Chapter 31
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
N ormally dinner with his boisterous family was high on Adam’s list. Tonight it didn’t even make the cut. But he went and channeled his dad, the original grin-and-bear-it guy.
He pitched in as he always did, wrangling chairs, setting the table, helping in the kitchen by stirring this or keeping an eye on that. It was chaos, but organized chaos. His aunties and grandma, aka the Dorm Damsels, had brought food this time, giving his mom and Greta a break.
The older women were in high spirits, flirting outrageously with Kieran and taking turns loving on Jodi until it was time to gather at the table. The hubbub didn’t faze that little girl.
He ended up with Angie on his left and Auntie Kat on his right. He figured Auntie Kat had planned it. He wasn’t sure about Angie. He glanced at her. “You’d think all this commotion would freak out that kid.”
“She’s used to it. She’s dealt with bigger crowds than this. If they grow up with lots of folks around, they’re not intimidated. It’ll probably be the same with your kids.”
That last comment could’ve been random but now that he knew Angie better he doubted it. She was a fixer, whether it was a leaky roof or a leaky relationship.
After leaving Tracy this afternoon, he’d made a quick trip to the Victorian before driving back to the ranch. But he hadn’t given Angie a chance to corner him. Hadn’t been in the mood to be fixed.
But if Tracy had made good on her promise to drop by and watch Jodi hammer nails, Angie might have had better luck with Tracy in the fixing department. And now he was willing to listen.
He looked her in the eye. “Assuming I have kids.”
“I’d say there’s a decent chance.”
“What makes you think so?” On his other side, Auntie Kat was having a conversation with Luis, something about the horse he was currently training, but that woman could multitask. She was tuned in on both sides.
“I talked to her,” Angie said.
That got his attention. No need to ask who they were discussing. “How’s she doing?”
“Not great, but I gave her some things to think about and she indicated she would consider what I’d said.”
“Thanks for that.”
“For what it’s worth, I think she’s—oh, yes, please!” She accepted the bowl of mashed potatoes from Mila on her left, served herself and passed it on to him.
Taking a spoonful, he gave the bowl to Auntie Kat.
She looked at his plate, then at him. “Something wrong with your appetite, boy? You love mashed potatoes.”
“I had a big lunch.”
“Likely story. And here I was hoping… well, never mind.”
“It was a good idea.” Weird as it was to be referring to her contribution, he wanted her to know he appreciated her willingness to help. “It kind of backfired.”
“Sorry to hear it.”
Passing the food around took up the next several minutes. Auntie Kat kept eyeing the minimal helpings on his plate and shaking her head. When the platters and bowls had made the rounds, she leaned forward and murmured Angie’s name.
Angie turned instantly.
Auntie Kat edged closer to Adam until she was almost in his plate. She spoke so softly he could barely hear her. “Did you talk to Tracy?”
Angie nodded.
“And?”
Angie leaned in from the other side. “I’m cautiously optimistic.” She glanced at Adam. ”Sorry if I’m crowding you.”
“Don’t mind me.” Now he knew for sure they’d chosen their seats on purpose. He was flanked by allies, including Luis. And Claudette, sitting next to Luis, and Mila on Angie’s other side, who must have picked up on all of it.
Luis put down his fork and looked at him, his eyebrows lifted.
Adam shook his head.
“Damn.”
Auntie Kat sighed. “I did my part.”
“And I appreciate it.”
“Hang in there.” Angie kept her voice low. “She loves you.”
Auntie Kat nodded. “Yep.”
“She does,” Mila said.
Claudette gave him a thumbs up.
“She’ll get there,” Luis said under his breath. “She just has to get out of her head.”
“Yeah.” Adam met his brother’s gaze. “Not easy.” He might be the only one at this table who understood what she was struggling with. She’d had to be thoroughly drunk before she’d been able to act on her deep feelings for him.
He'd like to think if she’d had condoms that night everything would have been different. They would have spent hours together making love and laughing at what idiots they’d been for not seeing what was right in front of them. But maybe not.
They'd been talking themselves out of this attraction for years. They’d been so successful that when it had broken loose, they’d been quick to find reasons to dismiss it.
He was as guilty of that as Tracy. He’d insisted his rebound theory was correct and she’d bought into it. Then she’d latched onto Claudette’s forbidden fruit idea.
And when desire wouldn’t leave him alone, he’d hatched the idea of a contract to distance himself from his emotions while he satisfied his longing for her. Of course she’d gone along with that. She’d wanted distance even more than he had.
