Chapter 23 Let Me Explain
LET ME EXPLAIN
“It’s not like you to stop in on a Sunday afternoon,” his mother said the following weekend when she opened the door. “We could have been on the island.”
“Dad said you’d be around this weekend.”
He stood on the front step longer than he should have, staring at the familiar door he’d walked through a thousand times before.
“Usually, you text me first.”
A you home? Or a mind if I stop by?
But not today.
Today, if he gave himself even a minute to think, he’d talk himself out of it again.
He wasn’t just showing up to talk about a woman. He was here to talk about the woman.
The woman who’d somehow made him feel more grounded than he ever had before. More like himself than another woman in his past.
And those other women, that’s what they were. A thing of the past.
But to make Nora part of his future, he had to bring her into the present with his family.
Nora might not be happy he was doing this, but he’d always been one to go after what he wanted.
Even if he was smart enough to know not to say those words to her.
“I know,” he said, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. “I wanted to talk to both of you.”
Her expression shifted instantly, brows pinching together. “Is everything all right? You don’t normally hesitate over anything. Nor do you ring the bell but just let yourself in.”
“Not when I’m coming unannounced. But, yeah,” he blurted. “Everything’s good. Great, actually.”
And that was part of the problem, because when something felt this good, he almost didn’t trust it.
She stepped aside, motioning him in. “Then come in before I imagine things. You look like you’re about to confess to a crime.”
He huffed out a laugh. “Not a crime. More like…a decision.”
“Oh boy. Are you going to need a drink to celebrate it?”
“I need a drink, that’s for sure.”
He followed her through the halls of the house to the back, right to the bar where he poured himself two fingers of his father’s favorite whiskey.
That his father hadn’t stood up and only lifted his eyes when Ethan came in said they both were cautious about his appearance.
He handed a glass to his father and then took a sip of his.
“Don’t leave us in suspense,” his mother said. “What did you need to see us about?”
“I’m dating someone.”
His mother’s grin grew. “You never tell us that. I normally have to hear a rumor about it or see a picture somewhere.”
Because there had never been a reason to bring a woman home to his mother if he hadn’t planned on it being more than something fun. Something casual. Something to kill the time.
The only criteria that fit with Nora was they had a lot of fun. But now it was more about emotions, connections, and commonalities mixed in with confusion, anxiety, and uncertainty.
Shit he’d never felt once in his life for a woman.
His career in being good enough to take over for his father? Yes. Always felt that, but never let it be shown.
But a woman had never messed with his head as much as Nora was playing with his.
He figured that had to mean just as much as the good stuff and it was what pushed his ass in gear.
“You won’t see a picture. We’ve been very private about things, though we’ve been out together. Just not my usual spots and not often.”
“Do we know who she is?” his father asked.
“Yes.”
“Well, are you going to tell me or do I have to drink before I bean you over the head?”
He laughed, then turned to his father. “It’s Nora.”
“Nora Jones?” his father asked, sitting up straighter. “Your new executive assistant.”
“That’s the only Nora I know,” he said.
“That’s not wise, Ethan,” his father warned. “You know better.”
“Let me explain.”
“Please do,” his mother said. “Because your father is going to take some calming down, but I want to give you the benefit of the doubt. This is out of character for you.”
“See, it is. And I’m struggling. I hate to say this and I know it will stay between us. Or I hope.”
“Of course. Right, Mitchell?” she asked sarcastically.
“Yes, Janet,” his father said, the sarcasm matching. That was the thing about his parents, even when they weren’t always polite, they were supportive.
“Two months ago I was in the casino on a Saturday night. I saw a woman at the bar and went to chat with her. We hit it off, had a great time. I could tell she was indifferent though.”
“You couldn’t win her over, could you?” his mother asked, grinning. “I do love seeing my boys’ egos take a knock now and again.”
“Yeah, well, it’s getting kicked some lately. I joked about going to my room with her.”
“Things a mother doesn’t need to hear,” she scolded.
