Ah, shit. I’d forgotten to pack up the picnic. It’d been a stupid idea anyway. Kitchen counter sex had been much more efficient, and with much less planning.
“No, I did it for the postman,” I retorted. “Yeah, I did it for you,” I muttered, embarrassed. “I wanted to have something nice ready, just in case you did come.”
She glanced over my bare chest, her eyes resting on my dick.
“Trust me,” she said, with a faint smile, “you definitely managed that.” She walked back over to me, her arms snaking around my waist. “Now are you going to take me to bed, Mr. Cooper, or what?
I chuckled. “What did we just do?”
She shrugged, playfully, biting her lip. “Come on, don’t be a tease. You can call that a preview. Now I want the whole show.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Are you sure this is a good idea? I don’t want to scare her.” Mia eyed me with uncertainty.
“Come on. Just go with it. Some days she’s better than others.”
We walked into Mom’s room. She was sitting at her table, attempting a crossword puzzle.
She looked up at me, her eyes clouded with the confusion I’d become so used to seeing. She moved her gaze over to Mia. What happened next shocked me.
“Mia,” she gasped, her lips parting into a smile. “How lovely to see you, dear.”
Mia tur
ned to me in shock. I shrugged helplessly. In my head, it made sense—sometimes patients have a much easier time remembering things or people from their past—but it still hurt that she didn’t recognize me, yet she knew the girl who was friends with her daughter twelve years before.
“Hi, Mrs. Cooper.”
“Are you here to see Nicole? She’s around somewhere. Probably goofing off with Liam,” she chuckled. She raised her eyebrows at Mia. “You know that boy is crazy about you, don’t you?” She giggled.
Mia laughed and nodded. “I’m crazy about him too,” she replied, sneaking a glance at me.
“That’s lovely. I remember you three, always together. I could never get you inside for dinner. And this boy,” she pointed to me. “He’d follow you to the end of the earth. He would have done anything for you.” Her eyes clouded over as she remembered, a smile breaking through as she chuckled.
“Mom,” I muttered, embarrassed. Mia squeezed my hand.
“You look after that boy of mine,” Mom warned, pointing a finger at her. “He’s a good boy with a big heart. He deserves the best.”
A single tear trickled down my cheek. At this moment, Mom looked more alive than I’d seen her in years. The way her face lit up when she saw Mia, the sparkle in her eyes, it was incredible to watch. I walked over and took Mom’s hand and squeezed it as Mia smiled.
“I will, Mrs. Cooper. I promise I will.”
THE END
Epilogue
“Did I tell you Beth is coming over tonight, too?”
Mia shot me a look. Okay, I probably deserved that. I knew they weren’t the closest of friends, but until now, Mia had respected my friendship with her.
The truth was, I was worried about Beth. She was almost manic in some of her behavior recently. If I thought she was carefree before, then this was just fucking insane. One minute she was hyper, and the next she was a mess.
“Lucky I cooked extra,” Mia grumbled. She handed me the salad to put on the table.
I set down the salad and walked over to Mia, wrapping my arms around her. My hand slipped under her shirt, running over her soft skin until it cupped her breast.
“I have the sexiest woman in the world right here,” I whispered as I sucked on her earlobe.