What a pair. What a perfect pair. Would she ever figure that out?
While everyone was cleaning up after dinner, his mom got him by the arm. “I need to talk to you before you leave.”
“You bet. I’ve been thinking we should take another look at the Foundation’s projected budget now that Hearts & Hooves is bringing in considerably more.”
“We should, but it’s not about that.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“You know what? They’ve got everything in hand. Come on into the office for a minute.”
“Sure.” He handed Luis the dishtowel he’d been using and lowered his voice. “Did you tell?—”
“Negative.”
Nodding, he followed his mom into the Foundation’s office, a spacious two-room setup off the living room.
“Close the door, mijo. ”
He closed it and turned around. Her salt-and-pepper hair seemed longer, fluffier. “Are you letting your hair grow out?”
“No.” She ran her fingers through it. “Just haven’t had time to go in for a cut.” She paused, her expression softening. “Carrie called me yesterday.”
He started to sweat. Uh-oh.
“We’ve both been worried about Tracy, who hasn’t been acting like herself for weeks. We thought it was the breakup with Sean, but the night of the council meeting….” Her gaze became more direct. “We decided it was a kerfuffle with you.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Amazing how he could go from thirty to thirteen when she gave him that look. He resisted the urge to fidget. “We’ve had… some issues.”
“Are you working them out?”
“I…I’m not sure.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but judging from what I observed at dinner last Friday night there’s something going on besides friendship between you two.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“That would explain why only two single servings were gone from Carrie’s freezer instead of three. Tracy didn’t stay overnight with Mila and Claudette on Saturday, did she?”
“No, ma’am.” He caught himself torturing his earlobe and shoved his hands in his pockets.
“When Carrie and I put that together, we were both so excited we couldn’t stand it.”
He blinked. “Excited?” Not the reaction he’d expected.
“We’d given up on this ever happening and now it looked like it actually might. But then?—”
“You’ve been hoping we’d?—”
“For years, ever since third grade when you two fell in love.”
“Love? C’mon, Mom, we were eight.”
“I don’t know what else you’d call it. You were besotted and so was she. You didn’t accidentally get paired up for that diorama project. She asked to be your partner. “
“That can’t be right. The teacher?—”
“Trust me, you two were inseparable. When I got impatient because you kept begging me to take you over to her house on weekends, you decided to walk.”
“I don’t remember that.”
“You don’t? You used to wiggle under the fence at the same spot where your dad put in a gate.”
“Is that why the gate’s there?”
“No. By then you’d both decided hanging out with each other wasn’t cool. She spent most of her time with Mila and you chose to be with your brothers.”
“I don’t remember any of this. Sure, we liked each other, but?—”
“Not just like. You made her a valentine that year. Threw away about ten versions before you had one you were happy with.”
“A valentine? I don’t remem… wait, did it have a moose on it?”
“Yes.” She grinned. “It was kind of a theme with you that year.”
“ I love you moose-t of all.”
“Yep. That’s what it said.”
“A moose is hard to draw. It must have been a dorky card.”
“It was an adorable card.”
“She had this stuffed moose. She had a lot of stuffed animals but the moose was my favorite. That’s what I used as a model when I made the clay one for the diorama.”
“Now do you remember going over there all the time?”
“Kind of. Not the frequency, but I’m getting little snippets.”
“You loved her.”
Had it really started when he was eight? Had he been fighting his instincts that long?
“And you still do.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“But I could tell at the dinner table that something’s not right.”
He took a deep breath. “She doesn’t think it’s real because it came out of nowhere. She thinks it could disappear just as fast.”
“It didn’t come out of nowhere, mijo . You’ve held that girl in your heart all along. Remember when I suggested you draw straws to see who took the diorama home?”
“That’s clear as a bell. She won. And I was okay with her winning.”
“Because you asked me to rig it.”
“Huh?”
“You got me aside and said you wanted her to win, so I told you the short one would be sticking up a little higher and you grabbed it before she had a chance to.”
“I don’t remember doing that.”
“Ask Carrie. She was there. I told her about it.”
“Did Tracy find out?”
“I doubt it. Carrie and I weren’t going to tell her. But you can. You never know what might make a difference.”
“We’re not… um…the ball’s in her court.”
She gazed at him. “I see. Gave her an ultimatum, did you?”
He flushed.
“You are so like your father.”
He let that sink in. She wasn’t wrong, but he’d also learned some things from her. He cleared his throat. “Any suggestions, Mama ?”