Friends to Lovers (Heart of Hope 6)

“She said she heard the heartbeat,” I told her, as the same awe she was feeling flowed through me.

“You should be there.” My mother used her fingers to enlarge the photo.

“I will in January. I asked her to let me know about all visits.”

“No. I mean all the time. It’s not easy to be pregnant and alone. This I know.”

I swallowed hard as that tug-of-war between my duty to two women tore me apart. “I can’t leave you, mom.”

“I have Lora. Who does Petal have?”

“She has Jude and April,” I said, although hadn’t I just wondered how much they could give her with their own family obligations, and Jude was taking on most of the business responsibilities. “She said she’d come meet you.”

My mom looked up at me. “She’s coming here?”

“Yes. To meet you.”

“Me? Not so see you?”

I returned my gaze to the phone, not liking the way my mother looked at me each time I told her Petal and I weren’t a couple.

“I asked her to come because you wanted to meet her.”

I glanced at my mother, who’s eyes were scrutinizing me. “Well, that’s nice of her. She shouldn’t have to do that. I should see her.”

“You can’t travel mom. Even when your induction treatment ends this week, you’re still weak. It’s getting late. You should go to sleep.”

“I hate it when you parent me, but I guess you need the practice.”

I grinned at her as I stood. “Why do I feel like you’d still whip my ass if I misbehaved.”

“Because I would.”

I kissed her goodnight and then went to my makeshift office and bought Petal a plane ticket to Chicago for this Saturday.

The next day, Lora showed up in the afternoon, as I was dusting per my mother’s instructions.

“You can’t have your baby mama here in a dusty house, Cy,” she’d said.

“I smell cleansers.” Lora said when I let her in.

“Cy’s friend is coming to visit,” my mother explained from her recliner. I hadn’t told Lora about the baby, and for once, my mom hadn’t spilled the beans either.

“Oh?” Lora arched a brow as she looked at me. I couldn’t tell how she felt about that.

I guessed now was as good of time as any to tell her. “Mom wants to meet her.”

“I see. I didn’t know you two reconciled.”

“They’re just friends,” my mom said. Then she whispered loudly. “With benefits.”

I winced and closed my eyes.

Lora bit her lip in what looked like an attempt to keep from laughing. “I see. I got the feeling it was more than that.”

I suppose I’d given her that impression when I used Petal as an excuse to avoid Lora’s advances.

“I wonder about that myself,” my mother said.