34. Proud Of You
34
PROUD OF YOU
“W hat is this I hear you’re bringing out your Pop Warner moves?”
Foster should have figured his mother would find out.
She always did.
It’d been almost a week and he had hoped she wouldn’t. That hope was squashed like Marco’s shit under his sneaker the other day.
“Who told you?” he asked.
“Does it matter?” his mother asked. “I’m proud of you.”
“You are? No lecture on letting my temper get the best of me? Or you thought I’d outgrown getting physical when I was a teen?”
“Nope,” his mother said. “Your father would have done the same thing if anyone had done that to me. I’d like to think I raised all of my boys to stand up to a bully. Especially one that laid a hand on a woman.”
“Thanks,” he said. “I can’t be with her all the time so I taught her a few ways to fight back.”
“Good for you,” his mother said. “Just like you boys all made sure Laken and Talia could handle any situation too. Laken said that Jamie wished you had his back when he was on The Jets. He’d pay your salary alone to block for him.”
He snorted. “I highly doubt that, but it’s nice to hear.”
“I’m glad to know you confessed to your brothers and asked them for help. Braylon is good at what he does.”
“He is,” he said. “It’s all taken care of.”
“I heard. It helped that you had the video and all the proof of what the guy had been doing. A few threats from your attorney about releasing that video to Landon’s clients are a good way for someone to lose business. Stalking an ex and getting physical with them is never a good thing.”
“I can’t believe Braylon told you all of that,” he said.
“He didn’t,” his mother said. “Or I should say I pieced some things together when I found out there was a video of it. Which of course didn’t surprise me because you’re smart that way too.”
“I’m just trying to protect her,” he said.
“I can’t believe another one of my children is in love,” his mother said. “It makes me so happy. I think I’m going to come for a visit soon. I want to meet with Lily’s sister so we can go over the bridal shower plans in person.”
He should have figured his mother would be coming up in person.
Not that he thought she was using Lily’s shower as an excuse, but it felt like that in his book.
An excuse to meet Charlotte in person.
“And you’re going to want to meet Charlotte while you’re here?” he asked.
“Duh, Foster. Don’t be thick.”
He smirked over her sarcasm. “I’m sure she won’t have a problem with it. Though you’re much more intimidating than West is.”
“I try to be,” his mother said. “I taught him everything he knows.”
“You’re not conceited at all either,” he said.
“Nope,” his mother said. “How are things with Charlotte?”
“Good,” he said. “Great actually. I think they couldn’t be better, all things considered. It was touch and go after I tackled her ex.”
“I could see where that might bother someone,” his mother said.
“She has never been exposed to violence before. Not like that.” Though she did admit that Landon had grabbed her arm a few times when they were together. The night she’d broken up with him too.
She said she’d always hated the way it made her feel, but she stood her ground and Landon backed off.
He didn’t give her a chance to do it this time and he didn’t regret that for a minute.
Now she knew how to kick, knee, or throw a punch herself if she had to.
“She didn’t grow up in a household with six boys,” his mother said.
“No,” he said. “Lucky her.”
“Was it really that bad, Foster?” his mother asked. “I know it was loud. I know that there wasn’t a lot of privacy either. But I tried to make sure each child was heard.”
“You did,” he said. “You did a good job. We are all different and that made it hard.”
“That’s life,” his mother said. “No one said it’s easy. I’d like to think it made everyone stronger.”
“West had the least childhood of us all. I think Braylon, Laken, and I saw that.”
“And that is why the four of you are close now. In your own ways. He did a lot for you as kids and as adults and you are giving back just as much in your individual ways.”
“We are,” he said.
“And it doesn’t bother you too much to spend time with them,” his mother said, laughing. “Or maybe it’s being in love that you have more patience with everything else.”
“Could be that,” he said. “Hard to say. Things are moving fast for both of us.”
“You’re older now. Fast isn’t a bad thing. Your father and I were married within a few weeks. West came nine months after.”
“I heard,” he said. “You lied to us all.”
His mother had told everyone for years that his parents dated for six months, then married so they could be together when his father was going to be stationed somewhere else and that she got pregnant on their honeymoon.
Then she alluded to the fact she might have gotten pregnant before the honeymoon.
“Hey, when you know, you just know,” his mother said. “It seems my kids are learning that too.”
“I guess,” he said. “Are we done talking now? I want to try to get out of here early.”
“Sure,” his mother said. “You want to get home to Charlotte. I think it’s great. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Not too soon,” he said, laughing, and hung up the phone.
He packed up his laptop, stopped to talk to a few people, and said he’d be around later online if anyone needed anything.
He liked getting out earlier during the summer so he could get on his boat and then he’d work later at night.
They probably thought that was what he was doing.
Sounded like a good plan to him too.
When he got home, he was in the kitchen and noticed Charlotte on his beach sitting on the bench with Marco.
Guess it was perfect timing.
He made his way down. “Hey,” he said. “I was going to change and see if you wanted to go out on the boat for a few hours. It’s beautiful out tonight.”
“We’ll see,” she said. “Sit, Foster. We need to talk.”
He didn’t like the look on her face. “Has Landon bothered you again?” he asked.
“No,” she said. “It’s not him or that.”
“Then what?” he asked.
“I think things are going fast with us, don’t you?”
His heart started to race and not in a good way. “They are, but I’m fine with it. Are you not?”
“I am,” she said.
He let out a breath. “Good. Sometimes you just have to follow the path and see where it leads you.”
“You know I love you, right?” she said.
“I do,” he said. She waited and looked at his face, her eyes searching. “I feel the same way.”
She blinked. “I feel as if you’re holding something back from me,” she said.
He shrugged. “I’m not. I’m not sure what I can say to get you to believe me. Are we going to have to have this conversation again where you think I’ve changed or I’m not who I say I am? Am I going to always have to doubt that?”
She stood up. “No,” she said. “We aren’t going to have this conversation again. Come on, Marco.”
“Where are you going?” he asked. “I thought we were going out for a sail.”
She stopped and turned. “I was going until you just said that to me. But I’m not. I’m going to do something that I need right now.”
“What?” he asked. “I’m getting confused again.”
“You seem to be confused a lot and I’m sorry for that. I can’t hold your hand anymore. I think I need a little space.”
“You think?” he asked. His heart was knocking so hard in his chest that he was pretty sure it was going to break out and dive into the bay and swim away.
“I know,” she said. “You know all about needing space, right?”
She started to walk away and he let her.