“Mom called me. She said she tried to reach you, but you didn’t answer.” She shifts, looking slightly uncomfortable.
I feel his arms around me tighten, and then I tip my head back when he groans. “Fuck, I’ll call her.”
“Is everything okay?” I ask, and he looks down at me. I swear I think he looks worried, but I don’t know what he could be worried about.
“Everything’s fine. I just need to call her back. I’ll do it while I take Bruce out.”
“Sure,” I agree, and he lets me go and grabs Bruce’s leash, which is hanging on the handle of the pantry door in my kitchen.
“Be right back,” he tells Heather and me before he disappears.
“Is everything with your parents okay?” I question when I hear the front door open and shut.
Heather presses her lips together, looking unsure, and then she lets out a breath and relaxes them before answering. “Our mom wasn’t really happy about Tyler leaving town, the same way she wasn’t happy about me moving to Montana. She’s been trying for a while to convince Tyler to come home. I think with you in the picture, she knows that’s not going to happen.”
“Oh.” What do I say to that? Tyler never told me that his mom isn’t happy about him living here. I get it—I don’t think my mom would be happy about me moving to another state, even as old as I am.
“She’ll come around eventually.”
“We’re going to Tennessee for Thanksgiving. Hopefully, her seeing him will help,” I say.
She nods but doesn’t look convinced. “Just don’t let her get to you. She can be a lot sometimes. Marvin had a hard time dealing with it in the beginning, and that took a toll on us.”
“Now I’m worried,” I admit, since she and her husband are currently in the middle of a divorce, and an ugly one at that.
“I probably shouldn’t have said anything. I just don’t want you to be caught off guard. I love my mom. She’s great. But when she’s not getting what she wants, she tends to play dirty.”
My eyes are wide. Now not only am I worried, I’m freaked out. What the hell does that mean? “Play dirty?”
“Tyler will deal with her if she does anything,” she assures me, and then we both look into the living room after Kennedy lets out a small cry.
She turns to go to her, so I don’t get to question her any more about her mom. Really, I don’t know that I want to know more than I do. What the hell have I gotten myself into? I wonder if I should make up some kind of excuse so I don’t have to go with him, but then I think about Tyler telling me that he loves me, and I know I can’t do that. He said he wants me to meet his family, and his mom can’t be that bad. He loves her, and it’s obvious Heather does too.
With a long sigh, I go to the living room and sit with Heather and Kennedy until Tyler gets back, and then we all load up and go to his place. Heather is leaving early tomorrow morning, so she needs to pack up and get ready for the long flight.
We have dinner together; Tyler makes lasagna, and Heather helps him while I spend time with Kennedy. When the night comes to an end, I say goodbye to Heather and Kennedy at Tyler’s door. They’re heading for the airport at four in the morning, so I won’t see them again before they leave. After my goodbye, Tyler walks me to my house and tells me that he’ll see me tomorrow. He’s going to spend the night on the couch at his place so he can see his sister off. I hate that I don’t get to sleep in his arms, but I understand.
When I get into my empty bed, which has never felt empty before, I hug Tyler’s pillow to my chest, reminding myself that it’s just one night. I’ll see him in the morning, and I’ll get to spend all day with him since he and I are going to my parents’ for Sunday dinner.
It takes me forever to fall asleep, and when I do, I dream about an evil witch trying to chase me out of a castle. I wake earlier than normal and lie in bed for a long time, wondering if it was a vision of things to come.
Suggestion 11
GIVE HER WHAT SHE NEEDS
TYLER
I catch Leah smiling at me as I help her out of my truck, and then I take her hand.
“Have I told you how handsome you look in a baseball hat?” she says as I look down at her, my brows drawing together.
“What?”
“There’s something about you wearing a baseball hat that does it for me. Especially when you wear it backward, which is something you don’t do all the time.” She scans my face. “You look hot.”