Chapter Twenty-Two RUSSELL
Chapter Twenty-Two
RUSSELL
“I don't know,” Janet said. She looked over at me, cocking her head to the side. “Why are you asking?”
“Paisley's my roommate, and I work with her,” I said, shifting my shoulders slightly.
Janet narrowed her eyes. “You're being nosy. That's not really a guy thing.”
“Sorry to break it to you, but you're nosy.”
Janet shrugged unabashedly. “I am, but that's my thing. I run a coffee shop, and I have to stay up to speed on any rumors. I consider myself the unofficial mother of everyone who comes in here.”
I recognized Graham's laughter as he approached from behind me. “That you do. Does Russell need some mothering?”
I rolled my eyes. “No, my own mother does plenty. Not that I mind you mothering me,” I rushed to add.
Janet grinned. “I know you don’t. You’re a good boy. Let me start that coffee.”
“What’s up?” Graham asked as he rested his hip against the counter.
“I’m getting coffee. What about you?”
“Same,” he replied with a shrug. At that moment, the door to the café opened, and his girlfriend entered with his daughter.
“Group outing?”
Graham smiled. “Always.” Madison and Allie had stopped as Allie pointed at something on the screen of her phone.
“You seem pretty happy these days,” I commented.
Graham looked at me, curling his lips in a slow smile. “I am.”
I grinned and cuffed him on the shoulder. “You deserve it, man. Madison’s awesome and good for you. You’ve even been nicer since she’s been around.”
Graham dipped his chin, shrugging a little sheepishly. “I suppose I am.”
“She and Allie seem to be getting along well,” I observed as I glanced over at them.
“They are,” he agreed.
“Are you officially moving in together yet?” I teased lightly just as Janet passed my coffee to me across the counter. I fished out some cash, handing some to her and stuffing several bills in the tip jar. “If there's any change, you can put the rest in there,” I added.
Janet nodded, and Graham glanced at her. “My usual.”
Janet winked. “I’ll start it and wait for the girls to order.”
“I'm covering everything,” Graham noted.
Graham looked back at me. “We’re not officially moving in together, but I suppose we might as well.”
“You were gonna do some work on your place anyway, weren't you?”
“I was planning on it. We're right next door to Madison, so we'll figure out what works best.”
At that moment, Madison and Allie made their way to us. “Hey, Russell,” Allie said, bouncing lightly on her feet.
Madison smiled. “Good morning. Did you already order for us?”
Graham shook his head. “I didn't know what you wanted.”
Janet chuckled as she handed Graham his coffee. “What will it be, ladies? I know it'll be some kind of hot chocolate for Allie.”
While they ordered, I happened to look over when Graham slid his arm around Madison's waist. Even though they were a new couple, the intimacy between them was clear. It was good to see Graham with her. He was an absolutely solid guy who’d been raising his daughter by himself since a mere month after she was born.
A hollow feeling passed through my chest. I hadn't been walking around craving a relationship, but just now watching them together, I wondered what it might be like to have that. Of course, the only woman I could think of was Paisley.
My cell phone buzzed, and I glanced down to see a text from my mother, asking me if I could stop by. She needed help moving some furniture in the house, so that would give me something to do. I said my goodbyes and left.
I hadn't counted on my mother bringing up relationships or her opinion of my lack thereof in that regard. My mom was turning one room into her sewing room and needed more light. I was only halfway through moving the guest bedroom furniture from one bedroom to another when she asked if I’d gone on any dates lately.
I looked over at her. “Seriously, Mom?” I grunted as I shouldered through the door with a small dresser in my arms. I set it down by the wall where she’d already directed me.
“What's wrong with me asking about your dating life?”
“Nothing’s wrong with it. It's just annoying. In fact, it makes me less likely to share anything about it if you want me to be honest.”
My mother sighed. She wrinkled her nose, pressed her lips in a line, and rolled her eyes for good measure. “Fine. Don't let yourself get too old.”
“Jesus, Mom. I'm only thirty-one. That's not exactly old.”
“When I was your age, you were already seven.”
“Well, people got married a lot younger and had kids a lot younger back then,” I countered.
“Graham has Allie,” she offered pointedly.
“Oh, my God, Mom. Graham has Allie because he got his girlfriend pregnant in high school.
Don't get me wrong, he's an incredible dad, but I doubt that's what you were hoping I was planning on.
Also, it's too late for that because I'm well past high school. Dad lectured me about birth control more than once and used Graham as an example for crying out loud.”
My mother laughed. “Very true. How is it working out with Paisley at the lake house?”
She had that tone, one I knew well. She was trying to be all casual, but my mom was terrible about that. She was totally being nosy.
“Paisley’s fine. Anything else you want to know about Paisley while you're asking?”
My mom shrugged slightly, looking out the windows like she didn’t even care about our conversation, which I knew was bullshit. “Do you mind having her at the lake house?”
I walked past my mom and down the hallway to fetch her new sewing table from the garage. When I returned a moment later, I replied, “Of course I don’t mind her at the house.”
I wasn't about to fill my mom in on the details of just how little I minded having Paisley around. Of course, thinking about Paisley brought back that call with her brother and her reluctance to even talk about him.
“Well, I'm glad it’s working out for her to be there. You know how hard it is to find a rental around here in the winter.”
“It's hard all the time, Mom,” I pointed out.
She nodded. “I know. Thank you for dealing with the water heater guy.”
“Of course. Switching to the on-demand water heater is a good move. It will definitely save us some money on heating expenses.”
My mom's phone rang, distracting her and leaving me to put everything away on my own. I was just finishing up when my phone buzzed again. I glanced down at the screen, surprised to see a text from Paisley.
Paisley: What kind of beer did you want me to get at the store?
I chuckled. She was not a fan of beer. I quickly typed out a response. As I slid my phone back in my pocket, I realized it made me way too happy to have her pick up beer for me. There was an intimacy to mundane errands.
Fuck. Things were feeling complicated.