Chapter 6
Xavier sat across from his sister in the dining room while their mother kept flitting back and forth from the kitchen to the table.
“Mom, sit down already.” Auggie rolled her eyes. “I told you I’d help set everything out. Come on. Take a load off.”
“You, hush. I’m nearly done.”
Xavier would have been helping, but he’d been banned from messing up her kitchen the last time he’d been over.
Their mother lived in a lovely home in Queen Anne, a two story colonial full of family memories and comfort. The house they’d grown up in, with the same large tree swing and creaky wooden floors covered by patterned runners, always felt like home, but only because their mother had made it that way.
With short, stylish, auburn hair, a trim build thanks to daily yoga and her morning walks, and a fun-loving attitude, Cynthia Hanover could always make him smile.
Though she hadn’t lived like a monk since his father had passed, she seemed to take more comfort in friends, work, and hobbies than dating.
Noel not included.
He frowned, saw his sister frown, and knew they were thinking the same thing. Noel had always insisted on sitting right next to their mother at the table. But tonight, Xavier and Auggie sat across from each other, right next to their mother. Just the three of them.
He swallowed a sigh, not wanting to see his mom dating some douche again.
Heck, he never seemed to like her boyfriends, though Noel had been more irritating and lasted longer than most. But he also acknowledged she might be lonely, especially because she kept spending so much time meddling with her twins’ social lives.
Thus he and Auggie had come up with a semi-decent list of good men to distract their mother. Time to make good use of it.
His sister kicked him under the table.
“Wait,” he whispered and glared when she nodded to their mother, who’d left her seat again, having forgotten the rolls.
After she sat and they started to eat, he decided to ease into the conversation. “Mom, this salad is delicious. And the tenderloin is fantastic. So much better than leftover pizza.” Not that he’d had that much left over after Auggie had polished off more than half of it.
“Leftover pizza? Xavier. You know how to cook. I taught you better than that.”
“Yeah, Xavier.” Auggie shook her head. “He’s just lazy, Ma.”
“And you.” Cynthia tried to frown but ended up grinning at her daughter. “Do you want me to believe you’re at home, cooking up a storm? The last time I visited, you had so many frozen dinners you could barely close your freezer door.”
“It’s a meal plan, and they’re all nutritious.”
Xavier frowned. “You’re still getting your food from that food delivery service? Gross. Everything’s all natural and frozen.”
“Natural is not a four-letter word, Xav. Neither is frozen. I also shop daily for fresh fruits and veggies, you know.”
“It’s no wonder you have no life. All your time is spent bulking up at the gym or buying supplies to bulk you up at the grocery store.” He grinned at the flush stealing up her cheeks. Auggie was so easy to rile.
“I have no life?” Auggie shot him a superior look. A warning.
Damn. Shouldn’t have teased her.
“I’m not the one who nearly had a fight with my ex’s brother. And please. Even Mom hated Christine. Why did it take you so long to break up with her?”
“Auggie,” Cynthia snapped. “I didn’t hate Christine.” Cynthia turned to Xavier. “A fight?”
He sighed and quickly explained what had happened.
“Oh, Xavier. Why did you take so long to break up with her? We all know you were miserable the past few months. What have I told you about being too nice?”
He glared at his sister, who easily ignored him, enthralled with the tomatoes she’d isolated on her plate.
“It’s not that I don’t want you to be nice,” his mom continued. “I just get scared you’ll end up with the wrong girl because you’re afraid to tell her the truth when you don’t want to commit.”
“Like Noel?” he ventured, thinking it the perfect time to change the subject. “Because we all know you cared for him. A lot. I know it hurt you to break things off with him. But Mom, you were too nice dealing with his drama and narcissism when you should have ended things a while ago.”
She sighed. “Pot calling kettle, I know.”
“Exactly,” Auggie muttered but didn’t meet their mom’s gaze.
Xavier said, “I’m not trying to be mean, Mom. But Auggie and I are worried about you.”
“Don’t be worried.” Cynthia snorted. “I’ve got more going on than both of you. And don’t think I’m unaware of your many ‘man friends,’ Augusta Hanover.”
Auggie winced.
“I know you two think I meddle. I don’t mean to. I respect both of you, and I realize how difficult it is to find someone special. Heck, maybe you’ll never get married.”
Xavier met his sister’s gaze and did his best not to laugh. Because when their mother turned all understanding, The Lecture was sure to follow.
“It’s fine if you never marry. Being independent and happy is just fine.”
