Mother, Please! - By Brenda Novak & Jill Shalvis & Alison Kent Page 0,83
nodded, decided to go for broke. “A man for whom your mother holds a great deal of, uh, affection.”
“Affection?” Avery snorted. “What the hell is that supposed to mean, affection? You think she’s having an affair?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“But it’s what you think.”
In the minute David took to reply, Avery was out of her chair, arms crossed tightly over her chest as she paced the floor of red-and-white kitchen tiles.
“Your mother has been alone for five years, Avery.”
“My mother loves my father.”
He ground his jaw, refusing to grab her and shake her out of the past and into the very real present. “No one is saying that she doesn’t. But your father is gone, and your mother is very much alive.”
Avery stopped in front of the sink, closing her eyes and hugging her arms to her middle as if she feared falling apart. He pushed out of his chair and went to her, refusing to back away even when she turned her head.
“Look at me, Avery.” He waited patiently until she did, until she opened her eyes and brought her chin up defiantly. Only then did he place his hands on her shoulders and squeeze. “Your mother is a beautiful, vibrant woman. Don’t tell me you’ve never seen the way men look at her.”
Avery kept her lips pressed tightly together.
“Fine. Don’t tell me anything. I’ll tell you.” If not for her stubborn refusal to face the truth, he would’ve been gentler. But her unwillingness to open her eyes and see, truly see those around her had gone on years too long.
“There’s an assistant principal at the junior high who can’t keep from smiling when he sees her. There’s a maintenance worker who brings her flowers every Monday. There’s a school-board member, a widower, who times his frequent arrivals on campus with your mother’s. And he always has fresh coffee and breakfast from your bakery when he does.”
Avery’s eyes widened like saucers. “Robert Brown? He’s taking those muffins to my mother? She doesn’t even like blueberry.”
“She eats them. I’ve seen her. They sit in a corner of the faculty lounge and giggle like they’re thirteen years old.” When he felt her shoulders slump, he worked to massage away the rest of the tension. And then he wrapped her up in his arms and pulled her to his chest.
“It’s just so hard to imagine,” she said, her voice muffled by the fabric of his shirt. “I didn’t think she’d ever get over losing Daddy.”
“Maybe you’re the one who’s never gotten over it.”
She shook her head where it rested against him. “No, I’m doing okay. I miss him, yes. But the memories now are good ones, and the hurt isn’t quite as bad.”
He took a deep breath. “That wasn’t what I was saying.”
Avery pulled back far enough to look up. Her blue eyes were bright but blessedly dry. “I don’t get it.”
He stroked a hand down her hair. “Maybe you’ve never gotten over the idea of your mother not having your father. Maybe you can’t see her as a woman who might still respond to a man who finds her attractive.”
“Well,” she said, the corner of her mouth crooking upward. “I don’t often think of my mother and sex at the same time.”
David chuckled. “I’m sure Suzannah appreciates that.”
Rubbing her fingertips over her temples, Avery stepped back and out of David’s embrace. “Leslie. A man. How stupid of me not to notice the lack of pronouns. That’s the sort of sneaky thing that happens when one’s mother is an English teacher.”
“I think that’s what happens when one’s mother is afraid of her daughter’s reaction to the new man in her life,” David offered softly as Avery returned to the table.
“Why would she be afraid?”
“Because she doesn’t want you to be hurt that she’s moving on with her life.”
“So what do I do now?” she asked, pouring wine into her glass until it reached the brim.
He wasn’t quite depraved enough to suggest she strip and join him on the table, so he simply asked, “Start planning Saturday’s menu?”
She snorted. “Oh, well, thanks for that.”
He waited until she’d taken a long swallow before moving in behind her and nuzzling her neck. “Then why don’t we pop in a DVD and cuddle on your couch.”
“Cuddle?” she asked, arching her neck to give him better access.
“Yeah, cuddle. Make out,” he growled as he tasted her skin.
She turned in his arms. “You want popcorn?”
“Nope. I just want you.” He leaned down to show her exactly how much…rolling