Chapter 12
TWELVE
The situation was quickly spiraling out of Cormac’s control. He watched Lucy introduce herself, her hesitant smile lighting the warmth in her brown eyes.
“I’m Victoria, but all my friends call me Vicky,” his mother said, sweeping down the flagstones to curl an arm around Lucy’s elbow. “Now, tell me, how did you and my son meet?”
Lucy’s smile turned a bit panicked. “I think you might have gotten the wrong impression, actually,” she started, but Cormac’s mother would not be deterred.
“I got the exact right impression,” Vicky insisted, spearing her son with an incisive glance. “The exact right impression. Now. Do you prefer coffee or tea? My neighbor just brought over the most delicious coffee cake, and I think we should all have a slice and get to know each other, don’t you?”
“Mom, we need to go. I need to get back to work…”
“It’s Sunday, sweetheart,” Vicky said, tugging Lucy through her front door. “You missed dinner last night, so you’ll have coffee and cake with your poor old mother, won’t you?”
“My poor old mother, huh,” Cormac grumbled, glancing out the door to scan the street. All looked normal. He wanted to get Lucy back to his apartment, but there was no changing his mother’s mind when she made a decision. He locked the door and set the alarm, then followed the women to the kitchen.
His mother shot him a victorious glance as he walked in, eyes twinkling, and then turned to Lucy. “So, you were telling me how you met my son?”
“We know each other through friends,” she explained. “His business partner is married to one of my best friends.”
“You’re friends with Camilla?” Vicky beamed. “She makes the most wonderful danishes. There’s some kind of custard layer that’s just to die for. I don’t know how she does it.”
“Cormac’s partial to the donuts, I think,” Lucy answered with a grin, missing the delight that sparked in the other woman’s gaze.
“He is . How fantastic of you to notice! Did you say yes to coffee? I was just about to put on another pot. Cormac, while I’m getting to know your gorgeous friend, can you have a look at the upstairs bathroom? The toilet is making that leaking noise again and I can’t get the tank to fill up after a flush. Thank you, honey.”
Cormac stood in the kitchen of his childhood home, knowing there was no salvaging this situation. He’d never brought a woman anywhere near his family, because no woman had ever been important enough to introduce to his mother and sister. He could understand his mother’s enthusiasm, even if it was misplaced. He and Lucy had shared a passionate kiss, but they weren’t anywhere near being a couple. His mother would get the wrong idea, and he’d never hear the end of it.
Still, as Lucy laughed at something his mother whispered, Cormac discovered he didn’t dislike the thought of them getting along.
Ducking into the upstairs bathroom, he lifted the lid off the toilet tank and got to work. Like the rest of the house, this toilet was decades old. It needed a new flush valve and chain; both of them had been repaired one too many times to be salvageable.
Cleaning his hands and replacing the lid on the tank, he gave himself a pinched-lip look in the mirror. Nothing like visiting his mother to remind him that he wasn’t so all-important, after all. He’d been relegated to repairman duties within moments of stepping foot on the property.
Back downstairs, he found Lucy and his mother sitting at the small round table in the breakfast nook. Sunlight gilded the dark strands of Lucy’s hair as she let out a long breath, shaking her head. “And then the car exploded. I was lucky Cormac was there to shield me from the blast; otherwise, I would have been injured. The heat was insane, and the smell…” She shuddered.
Hands clasped at her breast, Vicky let out a gust of breath. “Well. I heard about the explosion at the Wedding Expo, but I hadn’t realized…” She spun around in her chair to give Cormac a wide-eyed stare. “Why didn’t you tell me you were in that parking lot when it happened? Everyone’s been talking about it!”
“I was kind of busy at the time, Mother.”
“He took off at a sprint to try to catch the guy who did it,” Lucy interjected.
“Cormac!” Vicky chided. “How many times have I told you to be careful?”
“It’s my job,” Cormac protested, horrified to realize he sounded like a petulant teenager.
“You should be more careful. Let someone else take the risks!”
