh. Starting out. They act like they’ve been married for years and anyway, Max loves me,” she declared. “And he’s a man’s man, like you. You can help him chop wood for the winter and, I don’t know, other man stuff.”
Steve stared at Mom for several seconds then looked back to me. “Don’t worry, doll. I saw a brochure at that hotel for an RV park. We’ll haul the car up with us and hook up there.”
“No we won’t,” Mom told Steve.
“Yes, Nellie, we will,” Steve told Mom.
“No, darling, we won’t. I want to be close to my Neenee Bean,” Mom shot back.
Jesus, I forgot how much I like your Mom, Charlie said in my head, sounding amused, and I rolled my eyes.
“Mom –” I began but Steve again spoke over me.
“We’re not, love. We’ll come up, we’ll stay a few weeks but we’ll hook up at the park, give them privacy.”
“There’s enough privacy with us in the RV outside Max’s house,” Mom retorted then looked at me. “Though, we’ll probably use your bathroom and, maybe, your kitchen.”
I sighed.
Steve spoke. “Nellie, it’s not gonna happen.”
“It is.”
“No,” Steve said in a firm way that couldn’t be denied, even by my Mom, “it isn’t.”
Mom glared at Steve knowing, by Steve’s tone, there was no way she was going to get her way. Steve calmly accepted her glare. Trudy arrived with four coffees.
“Thank you,” I said to Trudy and tried not to smile at the realization that Mom had her Max. I’d been happy for her when she found Steve. Now, understanding, I was ecstatic.
Max came back and slid into the booth beside me while I poured milk in my coffee.
“Today’s plans have changed, babe,” he announced before taking a sip of his and I looked at him.
“Plans?” I asked, not knowing we actually had plans.
“Yeah, gotta be at George’s in an hour.”
“George’s?” I queried.