Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Chris!” His mother’s delighted voice was slightly out of sync with the movement of her mouth on the screen of his tablet. When his parents moved to Arizona, they’d come up with this Sunday ritual instead of the regular visits Chris had paid them.
“Hi, Mom.” Chris grinned as his father’s head materialized behind his mother. “…and Dad.” Although his father didn’t enjoy talking to a screen, he usually joined the Sunday chat for a bit.
“How you doing, boy? How’s work?” His father’s voice was eerily similar to his own and still powerful. Chris might be a man in his prime, but he would always be his father’s boy.
“Good, sir. James and I are still working on that downtown project I told you about last week.”
They talked for about ten minutes. His mother had joined a pottery class—“Disastrous,” his father had coughed in his fist, earning him a glare from Mom.
His dad’s assessment was likely spot-on, given the other hobbies his mother had attempted then abandoned.
They had new neighbors, and their dog had dug up Dad’s freshly planted potatoes this morning.
Chris leaned back in his chair as he enjoyed the glimpse into his parents’ lives.
As soon as his father left, mumbling something about replanting those damn potatoes, Chris’s mother turned assessing eyes on him.
Uh-oh.
“How are James and that darling Laura doing?”
Although the question was innocent, Chris knew exactly where it was leading.
“They’re doing fine, Mom. James sends his regards.”
“Any chance of a nice daughter-in-law for me any time soon?”
Ah, okay, his attempt at diversion had failed, and Mom had latched on to her favorite topic. “As soon as I meet her, I’ll let you know, Mom.” Why did a blond angel and a redheaded Dominatrix pop in his mind? Marriage wouldn’t be possible with their triad.
They chatted for a little while until his mother excused herself. “I have to get going, darling. If I don’t get your father out of the garden, we’ll either be late for church, he’ll sit there in soil-stained clothes, or we won’t get there at all.”
Chris chuckled. His dad tended to forget his surroundings when he was working with his beloved plants.
After he bid his mother goodbye, he visualized his father and Kate working together, bonding over their mutual interests in plants and gardening, while his mother tried to talk Yvonne into joining one club or another.
He turned back to the present with that image tucked safely inside him, feeling like he might truly have a place in something that could last.