“Sorry. I’m being transparent. I thought for sure she’d say no way, and she said she was going to but yes slipped out instead. In the middle of the night she snuck out and left the island. I never saw her again. Had nothing but her first name.”
“You could have gotten more and you know it,” his father said. “Or didn’t you want Eli to know it happened?”
“That. And maybe my ego got tweaked just like Mom said. I know how it looks and it’s not something I do often, but I really enjoyed being around her that night. I can’t explain it. I planned on getting her number and making something more of it. Or trying.”
“But you didn’t? Or was it Nora?” his mother asked, her jaw dropping. “That’s the only reason I can see you explaining this to us.”
“It was her. It was her first night here. She’d come a day before she was supposed to meet her father. She’s changed so much from when she was a kid. Not just her appearance but her confidence. Having Norris as a father couldn’t have been easy.”
“Which doesn’t explain everything. Or it does, but I want the facts,” his father said.
His father wasn’t happy, but he was being open-minded... for the moment.
“I didn’t see her again. She comes to the office to meet him.
She knew who I was, she thought I remembered her and then said it was crazy for her to think that.
She just wanted to be someone else for the night.
It gave her confidence that I was talking to her, something she admitted she needed to prove she’d changed when her father would start in like he always had.
She always seems to have her shit together, but every once in a while she slips and I see Norris is the one person who might trigger that. ”
“Why come back here if that is how he was going to be?” his mother asked.
“We’ll get into that another time. You were there that day, Dad. She played it off as we were strangers. You asked what she did when Norris said she was looking for employment, then Blair took over like she always does.”
“So you were trapped?”
He snorted and drained his glass. “Not trapped. I could have shut it down after Blair talked to her, but I didn’t. I just couldn’t.”
“You wanted answers more than you wanted an employee,” his mother said. “I know your pride. It was about that.”
“Guilty. But Blair couldn’t say enough about her. I was intrigued and slightly desperate to fill the position. I told myself, if it weren’t for that night, I would have continued the process, so I made a business decision there. You see how good she is.”
“I do,” his father said. “Which is even more concerning. I don’t think she wants to risk that along with any other list of things if this goes sideways or even gets out.”
“No shit. We said we were going to put it behind us. And we did. For the first week. Things were great, even if there was underlying tension on my side. Guess there was on hers too but again, she’s good at almost being indifferent.
She was out running early that Saturday after her first week and I was just coming out the same time. ”
“Like fate,” his mother said, grinning this time. “Meeting on this island first, reconnecting and then the run.”
Which was where he knew this would go with his mother. His father was frowning, but he didn’t care. He wanted his mother on his side. He might need that romantic torch she always carried.
“It’s a good word for it. We chatted for fifteen minutes tops while we ran side by side. She’s new to the area, figuring things out. I offered to take her to Brookline to the grocery store.”
His mother burst out laughing. “Ethan Bond, one of the most sought-after men in Boston, went on a date grocery shopping.”
He smirked and shrugged. “It wasn’t meant to be a date.”
“Bullshit,” his father said bluntly. “I know my son. You were fishing. You were trying to see if the bait you were tossing made her hungry or swim away.”
When put like that, he sounded like a dick.
The fact his mother moved over and lightly slapped his father’s arm said she felt the same way. “Be nice about it. He could have been being friendly to his new employee and then things just progressively moved from there.”
“It was that more than anything, but I won’t lie and say the bait part wasn’t mixed in there.”
“Moving on,” his father said, clearing his throat. “I take it things took a turn since you’ve been dating now for what? A month? A few weeks?”
“A month. Two months since we’ve known each other. I know this is reckless. I’m the first to admit it. I promised her that her job was safe and if things didn’t work out, we’d move her somewhere else in the company. But it is working out.”
“I’m not sure how. It’s a huge conflict and I think it’s best to move her now,” his father said firmly.
“No. We are in a good rhythm. Maybe because we’ve got the relationship outside of work it’s easier for her to know what I need in the office or vice versa. You see it. Have you noticed any whiff of anything inappropriate?”
His mother was glancing at his father. He saw his father’s reluctance to answer. “No.”