Chapter 9 #2
Anna placed a hand on top of hers. Penny was twisting her fingers together so hard they were beginning to turn purple.
“You’re not. He made us dinner reservations for after the match tonight just so we could get to know each other.
Do you know how many young women my son has asked me to go to dinner with, to even have a conversation with, to meet at all? ”
“No.”
“One. You. Just you.”
“Oh.”
“Oh, indeed. I’ve never been thrilled with the women Alex has been with in the past or who he was while he was with them, but he’s a grown man and he’s been making his own decisions for a long time.
Since he was a little boy, really. You, my dear, are one of the best decisions he has ever made. The change in him, I swear.”
“Change?”
“You might love my son, Penny, but you don’t know him. Not really, not yet. He is different and it is clearly because of you.”
“I…” She trailed off, stunned at how matter-of-factly Anna had said it. She hadn’t even said she loved Alex yet, but that didn’t make it untrue.
“It’s not a bad thing. I haven’t seen him this happy in a very long time. Years.”
“And you think that’s because of me? He just won the French Open. He’s going to win Wimbledon again. I don’t—”
“A mother knows.”
“Knows what?”
“When her son’s found the woman he’s supposed to be with for the rest of his life.” Penny let the words sink in and didn’t respond for a moment and then another. “I’m sorry, was that too much?”
“No.” Penny’s voice cracked a little. “No, it wasn’t and I think—I think that’s what’s scary.”
“Let me guess, this wasn’t part of your plan?”
“No, I—tennis is—was everything.”
“For him, too, since he was just yea high,” she said, lining her hand up a couple of feet off the ground. “I enrolled him in anything that would keep him busy enough to tire him out. Football, cricket, rugby. Tennis was the only thing that stuck.”
“Didn’t play well with others?”
“Well spotted. He liked boxing, too, but I put a stop to that.”
Penny laughed. “I was the same way. I hated relying on other people to help me win.”
“You two are so different and yet so alike. You have tennis, your family, your friends”—she gestured toward the court—“and now each other.”
“I think that’s why it works.”
“I think so, too.”
“I’m so sorry that was the first impression you got of me. I know you say it’s not a big deal, but it is to me. I don’t… that’s not something I take lightly. I fought it for a long time. Too long, maybe, but you have to know, the way I feel about Alex, it’s the realest thing in my life.”
“Sweetheart, I think that’s pretty clear, and I’m sorry, too.”
“For what?”
“For not knocking.”
Anna laughed lightly. She nudged Penny a little with her shoulder, and though Penny fought it for a moment, the laughter was contagious.
“This can’t be good. I don’t need you two teaming up,” Alex said, walking off the court and tossing himself into the seat beside Penny, pressing a sweaty kiss against her temple.
“Everything all right?” he whispered against her hair so his mother couldn’t hear.
She squeezed his arm gently in a silent “yes.”
“You’re doomed,” Anna said, smiling widely at her son. “Outnumbered from here on out, darling.”
“Your mother was just telling me about when you were little.”
Alex groaned dramatically, burying his face in Penny’s shoulder, his scruff scraping against the skin before he pressed a soft kiss there. “Okay, I’m leaving. Mum, don’t give away all my secrets. Penny already knows too much about me. Any more and she might bolt.”
“I don’t know,” Anna said. “I think she might be here to stay. Lord help her.”
“You both ready to watch me kick some arse?”
“Absolutely,” Penny said, lacing her fingers through his and letting him pull her up from the seat.
He had a match to win.
Penny and Anna were ushered to front-row seats at the Queen’s center court.
It was much more intimate than Wimbledon’s.
The clubhouse lined one side of the court, and temporary seating along the London tennis club’s famous trellis added a second viewing level.
The other side of the court was long, sloped theater seating, providing a great view even from the worst seats, a chance to see Alex Russell for a fraction of the cost it would be next week at the Championships.
“Have you seen his opponent before?” Anna asked as they settled into their seats, the rest of the crowd still milling around, waiting for the players to appear.
There was still another week before Wimbledon, but tennis season was in full swing in England, and the buzz was beginning to feel electric leading up to this final.
“Makhassè Vargas,” Penny said, looking toward the court, “from Bolivia. Ranked twenty-sixth in the world. Mostly tries to hit from the baseline, but his game isn’t quite up to that level. Alex shouldn’t have a problem.”
Anna laughed softly. “Do you scout the men’s side, too?”
“I may have eavesdropped on Alex’s FaceTime with Dom this morning.”
“So, what you’re saying is that we shouldn’t have a problem keeping our nine o’clock reservation?”
Penny checked her watch. It was nearly seven, the early-summer sun still shining brightly, no thought of setting for a while yet. “I’m saying we might be a little early.”
“Good. I haven’t been able to sit down with Alex for a meal in far too long. And now, since you and Dominic both seem to think this match won’t be worthy of our attention, tell me about you, my dear. Start from the beginning.”
“The beginning? Well, I was born in Chicago…” Penny said, smiling, her embarrassment a thing of the past. She might like Anna Russell almost as much as she liked her son.