When his lips leave mine and my eyes open, I find him studying me. “You okay with this?”
“Yes.” I rest my hands against his abs. “I’m a little nervous, but I want you two to meet.”
“It’s going to be all good.”
“I know.” I look at the flowers and then him and raise a brow. “How did you manage to get flowers on Christmas Day?”
“Cammy.” He smirks, looking pleased with himself. “She bought three bouquets for the table, so I asked if I could have one to give to your mom.”
“You really are an overachiever. You know that, right?”
He chuckles, kissing my forehead, and then turns me into his side, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “I just want to make a good impression.”
“Like you could ever make a bad impression.” I wrap my arm around his back and walk up the driveway. When we reach the back door, I step into the house before him and find my mom trying to pretend like she hasn’t been looking out the window since I walked outside. Her eyes smile as she takes in Gaston and the flowers he’s holding, and she comes toward us.
“Mom, this is Gaston. Gaston, my mom, Dorothy.”
“Nice to meet you, ma’am.” He bends to kiss her cheek; then he passes her the flowers when he leans back.
“You too.” Mom’s smile is so big I’m afraid her face might crack. “Thank you for these. That’s very sweet of you. I hope you’re hungry.”
“Starved.” His hand finds mine, and he gives my fingers an affectionate squeeze.
“Honey, take Gaston and get settled at the table. I’m going to put these in water and get our drinks.”
“I can help,” I tell her.
“I got it.” She waves me off. “What would you like, Gus? I have tea, wine, and I might even have a beer somewhere in the back of the fridge.”
“Tea is fine,” Gaston tells her, and she nods, then looks at me. “Wine?”
“Yes, please. Thanks, Mom.”
“No problem. Go get seated. I’ll be there in just a minute.”
I lead Gaston to the table and smile as he holds out my chair before sitting next to me. I look at the table and my mom’s place setting at the head of the table, feeling a little melancholy all of a sudden. I haven’t reached out to my father since our run-in at the grocery store, and I honestly don’t know if I will. But this moment, with Gaston meeting my mom, makes me wish things were different—that my dad was meeting him too, that my parents were still together, and that I would get to experience them sitting down to a meal with the man I’m pretty sure I’m in love with. It’s sad I will never get to experience that, and heartbreaking when I think about having kids one day and them maybe not ever having a relationship with their grandfather.
“You okay, baby?”
Gaston’s question pulls me from my thoughts, and I turn my head to look at him. “Yeah, just thinking about my dad.” I shrug, and his expression turns stormy. Even with him encouraging me to reach out to my dad, he’s pissed that my father hasn’t tried to contact me. If I’m honest, I’m pissed at him too. I feel like if he cared about me at all, he would have called to make sure I was okay and to see when we could meet to talk about things.
“Fuck,” Gaston growls angrily, and I know I shouldn’t have said anything.
“I’m fine. Just ignore me.” I pat his thigh, and his eyes narrow on mine. “Seriously, I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine.” He shakes his head, not looking any less pissed.
“Okay, you’re right. I’m not. But it’s Christmas, and I don’t want my mom upset.”
“Right.” His jaw ticks, and I watch him force his body to relax as my mom comes to the table, handing him his glass of tea, and he thanks her before she leaves again. “It will be okay.” He leans over, kissing the side of my head, and I nod as my mom comes back in holding two glasses of wine.
“Let’s eat.” She hands me my glass, then starts to uncover the dishes. I reach for the plate with the ham on it and take two pieces, putting them on Gaston’s plate before taking a piece for myself.
“He’s very handsome,” Mom says under her breath as she hands me the basket of rolls.
“He is, and he can also hear you,” I point out, and her eyes fly to Gaston, who I hear laugh as he gives my thigh a warm, reassuring squeeze under the table.
“You’re very handsome,” she informs him.
“Thank you, Dorothy.” I hear the humor in his tone.
“I hope, with you in my daughter’s life, she’ll finally do what she told me she was going to do weeks ago and hire someone to help her out so she can stop working so much and start having fun again.”
“Mom,” I warn her.
Not surprisingly, she ignores me and continues talking to Gaston like I’m not even here while placing a scoop of mashed potatoes on her plate before passing me the bowl.
“I don’t know why she hasn’t hired someone to help her already. Her bakery has been thriving since it opened.” She glances proudly in my direction as I put mashed potatoes on both our plates. “She’s even been written up in the paper a few times and won a couple awards for local businesses.”
“Really?” Gus asks, and I turn my head to meet his gaze over my shoulder.
“It’s really not that big of a deal. There’s only a few other bakeries in the area—”
“It’s a big deal,” Mom cuts in, and my eyes go to her. “You won first place two years in a row. The businesses you were up against are established in this area. They have been here for years, and you still beat them by a landslide.”
“I didn’t beat them.” I shake my head as I motion to the green bean casserole and silently ask if Gus wants some, and when he nods, I place a scoop on his plate. “It wasn’t even a competition. It was just a few people from the area who voted for their favorite places to eat or get a cookie and a cup of coffee.”
“As you can see, my daughter is oblivious to her talent,” Mom states with an annoyed sigh.
“I’m seeing that,” Gaston agrees with quiet warmth, making me want to kiss him.
With my mom present, I ignore that urge and pin her in place with a look.
“Well,” I say sassily, “you’ll be happy to know I have an ad going out in the paper and online this weekend, and I plan on posting a help wanted ad on the window of the shop after I open back up. Hopefully, with that, I’ll get some inquiries and be able to hire someone full time before the New Year.”
“Maybe your Gus is an alien,” Mom mumbles to me with wide, surprised eyes, and he laughs before clearing his throat.
“Your daughter is a smart woman,” Gus says, gaining my mom’s attention, and I watch her eyes soften before I turn to look at him as he continues to speak. “As the owner of three businesses—a club I purchased straight out, and two bars that I acquired after they went belly-up—I only respect her more for not taking on more than she knew she could handle.” His expression fills with pride as his fingers around the top of my thigh tighten in a comforting gesture. “I agree even more after what you’ve just said that she could, and can, hire someone full time to help, but I respect that she’s followed her gut and taken things slow. A lot of people get caught up in momentary success and assume things will keep growing for them. Not always, but on occasion, that doesn’t happen, and when it does, they’re left trying to figure out how to pay their employees, along with all their other expenses. In the end, they end up losing all they’ve built.”