that blown away by the wedding. All that work and they just shrugged it off. In fact, my friend Annabelle spent most of yesterday morning talking about the wedding she was going to have for her own children when they got married—and they’re not even engaged.”
“Did your friends even call to check on you after what happened at the brunch?”
Charlie would have bet money they hadn’t, but Donna nodded. “They actually were great. They came together and planned a big get-together last night for dinner. They knew I was upset and didn’t want me to be alone.”
“Sounds like some pretty good friends,” Charlie commented.
She thought of her own friendships, including Brooke. Charlie tended to get stuck in her routine, only getting together with friends when it was planned in advance. Even then, things seemed pretty superficial. She was guilty of not being there for other people, and it was something she needed to work on.
“They are,” Donna said. “They say I need to have a heart to heart with Nicholas. But I want you to do me a favor.”
Charlie was almost afraid to ask. “What?”
“Talk to my son. If you have feelings for him, let him know. Give him a chance to at least decide.”
Charlie opened her mouth to argue but immediately closed it again. Donna was making the same point Brooke had, in essence. By not telling Nicholas how she felt, she wasn’t giving him a chance to reject her. But she wasn’t giving him a chance to tell her he felt the same, either. And if she held back out of fear, she’d never know.
“You know what? I think I’ll have some bread. Why not?”
Smiling at Charlie, Donna reached into the breadbasket and pulled out the biggest roll of all.
20
“Come on in,” Nicholas said sarcastically, but he was smiling as he stood in his foyer, greeting his mother who had just waltzed right into his home. He’d unlocked the door as soon as she buzzed in at the gate, but people typically knocked or rang the doorbell once they were on his front porch.
“You cooked?” Donna asked, looking shocked. It made him wish he could say yes, he’d spent the entire afternoon in the kitchen rather than on the phone with his distributors, working out an issue. But he couldn’t say that.
“I had it catered,” he answered instead.
That was the language his mom spoke. She wouldn’t relate to him saying he’d ordered up food using an app one of his favorite colleagues developed and had it delivered to his front door.
“I see.”
She followed him into his dining room, which he rarely used these days. He was too busy working, not to mention attending weddings and high school reunions.
“Smells delicious.” Donna eyed the table setup as she walked to the place setting all the way at the end of the table. It wasn’t that long a table, but he’d made sure to put the two settings at either end to keep some distance between them.
One problem with that. “I guess we’ll have to do this like a buffet,” Nicholas commented, looking at the food he’d set in the center of the table. It would be unreachable to either of them.
“I have a great live-in housekeeper.”
“Patrice. I know. I’ve met her.”
Donna picked up her plate and headed to the center of the table. Meanwhile, Nicholas stood back, slightly amused at the sight of his mother spooning green beans onto her plate. She looked like a mismatch for the scene, with her designer pink silk skirt suit and ornate jewelry.
“I’m sure she could recommend someone who could help out around here.”
There his mom went again, meddling.
“I have someone who comes in every day,” he said, hoping to put a quick end to it. “She takes care of everything while I’m at work. I wouldn’t want someone living here with me. That’s just…”
He started to say creepy but stopped himself. If that was how his mom preferred things, who was he to make her feel bad about it? Instead, he stepped forward and started filling his plate while his mother moved to take her seat.
“I owe you a huge apology,” he said as soon as his butt hit the chair, plate full of food. There was no point in making small talk for the next half hour or so while he waited for the right time to have a serious discussion. Maybe they could talk about this and get it out of the way, then go on to better things.
Nicholas picked up