“I’m not going to let someone else get in the way of danger when I can do something about it,” Cormac answered, his voice lowering to a growl.
His mother sighed, relenting. “I know, honey. I know.” She turned back to Lucy and brightened. “So. Tell me more about your business. How did you get into it?”
“Well, I’ve always liked graphic design,” Lucy answered, picking up her cup of coffee.
Cormac’s mother had taken out the nice china for the occasion—the floral mugs and saucers with gold edges—which was a bad sign. A very bad sign. Cormac poured himself a cup of coffee and joined them at the breakfast nook while Lucy explained everything she did for work. When she pulled out her phone to show Vicky some examples of her design, Cormac watched the two of them lean their heads together to look at the screen.
Lucy looked proud, and a little bashful. His heart gave a violent thump. He couldn’t let Aaron Phillips get away with terrorizing this woman. He wouldn’t stand for it. It was wrong.
She was sweet and hard-working and funny, when she let herself open up. Imperious, too, with her hands on her hips whenever she wanted to make a point. He liked needling her, liked seeing the different facets of her personality come through. It was like finding new secret compartments that only he could unlock.
“Hello!” a voice called out from the front door.
“In here, Rubes!” Vicky yelled.
“I smell coffee,” Ruby, Cormac’s sister, said cheerfully a moment before appearing in the kitchen. Her eyes landed on Cormac, then on Lucy, and her brows went on a long and arduous journey north.
“Ruby, meet Lucy. She’s Cormac’s ‘friend.’” Vicky didn’t put actual finger quotes around the word “friend,” but they were heavily implied.
Cormac huffed.
Ruby’s brows remained raised. “His ‘friend?’”
“Isn’t she gorgeous?” Vicky beamed. “Lucy, this is my daughter, Ruby.”
Lucy stuck out her hand, smiling. “Nice to meet you.”
Ruby shook the proffered hand, then cut her gaze toward Cormac. “Since when do you have friends?”
“Har-har,” Cormac grumbled. “Hilarious as always, Rubes.”
“Have you picked a date yet?” Ruby continued, and Cormac resisted the urge to throttle her. Barely.
“A date?” Lucy frowned, flicking her gaze between Ruby and Cormac. Vicky was chuckling to herself as she fixed a cup of coffee for Ruby, her back to the exchange.
“For the wedding,” Ruby explained, cutting herself a gigantic piece of cake and accepting the mug Vicky passed across the counter to her.
Lucy’s face went bright red. “We’re not—no. I think you’ve got the wrong idea. Cormac and I aren’t dating.”
“Right,” Ruby said, stretching out the word, not believing Lucy for a minute.
“Leave her alone,” Cormac growled.
“Ooh,” Ruby said, slurping her coffee like the annoying little sister she was. “Someone’s touchy.”
“You know your brother,” Vicky cut in, sitting down beside Lucy again, a beatific smile on her face. “He’s very protective of people he cares about.”
“Cormac doesn’t care about me,” Lucy said. “I’m just his client. Things just got a bit out of control this weekend, is all.” She glanced at him, slightly panicked, and he knew she was remembering his reaction to their kiss. He’d pushed her away because it was the right thing to do, but now Lucy thought he didn’t want her.
Half of him wanted to grab her and tell her that he wanted her desperately. He’d never wanted anyone more. The other half was glad she’d gotten the message.
Ignoring Lucy’s protests, Vicky turned to her daughter and explained, “Cormac moved Lucy into his apartment yesterday because her car exploded.”
“That was your car?” Ruby exclaimed, interest sparking in her gaze. “It was all over the news.”
“The Stirling Stationery Man tried to kill me.”
“He’s not going to kill you, Lucy,” Cormac interjected, vehement. “I promise.”
Vicky and Ruby exchanged a loaded look, and the urge to throttle returned.
“Lucy works in weddings,” Vicky supplied out of nowhere, “which is convenient.”
“How is that convenient?” Cormac interjected, but no one listened to him.
Ruby said, “Huh. Doing what?”
“Stationery,” Lucy answered.
