Читать книгу The Good Mother - Shelley Galloway - Страница 11

August was on the phone with his accountant, but all he could think about was Evie.

He’d started a list of activities to entertain her and her two girls. And before he deluded himself into thinking it was for old time’s sake, he admitted the plain and simple truth: he wanted to be near her.

In fact, there was no way he was going to be within a mile of Evie Ray and not do his best to be in her presence. There was still a spark between them that had him thinking about pulling her into the shadows and kissing her.

Looking at his calendar, August saw that she’d already been there a full week and he’d only seen her a few times. Though his schedule looked busy, there was nothing on it that couldn’t be changed for more fun activities.

Maybe Evie would want to take the girls to the putt-putt course.

“August, need anything else?”

August couldn’t recall the last five things his accountant had told him. “Nope. I’ll be in touch if I think of something we forgot to discuss. Thanks for the phone call, Steve,” he said before disconnecting the call as fast as he could.

When blessed silence surrounded him, he stared at his notes again. Maybe he’d ask Evie if she wanted to go on a cruise around the bay with the girls.

“August? August, you busy?”

He looked up to see his mom hovering outside his door. He stood. “What’s up, Mom?”

“My bridge game was over early. Pat Kampf is sick.”

August couldn’t even remember all of his mother’s friends who were in poor health. “How are you feeling?”

“Good.” She waved a hand. “I have some business to discuss.”

“Okay.” Slowly he sat back down as his mom crossed to one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Do you need something?”

“Money.”

This was unchartered territory. His mom had her own accounts, but had invested the bulk of her money in August’s name in case something happened to her. August had agreed to the arrangement reluctantly…only with the knowledge that his mother could have free and easy access to the funds whenever she wanted.

But this was the first time in two years that she’d ever asked. “Okay.” He got out his checkbook. “How much do you need?”

To his surprise, she looked taken aback. “You’re not going to grill me?”

“You’re my mother. Of course I’m not going to ask you questions about why you need money. Besides, we both agreed you were in charge of your own funds, right?”

“Right. But this might be different.” She hedged. “It’s a lot.”

August tried to keep his voice light, though inside he was really curious. What the devil was going on? “I assumed it was, since you saw the need to ask me and all.”

“This is hard. I don’t know how you’re going to react.”

Absently twirling the pen in between his fingers, he looked his mother over a little more carefully. Now he was getting worried. Was she sick? “How much do you need, Mom?”

“Three thousand dollars.”

He dropped his pen. Warily, he raised his head. His mother was sitting there across from him, rigid and tense, obviously begging for a fight.

He was frightened enough to let her have one. Was her insurance not paying for her drugs the way they’d planned on? “What happened? Are you sick?”

She rolled her eyes. “Honestly, August. I’m fine. This money is for…personal reasons.”

Huh? “Mom—”

“You said you wouldn’t interfere.”

“That’s before I knew you wanted three thousand dollars.” And before she was acting so strange.

She bit her lip. “It’s not for me. Not, really.”

“What is it for?”

“A club.”

“What kind of club?”

“A social one. August, there’s no other way to tell you this but straight out.” She took a deep breath and plunged in, saying the words in a jumbled mess. “For your information, I’m joining Harmonious Haven.”

Harmonious Haven. The singles club advertised during late-night syndicated shows on Channel 12. Couple after couple were highlighted, each looking more fit, handsome and romantic than the last. The couples made the matchmaking Internet site sound like the best thing since sliced bread, but August knew it had to be a scam.

Falling in love was never that easy.

Before he could think twice, all of August’s good intentions about being supportive of his mother went out the window. “Mom—”

“Don’t you ‘Mom’ me. I know what I’m doing.”

“It doesn’t sound like it.” Before he thought better of it, he said, “What happened to Dad?”

“Your father is buried at Park Hill, thank you very much.”

August blinked, amazed at just how much her words could hurt. “He’s barely been gone a year.”

“He was sick for a long time before that.”

“And your point is?”

His mother jabbed one French-manicured finger toward him. “Watch your mouth.”

“Watch my mouth? You watch yourself.”

“I need companionship.”

Companionship? Was she talking about sex? For a split second, he recalled the last time he and Erin had gone to bed. When had that been? Two months ago? Three?

It felt like a hell of a long time. “It’s not my business if you want to join Harmonious Haven,” he said slowly, doing his best to try and forget about his own lack of love life and focus on his mother’s. “I just think this is coming from out of the blue.”

“For you, maybe. For me, I’ve been thinking about joining for a while. I’ve been surfing the Web site.”

“Surfing?” When had she gotten so computer-savvy?

She continued as though he’d never spoken. “I even called the number and asked some questions. HH is a member of the Better Business Bureau.”

Now that he thought about it, his mother looked…fresh. Like she’d gone somewhere besides Suzy’s Salon to get her hair done. Like she’d gone to one of those fancy counters at the mall and gotten her makeup refreshed. Like she got one of those BOTOX injections and was looking better for it.

It all made him a little squeamish. “You’ve got a heart condition.”

“But it’s still beating, August.”

“But—”

“I’m better, August,” she said more gently. “The doctors say I’m better. I feel better. I’m ready to do things again. That’s why I need to join now.”

Somewhere in the back of his mind, August realized just how hard it must have been for his mom to have to come to him for money. And to tell him the truth. After all, she certainly didn’t owe him any explanations.

Picking up the pen again, he said, “Is three thousand enough?”

“It’s enough.”

August pretended he didn’t notice that her eyes were shining. That she looked…happy. Signing the check, he handed it to her. “Will you be mad if I asked you to be careful?”

Her eyes softened and she stood, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’d be sad if you didn’t care. Thank you, dear.”

When he was alone again, August picked up the phone and started dialing Evie’s phone number. Obviously it was time to take some risks.