“I’ll get the dishes, Daddy.”
“We can do them together, sweetheart,” I said but was interrupted by my cell phone ringing. I picked it up and turned it over to see who it was.
Jesus. Welp, no time like the present. I answered the FaceTime call. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hi, honey!”
I grinned at her honest enthusiasm and glanced up to see Sanders, mouth open, our dishes in his hands, basically frozen in the middle of my kitchen. My mom drew my attention back to her, asking, “How’s my favorite child?”
I winked at Sanders and turned back to my phone, raising a brow at her. “I’m your only child.”
“Who did you just wink at? Do you have company?” She gasped. “Brigham, are you seeing someone? Robert, honey, Brigham is seeing someone! Come in here.”
“Mom.” I tried getting her attention, but she was too worked up, talking to my dad about Sanders without even knowing he officially existed. “Jesus, Mom, you’re gonna scare him away.”
I glanced up at Sanders and saw he hadn’t moved and was looking adorably nervous. I was about to say something to him when my mom spoke up again. “Nonsense. Let me meet him. Robert, here, sit by me so we can meet Brigham’s boyfriend.”
Jesus, what if it was just a fuck buddy I had over? “What makes you so sure he’s my boyfriend?”
“Oh, hush. You look happier than I’ve seen you in years, and when I said boyfriend, you grinned like a demented clown.”
That got a snort and a laugh out of Sanders, and sadly, my mom’s hearing was really good. “Oh, see? He thinks I’m funny. I like him already. This is wonderful. What’s his name?”
In for a penny and all that. “His name is Sanders, and you’re going to love him.”
“Oh, honey, I’m so happy for you. Oh! You have to bring him for Christmas!”
“Mom! Calm down. He might have plans already.”
“We’ll work around them. Where is he? Let us meet him, Brigham. Where are your manners?”
I snorted at her ridiculously appalled tone. “My manners? I haven’t even had time to ask him if he’s okay with meeting you right now, and you’re talking about my manners?”
“Brigham, you’re never going to convince him to stay if he finds out how poorly you treat your mother.”
Pfft. I rolled my eyes and glanced at Sanders wondering about his reaction. He had his hand over his mouth and looked like he was trying his hardest not to giggle. I raised a brow at him and then glanced back down to my phone. “No. He’s going to hear how crazy you are and run for the hills. Dad, reason with her, please.”
“Son, you know that ship has sailed.”
I snorted, knowing there were no truer words. I glanced at Sanders again and the small, bemused smile he had on his face reassured me he wasn’t going to run away. I held my hand out to him, and he bit his lip and shook his head. “Mom, gimme a second, okay?”
“Sure, dear.” She started talking to my dad as if picking up a conversation from hours ago. I put the phone down and walked toward Sanders who was backing away slowly. Whispering so we couldn’t be heard, I asked, “Do you want to say hello to my parents, baby? I swear they won’t bite, but if it’s too soon, it’s okay.”
“What am I supposed to say?”
“Whatever you want. She’s overly enthusiastic, but I swear, she’s wonderful when she tucks her crazy away.”
Sanders tried not to smile at that, and I grinned, pulling him into my arms. “Really, if you don’t want to, it’s okay. They won’t be upset at all. Though I can’t promise she won’t hug the stuffing out of you when she does finally get to meet you. But there’s no rush.”
“What if they don’t like me?”
Could he really think that?
I lowered my forehead to his. “Sanders, they’re going to love you because they’re going to see how wonderful you are. I want you to meet them because I care about you, and I want to show you off.”
His gaze was full of yearning, and if I wasn’t mistaken, a bit of awe when he asked, “You want to show me off?”
“Hell yes, I do. You’re gorgeous, smart, funny, and sweet. Of course I want to show you off.”
He held my gaze for a few moments before he nodded. “Okay, but I don’t know what to say, and generally when I don’t know what to say, I can’t stop talking.”
I chuckled. “She’s a talker too, so you already have something in common. And if it gets awkward, she’ll carry the conversation. All you’ll have to do is smile and say hello, and she’ll do all the work. I promise.”
He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, nodding. “Okay.”
“That’s my brave boy. Here, come sit on my lap so we’re both in the frame.”
When I had him settled in, I whispered in his ear. “You ready?”
He took a deep breath and let it out. “Yeah.”
I picked up the phone and held it up so I could introduce them. “Mom and Dad, this is Sanders Hall. Sanders, this is my mother, Molly, and my father, Robert.”
My mom’s hand went to her chest, and she sighed, a sappy look in her eyes. “Aren’t you two gorgeous together? Sanders, I’m so happy to meet you. I can already tell you make my son happy.”
“It’s nice to meet you too, Mrs. Taylor.”
“Call me Molly, darling.” She turned her gaze to me. “And such impeccable manners, Brigham. You could take some lessons from him.”
I sighed. “I think we’ll be going now.”
“Don’t you dare! I haven’t even gotten to talk to your sweet man yet. Sanders, how did you two meet?”
Obviously thinking of the kink app first, Sanders’s eyes popped wide, and his face turned red. I wrapped my arms around him, unable to hide my grin as I answered for him. “We met at his coffee shop, Mom.”
“The one right next to the bookstore you said had wonderful coffee?”
“That’s Sanders’s place. The Little Bean. You’ll love it.”
“A man who runs a successful business of his own? Brigham, you’ll have to have him give you some pointers.”
I smiled at my dad, who was doing his best to make Sanders feel comfortable. “I definitely will. His café is always busy, and his customers love him. He knows everyone by name and what they like to order. You’ll both love it there. We might even put a door between us so customers can go back and forth.”
“Oh, that sounds wonderful, dear.”
My dad, ever the practical one, asked, “Did you end up getting the permits on time?”
“I did, actually. And now that you bring it up, I thought I might have you guys come here for Christmas instead, and maybe Dad can help me get a jumpstart on some of the renovations we had planned.”
My dad’s face lit up at that. He was retired but a general contractor by trade and loved when I roped him into doing projects with me. I glanced at Sanders. “My dad helped me build this place.”
“Really?” Sanders’s grin and genuine interest warmed my heart.
“Really. My uncle was an architect, and my dad was in construction. They worked together for years. I had my uncle design the house, and my dad worked with a local crew to build it.”