Scowling? Gray? He always smiled.
Lori turned and, sure enough, Gray's face sported a tight-lipped frown. He couldn't be mad at his mother, so the feelings must be directed at her. She followed his glare straight to the disappearing cab.
Gray couldn't care that she planned to leave, could he? The thought was crazy—and frighteningly exciting.
With no hope of alternative escape, Lori followed Mrs. Clark to the apartment. She had no choice but to make nice with Gray's mom and her son—a son who looked too good in that flight suit for Lori's currently shaky peace of mind. Gray stepped ahead to unlock the door.
Inside the apartment Angela accepted a glass of milk from Gray and drank down a third before slowing to smaller sips. She reigned from a recliner, leaving Lori and Gray to sit on the sofa together or stand around awkwardly. They sat, awkward all the same.
"So?" Angela sipped her milk, eyes skipping back and forth between Gray and Lori. "Is there something you two want to share with me?"
"Mom, shut down the matchmaking. Lori worked with us on that rescue operation we flew yesterday. The hours were long. She crashed here, in the guest room, rather than go all the way back into town. I'm about to take her home."
"Well, that's just a shame. I was hoping the two of you worked things out."
Silence echoed all the way to the vaulted ceiling. Hands shaking, Lori placed the little bundle of clothes on the couch. How ironic to have the perfect, accepting mother-in-law, but no husband. Lori wanted off the sofa, out of the living room, out of the whole uncomfortable situation.
"Angela, thank you. I'm complimented. But what Gray said is true. There's nothing going on. We're just … old friends."
Friends. Gray winced. He wanted to grab Lori by the shoulders and demand she at least be honest. They'd been a hell of a lot more than friends. Of course even friends treated each other better than he and Lori had. He turned to her. "Would you mind if I talked to my mother alone for a minute?"
"Of course not I, uh, could use a drink myself," Lori said, looking grateful for the excuse to escape as she backed into the kitchen.
Perched on the edge of her chair, Angela swallowed the rest of her milk. Her hand clenched around the glass, chewed-down nails turning white.
Familiar frustration welled in Gray. His mom knocked herself out worrying about her family, all the while pretending everything was normal. He couldn't do a damn thing about it except try to keep the peace and hope like hell her stomach didn't resemble Swiss cheese.
He needed to divert her before she invested more of her overtaxed energy into fairy-tale dreams of paper bridal bells. "Mom, put away the wedding planner. There's really nothing going on here."
Angela set aside her glass and swiped a pinky around her mouth. "Too bad Lori didn't get pregnant last summer, then you would have had to grow up and ask her to marry you."
"Mom!" Gray choked on a gulp of air and shock. He could have used some of that milk for his burning stomach.
She patted his face, the seven charms on her grandma bracelet tinkling. "It's okay, son. I know you have sex."
Horrified, Gray stood. Mothers did not discuss sex, not with him, anyway. "Okay, this conversation is over. Mom, I love you, and I owe you a trip to Waffle House. But we really have to leave for the hospital."
"The hospital? I thought you were taking Lori home."
Uh-oh. He shuffled like a busted teenager. "We're, uh, going to check in on a patient from the airlift."
"Patient? I thought you were evacuating—" her face was wreathed in a smile she'd passed along to her son "—children."
She cradled her bracelet to her heart as if already selecting a spot for the next little golden grandbaby charm.
Angela rose with the speed and fluidity of an Olympic gymnast. "Well, let me get out of your way, then."
She pressed a quick kiss to her son's cheek and cleaned the lipstick away with her thumb. "Bring Lori to your farewell party. Your friends are always welcome."
The door closed behind Angela with a resounding click.
Gray crooked his knee forward, favoring his injured leg, and jangled his keys in his hand. He stared at the door and didn't even bother chasing his mother down. She thought it was all so simple. Pretend to be happy and it became true. His family was just like the picture he kept by his desk. Full of paper-thin smiles with nothing underneath.
He would plaster one on to get through the afternoon with Lori, and hopefully find an answer to cutting ties, cleanly this time.
She deserved substantial emotions. After a lifetime of hiding his in order to face the world with a smile, Gray wasn't sure he had much substance left.
* * *