“Please don’t.”
“Honey, I don’t know how I can’t. It’s . . . it’s priceless.”
He gritted his teeth. It was mortifying, is what it was.
“Now, honey the actual reason I called is because I heard that there’s a really good ballroom studio in Bridgeport, and none other than our very own Shannon Murphy has set up shop there.”
Shannon was from their little town of Spartan back in West Virginia, and he knew where her shop was because a couple of his buddies had gone to her recent wedding to Dylan Lange, a cop in town. Growing up, Shannon had lit their little town on fire with her competitions and trophies. They’d all been sure they were going to see her on Dancing with the Stars one day. They might have too, if she hadn’t gotten hurt.
“I know about her place.”
“You do? It’s called Dance With Me. Have you been there?”
“To take lessons? No. No, I have not.”
“Well, I’m going to. That’s why I called, as a matter of fact. I’m going to be taking lessons from none other than Shannon herself next week. Isn’t that something?”
He was finally connecting the dots. Ballroom dance lessons plus Shannon Murphy equaled his mother was coming into town within the next seven days.
His mother was coming next week.
“Wait, what?”
“You heard me, Son. I’m driving in on Sunday after church. I should arrive around five or six.”
Her voice was bright, belying the information she was throwing out his way. And, just for the record, Sunday was in five days. Not seven.
“Mother, you’re coming into town in five days and planning on staying here?”
“Well, yes.” Her voice turned hurt. “Why are you talking like this isn’t okay?”
“Because you didn’t ask me if that was okay.”
“I didn’t think I had to ask permission to visit you, Gunnar.”
“Things are different than how they used to be. Mama, Jeremy is here now.”
“Of course I know about Jeremy. We’ve FaceTimed, remember? I’m planning on spending lots of time with him. I thought I could teach him to play hearts.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to point out that he was a grown man who worked two jobs and was trying to develop a relationship with a teenage boy who’d already been through a lot. That Jeremy needed stability, not surprise houseguests. In addition, the boy was fifteen, not half that, which meant that there was a real good chance that Jeremy was not going to want to sit around playing card games with an older woman he didn’t know.
But then reality hit him, along with the point that his mother might be a handful, but she was all his and she’d also been through a lot.
No matter what, he loved her and she’d loved him. That was what counted.
Softening his tone, he said, “I’m looking forward to seeing you soon, Mama.”
“I’m looking forward to it too, dear. Almost as much as I am looking forward to dancing with you.”
“Say again?”
“I can’t dance the cha-cha without a partner, silly. We’re going to have such a great time.”
Boy, he wished she’d called Martin first. “Yes, ma’am.”
After speaking for a few more minutes, he hung up and looked around the living room. It was a decent size, but fairly sparse. So was the rest of his house. It was also filled with dust. He cleaned the bathrooms on occasion but hadn’t paid for a cleaning service to stop by in months. In addition, the house that had already been filled with his crap now had another layer of teenage-boy crap on top.
He sighed. His mother was going to start cleaning the minute she put her suitcase down on the floor.
Jeremy poked his head out again. When he saw that Gunnar was off the phone, he started forward. “Who were you talking to?”
“My mother.”
“Ah. Mrs. Law was nice when FaceTimed.”
Deciding to put it out on the line, he added, “She was on good behavior when she did that. By the way, her first name is Willa. You can call her that if you don’t want to call her Grandma.”
“I’ll call her Willa.”
“Good call.”
Jeremy’s eyebrows lifted as he walked closer. “How come you look so worried? Is Willa really mean?”
“Mean? Gosh, no.” Hating that he messed everything up, he said. “I promise, she’s really nice.”
“But?”
He sighed. “But I think we need to have a talk. Come sit down here with me for a spell.”
Jeremy sat down on the edge of the couch, but everything in his body language proclaimed that he was not doing that easily.
Gunnar rested his arms on his knees. “I’ve got some news. My mother is coming for a visit. She gets here on Sunday evening.”
“What’s wrong with that? Does she not want me here?”
“No, no, no.” When Jeremy looked stricken, Gunnar firmly told himself to pull it together. He was messing this all up. “Sorry. What I’m trying to say is that my mom wants you here. Very much so.”
“Really?”
“Really. I promise, she’s excited about it.” Thinking of her game plans, he muttered, “Maybe too excited.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means my mother, who is loud, chatty, and all-girl is going to be staying with us for a week. We’re going to have to make some adjustments. And clean.”
“Okay . . .”
“She’s also going to be on you like a tick in June.”
Jeremy’s lips twitched. “Which means?”
“Get ready to have her not only make you a huge breakfast every morning, but sit with you while you eat it.” He held out another finger. “She’s also going to try to pick you up from school in the afternoons, and ask you questions all the time.” Realizing that those things didn’t really come close to describing his mother, Gunnar added, “Actually, my mom’s more like a category four hurricane that comes to visit.”
His eyes widened. “She sounds like a lot.”
“Oh, she is.” Wiping a hand over his face, “She’s great, but she’s a lot. And I know I sound mean, but all of my siblings think the same thing. My youngest brother Andrew has been known to go on two hour runs just to catch a break.”
“Wow.”