“Very cool,” Ruby said. “I can introduce you to my friend who’s a wedding planner. She’s always looking for new vendors.”
“I would love that,” Lucy exclaimed.
“Beautiful smile,” Vicky said. “Very nice teeth,” she added, like Lucy was a damn horse. “You’ve done well, honey.”
“I haven’t done anything,” Cormac protested. “And stop making Lucy uncomfortable.”
“You’ve never brought a girl home, honey,” his mother said, shrugging. “How am I supposed to react when you do? I’m excited!”
“Never?” It was Lucy’s turn to arch her brows at him. “Really?”
“I didn’t bring Lucy home, Mother,” Cormac explained as he fought for patience, “we just happened to be together when you called me to help you with the alarm.”
“‘Happened to be together,’ huh,” Ruby repeated. She slurped her coffee again, clearly enjoying herself immensely. She started on her cake as she asked, “Is that because you moved Lucy into your fortress of solitude because you’re feeling oh-so-protective of her?”
“What are you doing here anyway?” Cormac lobbed at his sister, frowning. “Shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, somewhere else?”
“I’m visiting my dear mother on a Sunday,” Ruby shot back, pretending to be offended. “Something you should try doing once in a while.”
“Don’t you start guilt-tripping me too.”
Lucy’s phone rang, interrupting everyone. She grimaced as she looked at the screen. “It’s my mom again,” she explained. “Do you guys mind if I take this?”
Vicky glanced at the screen and brightened. “Your mother is Dolly Barlow? I love her booth at the farmers’ market!”
Lucy smiled. “I’ll let her know.” She swiped her phone screen and got up so she could step away from the table. “Hi, Mom. I’m at Cormac’s mom’s house right now, so I can’t talk for long.”
“Wait!” Vicky followed Lucy and motioned for her to hand the phone over.
Cormac rubbed his temples, where a headache sprouted.
“Dolly? It’s Vicky McKenna. Your daughter is a dear. We were just talking about heading over to yours for a visit to reassure you that she’s all right.”
“ Mom ,” Cormac hissed.
Lucy stared at her.
Vicky waved her hand at Cormac and nodded while the woman on the other end of the line spoke. “Yes, yes. Great! We’ll head over shortly. Ta-ta!”
She hung up and handed the phone back to Lucy, who stared at it like she’d never seen it before. She glanced at Ruby, who was cleaning the dishes off the table.
“Everyone, shoes! We’re going over to the Barlows’ place. Rubes, honey, if you need to pee before we go, use the downstairs toilet. The one upstairs isn’t working.”
“Mom, I’m a grown woman, you don’t need to remind me to pee before we go places.” Ruby helped clear the dishes then headed for the front door, as if she was actually agreeing to head off to Lucy’s parents’ place.
“Just making sure, honey,” Vicky replied.
“I peed my pants one time when I was eight years old, Mother,” Ruby protested as she put her shoes on.
Cormac caught Lucy’s hand. “You okay? We don’t have to go over there if you don’t want to. I can take you home and we’ll talk about what happened at your apartment, figure out the next steps.”
“Don’t be silly, Cormac,” Vicky interjected, bustling them out the front door. “Dolly was in a state. She needs to see her daughter to make sure Lucy’s all right. Plus, last time I went to the farmers’ market, Dolly promised to show me the workshop where she makes those gorgeous pendants!”
“It’s fine,” Lucy said, squeezing Cormac’s hand. “I should probably go see my parents and reassure them.”
“Exactly right,” Vicky cut in, hooking her arm around Lucy’s elbow. “Now, come. We’ll take Cormac’s car. That gas guzzler is big enough for all of us.”
The three women climbed into his SUV as Cormac watched on, powerless. He sighed. There was no point fighting it. They’d stop at Lucy’s parents’ place, and then he’d get everyone home and bring Lucy back to his apartment so they could debrief. An hour or so wouldn’t hurt, and at least the three of them would be with him, so he could make sure they were safe.
So, with a sigh, he got behind the wheel and asked Lucy for directions, and he drove.