“Sophie Abbott?”
I’d been about to keep describing her, but apparently I didn’t need to. “Yeah, that’s her. You remember Sophie?”
“Of course I do. You wouldn’t leave that poor girl alone. I must have been called in for meetings with the principal half a dozen times.”
I winced. “I was that bad?”
“You were always teasing her and pulling her hair. Some people tried to say boys will be boys, but I was having none of it. I would have whooped you for it, but we both know I didn’t do that. I did take away your video games and grounded you from seeing your friends pretty often. But that was also a very rough time.”
“Mom, we don’t have to talk about that.”
“Maybe we should.”
“I ran into Sophie again,” I said quickly, hoping to change the subject.
“Did you, now?”
“She works for an associate of mine.”
“I certainly hope you behaved yourself,” she said. “No pulling her hair this time.”
I choked back a laugh. Only if she wants me to, Mom. “I behaved myself. Mostly.”
“What’s she like?”
“Sweet as cherry pie.”
“So all your teasing didn’t do any lasting damage?”
I took a deep breath. “I hope not. Although now I feel like I owe her an apology.”
“I’d say you do. So when are you bringing her by?”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
I side-eyed her. “Why would you think I’d bring her by?”
“Why else did you mention her?”
“Mom, it’s not what you think.”
She huffed. “If you keep putting this off, you’ll never make me a grandma.”
“Whoa, slow down. I ask if you remember a girl I knew twenty years ago and you’re jumping to grandkids?”
“No, but I think you’re fixin’ to tell me something important about Miss Sophie Abbott. And I’m just registering my impatience for you to grow the hell up and settle down already.”
“What is it with parents and your obsession with getting your kids married off? Do y’all have meetings where you discuss strategy?”
“As a matter of fact, we do. Last month, the theme was grown-ass men who never date a girl long enough to bring one home to meet their mama. I took a lot of notes.”
I laughed out loud because what else could I do? The truth was so ridiculous, she wasn’t going to believe me. “Mama, I got married.”
“Don’t play with me, Camden. It ain’t nice.”
“I ain’t playin’.” I cleared my throat. I could hear my accent getting thicker. It tended to do that around my mom, or when I was worked up about something. And right then, I was both. “That’s why I brought up Sophie Abbott. We ran into each other in Vegas and wound up getting married at one of those twenty-four-hour chapels.”
She stared at me like I’d just sprouted a second head. “When?”
Well shit, this was going to piss her off. “About a month ago.”
Her eyes widened. “You got married a month ago and I’m just now hearing about it?”
“I told you, it’s not what you think.”
“Well, let’s hope not.”
“It was a mistake and we aren’t staying married. That’s why I didn’t tell you right away.”
She crossed her arms and fixed me in a hard glare. The little boy in me wanted to flinch away, but I held my ground.
“So why are you telling me now?”
I opened my mouth to answer but stopped. Because I wasn’t sure I had an answer to that question.
“I don’t know.”
She nodded slowly. “Well all right, then.”
“You’re not mad?”
“No, I’m furious. When you figure this out, I expect you to have another wedding and do it right this time.”
“There’s nothing to figure out. We got drunk and got married. The only reason we haven’t filed for divorce is so I can avoid bad PR over the ordeal.”
She shot me a look. “Don’t lie to your mother.”
“I ain’t—I’m not lying.”
“The only reason you haven’t filed for divorce? We both know that’s bullshit, so maybe let’s just call a spade a spade and acknowledge that you have feelings for the girl.”
“What makes you think that?”
“You’re trying to hide it, maybe even from yourself. But I can see. You’re smitten. You were then and you are now.”
I wanted to keep arguing with her, but was she right? Was that why I had this weird ache in my chest at the thought of leaving her for a week?
“Besides, you’re old enough to get over your fear of marriage,” she said.
“I’m not afraid of marriage.”
“You are, and I’m partially to blame for that. But only partially. It’s mostly your father’s fault. You never had a good example.”
“None of that is your fault.”
“It isn’t my fault that he was the way he was. But I regret that I stayed with him so long. That didn’t do either of us any good.”
“We both turned out all right,” I said with a grin.
“I’m doing just fine, but the jury’s still out on you.” She winked at me. “And you still haven’t answered my question.”
“Which one?”
“When do I get to meet my daughter-in-law?”
I shook my head. Arguing that Sophie wasn’t really her daughter-in-law—or wouldn’t be for long—would be pointless.
And would it be so bad to introduce them? Sophie was sweet but still tough, the kind of woman my mom would love.
Wait. She was the kind of woman my mom would love.
Shit.
“I don’t know, Mom. We’ll see.”
She gave me a look that said she wasn’t pleased but she’d let it go for the time being.
I’d never introduced a woman to my mother. Ever. Why would I? She was right: I didn’t date anyone long enough to get that far. But Sophie was different, and not just because I’d married her.
I followed Mom back to the cart and got in. Maybe this business trip was exactly what I needed. A week away to get my head on straight. Sure I liked Sophie, and goddamn I loved fucking her. But was this an introduce her to my mother situation? That seemed a bit excessive. After all, we weren’t going to stay married.
Except—
Nope. I wasn’t even going to think it. Sophie and I had a deal. We could enjoy each other in the meantime, but we both knew what this was. And marriage wasn’t for me.
23
Sophie
I pressed the garage door opener and waited while it lifted, then drove into Cox’s garage. He’d parked one of his cars outside so I could use the space while he was gone. His garage was big, open, and neatly organized. He wouldn’t have struck me as a man who owned a lot of tools, but he had a large workbench with tools on a peg board and a red toolbox that was taller than me. It reminded me of our garage when I was growing up, although that had been smaller.