Auggie subtly showed him two fingers near her plate. Yep. Two fines. There would be many more before The Lecture ended.
“Auggie, honey, the only reason I harp on starting a family with you so much is that the older you get, the more chances you have for a difficult pregnancy or problems with the baby. It’s simple biology.
But I do want you to know it’s fine with me if you choose not to have children.
I mean, it would be a shame, all your smarts and skills ending with you, not passed along to future generations. But it’s fine.”
She turned to Xavier. “And you. All that brain, that handsome smile and compassion, all of your fine qualities ending with you. You’re thirty-two, Xavier. I just don’t understand why...”
He let her words run over him while he continued to enjoy her delectable cooking, nodding or vocalizing his agreement at the appropriate times.
The Lecture ended with a whopping twenty-two fines. More than the last time.
After she’d wound down, Auggie cleared her throat. Before his sister could cut in and ruin the perfect setup for his lead-in, he kicked her under the table.
“Ow.”
Cynthia frowned. “What’s wrong, Auggie?”
Xavier answered instead. “Mom, I really do understand everything you’re saying.
” His thoughts turned to Justine. Hadn’t they just had this conversation about interfering though well-meaning parents?
“Both Auggie and I were just talking about relationships the other day. We’re trying to center ourselves, to make sure when we commit, we can give our hundred percent, because we’re happy and healthy first.”
“Makes sense.” Cynthia started eating, and he knew the worst has passed.
Auggie gave a quiet sigh, relieved as well.
“Right. But there’s something I think you’re missing.” He paused for effect. “You.”
“What? Me?”
“Yes, you. You’ve spent a lot of years making everyone else happy.
It’s time you looked out for you. We talk a lot about being healthy and positive.
You’ve got so much to give, why not try dating again?
Noel’s gone.” And good riddance. “Don’t you think it’s time you gave the dating world another try? ”
She blinked. “Really?”
“Yes. You’re only fifty-one. That’s young,” Auggie said.
“Fifty-two,” Cynthia murmured. “But, well, I don’t know. Breaking up with Noel was hard.”
“Yet that relationship showed you that you enjoy being with a partner. Noel might not have been the right one, but he wasn’t a mistake.” He said that more for his sister’s benefit than their mother’s. He hadn’t liked Noel at all, but Auggie had loathed the selfish, condescending jackass.
“That’s true,” their mom said.
“You’re always telling us to share ourselves with others, that having friends enriches our lives. Well, that applies to you too.” He paused then added what would surely fire her up, “Or are you too old to date?”
Their mother glared at him. “Too old? Boy, I’m barely fifty-two. I could have more babies if I wanted.”
“Oh, please don’t.” Auggie looked horrified.
“Shut it, you.” Cynthia pointed a finger at Auggie.
But her lips quirked. “I’m done having children, you little bonehead.
But I take your point, Xavier. I do miss having a companion to do things with.
Book club and my Bunco buddies aren’t the same.
I tell you what. I’ll get out there and try if you two will. ”
“Done.” Auggie shook their mom’s hand before Xavier could caution her not to agree too readily.
It was one thing to say they’d date, but another to prove they were.
Because their mom liked to see—with her own eyes—proof in the doing.
She’d been burned by Auggie too many times in the past to trust blindly.
“Excellent.” Cynthia smiled a little too widely at them, and Xavier wondered who had actually been manipulating who, exactly.
Auggie gave a tiny shrug. “Mom, a friend of mine wants to meet you. I was talking about you, and he asked if you were as good-looking as me, so I said, hell no. My mom’s a straight-up honey.” She laughed at Cynthia’s blush. “I’m happy to give him your number if it’s okay with you.”
Their mother looked happier. “Sure. If it’ll make you two stop nagging, then I’m all for it.”
Xavier gave her a stern look. “Nagging? Really? Because we care?”
“Don’t use that hurt look on me, boy. I perfected that pout with your father years ago.”
He grinned. “And just like Dad, you still fall for it.”
“Oh. For that, you’re doing the dishes.”
Auggie stuck out her tongue at him.
“And Auggie, you’re drying.”
“Crap.”
Xavier laughed and spent the remainder of the meal telling his mother about the latest advice cartoon he’d drawn and the bevy of Dear Aunt Truth emails they continued to receive.
But he made no mention of Justine, though she continued to remain in his thoughts throughout the meal.
And he didn’t understand why he couldn’t get the sight of her fine ass and amazing body, loosely covered in that old, overlarge tee-shirt, out of his mind’s eye.