7. Mason
7
MASON
“ H ey, Mama,” I call from the front porch before opening the screen and walking into Flora Thayer’s house. I’d long since given up waiting for her to open the door, but I hadn’t quite gotten to the just walk in the house phase either.
“Hi baby, is everything all right? You haven’t cleaned out my leftovers this week,” she says wryly as her lips pull up into a smile. She might pretend to be affronted, but I’ve learned that this woman has never made a small meal in her life. Her children are grown but she cooks for an army, and if nothing else, the lure of leftovers is enough to bring at least one of her kids or their spouses over each day.
The Thayer matriarch is all of five foot nothing with a slender frame and auburn-colored hair. She exudes warmth and comfort, and I’d let myself get swept away in her kindness—in her desire to mother me.
Something I’d never known.
It took Bodhi longer to come around, his emotional warmth hovering just around lukewarm on a good day.
Except with me.
The hounds of hell couldn’t break the bond we’d forged.
“I met a girl,” I start but pause and then correct, “a woman.”
“You did?” she asks, her blue eyes lighting up. “Well, what are we havin’ so you can tell me all about her?”
I chuckle but it’s bittersweet. So many nights I’d gone to bed hungry growing up—though often Bodhi had lied and given me his portion, saying he was full so that I would eat more. And yet, here we were years later, stable and thriving and about to indulge in a sweet treat just to gossip.
The thought is absurd, but it doesn’t make it any less true.
My brother and I made it, and I won’t ever feel guilty that we hadn’t become a statistic.
“I made bread pudding; have you tried that before?” she asks and I shake my head. She’d changed the question early on after we met from do you like to have you tried…? It was a simple adjustment of words, but the consideration and care they held was something that had nearly brought me to tears.
Because even though Bodhi and I weren’t still searching for change in the couch cushions to split something from a vending machine, we weren’t the kind to go out of our way for something extravagant.
Setting two plates down, she pours us each a cup of hot tea—another thing I’d never had until I came here—before taking the chair across from me.
“Now,” she says as I take a bite and savor the decadent cinnamon and sweet vanilla flavor, “tell me about this woman you met.”
“Lana. She’s incredible. She’s a single mom and we met doing that photoshoot thing for Hannah.”
“I remember her talkin’ about that.” She chuckles. “Gives blind date a whole new meaning.”
“I was supposed to be paired with someone else, but Hannah called that morning and said the guy she’d paired with Lana had to cancel and asked if I could fill in.” I shrug one shoulder. “It felt a lot like I was supposed to be the one.”
“I do love when that happens,” she agrees as she lifts her mug and blows on the hot liquid before taking a sip.
“I’ve never met anyone like her before—never felt that kind of pull toward another person.”
“And you said she’s a single mom?” She chuckles. “Just like my Otto. You boys have so much love to give. I think that’s why you connect with those gals.”
“She’s…a little older than I am.” Shoving the last bite in my mouth, I try to hold off for as long as I can because even though I don’t care, I know other people will. “By about eleven years.”
“How long until I get to meet her?” she asks, completely ignoring the elephant in the room.
“Not gonna comment?” I ask, unable to let it go. Flora is my sounding board, and I need this softball interaction to prepare me for all the bullshit we’ll get if Lana and I keep seeing each other.
“Would you like me to pick a fight about her age?”
“I just know there will be pushback.”
“Mason,” she says, holding her mug in both hands as she stares at me, “all of my children, those related to me and those I’ve claimed as my own,”—she raises a single eyebrow to drive that point home—“have walked a different path and have found their person when it’s suited them. If you’re askin’ if I think you’re too young to have found someone that you hope to be with long-term, the answer is no, you’re not too young.”
“Her kids are twelve and eight.”
Setting her tea down, she reaches across the table and wraps both of her hands around mine. “You don’t need me to tell you all the cruel things people might say. You’ve endured enough of that in your lifetime, and I won’t be the one who adds anything else to that pile. Your heart is big enough to love Lana and her kids if you choose to take that step. And your experience will no doubt bond you to those kids in a way others will never be able to.” I open my mouth to speak but she shakes her head. “Trust yourself to be what they need. Be a good partner for Lana, thoughtful and understanding, and show you’re listening to the things she’s saying. In turn, be a good role model for those kids, be thoughtful and understanding, and show them you’re listening to the things they’re saying.”
I don’t miss the fact that her advice applies to all of them.
“What if the kids don’t like me?”
“You’re impossible not to like, sweetheart.”
Frowning, I take a minute and try to put into words what worries me about taking this leap. “What if the kids don’t take me seriously? Or people who see us together?”
“People will always find something to judge, but that’s a reflection of them, not you, ” she says, making it sound substantially easier than it is. “If her ex-husband is a good man and things just didn’t work out, then talk to Otto and let him help you find a way to connect with the ex in a way that creates a positive environment for the kids.”
“She hasn’t talked about him much, but I don’t think that’s what we’re looking at.”
She nods, sympathy filling her gaze. “Then you be the best damn partner and role model that family has ever seen. If she’s the one for you, and you’re pulling your weight in the relationship, she’ll be just as quick to stand up for you as you are for her. And, since you let me get up on this soapbox, there is nothing wrong with learning right along with them.”
“What do you mean?”
Mama scoffs good-naturedly, like she can’t believe she has to explain this. “Lana is gonna have to learn how to be with a younger man who treats her like a queen and is a partner so she’s not caring for another child.”
“Makes sense.” I grin because I’ve been called exhausting a time or two.
“It should. She’ll probably be reluctant to accept help and she’ll be skeptical of things goin’ well—like waiting for the other shoe to drop. And her kids are going to see the way their mother is when you’re not around. Is she smiling? Is she happy? Or is she worried or stressed?”
Letting my eyelids flutter shut, I let her words sink in, the enormity of the pull I feel toward Lana weighed down by a minefield of what-ifs.
The truth is that I’d worked most of this out myself, but hearing it said out loud makes it more real—raises the stakes to something that feels unobtainable.
“She’s so incredibly lucky to have you,” Mama says quietly, my eyelids flying open as I look at her.
“What?”
Her smile is soft and full of love. “It has been a true blessing seeing you grow into such a wonderful young man. Lana is going to see the work you’re putting in for her and her family, and it’s going to be beautiful to watch.”
I’ll never regret coming here.
The thought echoes in my head as I stare at the woman who never misses a chance to build me up. The guys razz me about being an instant mama’s boy, but I’ll wear that badge proudly.
“It was worth all the days before this to finally have a mother like you.”
Tears fill her eyes as she gets up from her seat and moves around the table. I stand too and embrace her as she wraps her arms around me and squeezes.
“It is an honor to be your mama,” Flora whispers and I hold her tighter, relishing in the way it feels to have such high praise bestowed on me. “I love you so very much.”
“I love you too,” I say before releasing her, my eyes a little misty too.
“Now,” she starts after clearing her throat, “what can I pack for you and Bodhi? Make sure he’s the one who brings back the containers. I haven’t seen him in so long I barely remember what he looks like.”
I chuckle. “I’ll be sure to let him know his presence is required.”
Mama shakes her head as she hands me a tote bag with half a dozen containers. “That’s not subtle. Your brother and I keep a very delicate balance. I like to give him a little nudge so he doesn’t become a hermit over there, but I also want to respect his desire for solitude. He knows he doesn’t have to be the one to bring these back, but when he does, it’s like a small win for both of us.”
Crushing her to me, I drop a kiss to her head and thank the stars above for dropping us in the middle of such an incredible town.