Billionaire's Single Mom

I pondered how much I wanted to toy with her. It might be fun, but it could cause me trouble later. “So, did you need something, Mother?”

“I wanted to call you and ask you how little Juniper was doing. That poor thing, having to suffer through that. I feel for her.”

“Really now?” I smirked to myself. “You wanted to call and ask me how Juniper Blue is doing? And nothing else?”

“Yes. Why is that so strange?”

“I didn’t say it’s strange. Why do you think I think it’s strange?”

My mother scoffed. “Because you have that smug tone about your voice, Logan. Don’t play games with me.”

“I could say the same to you.” I chuckled. “Why ask me instead of asking Sally Jolie if you’re worried about Juniper?”

My mother cleared her throat, probably stalling to think of a response. “Well, you know, I figured I’d call you. I know you visited Emily and Juniper on Saturday.”

“And I assume you know that because Sally told you.”

“Yes,” she said, the word tight and clipped.

“Now, Mother, give me a little credit. I know that Sally would be keeping you up to date, but if you are truly calling about that, then you should know Juniper is fine, much better. She’ll probably even be able to return to school in a couple of days.”

“That’s wonderful. Such a lovely little girl. Hmmm.”

I leaned back in my chair waiting for her to get to the point. “Is there anything else you were curious about?”

“Sally saw you at the hospital,” my mother said, her tone suggestive. “She thinks you and Emily are together. Considering you took her on a trip to Japan, I don’t think that’s a crazy assumption, but you never told me you were together. You keep insisting you’re just friends, and that makes me wonder what’s actually going on.”

I took in and let out a long, slow breath. This conversation had stopped being fun, especially since my mother was digging into some things I hadn’t quite figured out myself. Every time I thought I’d finally connected with Emily, something changed, something to convince me she wasn’t as interested, but then she would turn around and do something that made me think she was.

Mixed signals. I guess that’s what people called it.

“You want the truth?” I said with a sigh.

“I’d prefer it, yes. I’m not a little girl, Logan. You don’t have to sugarcoat things for me.”

“The truth is that Emily and I are good together, Mother. We really are. I like spending time with her, and our personalities are compatible. From what I can tell, she enjoys spending time with me. Honestly, Emily is one of the few women I’ve ever met who I feel like might actually be worth pursuing, and this is one of the few times I’ve cared enough to seriously try.”

My mother let out a little shout of glee. I winced at the uncharacteristic sound.

“That’s simply wonderful,” you said. “You see? You thought I didn’t know what I was doing, but I’ve set you up with a wonderful woman, so you don’t even have to worry about pursuing her, as you put it. If only you hadn’t been so resistant throughout these years, we could have had you married off years ago.”

“I think you’re getting ahead of yourself.”

“Am I now? Am I really?”

“Yes.” I turned in my chair to stare out at the city through my window. A news helicopter flew near a building in the distance, and I wondered if something was going on. “You see, there’s one small problem.”

“Don’t be too picky, Logan. No woman is perfect. If you wait for perfection, you’ll die old and alone.”

“You don’t understand. I don’t have a problem with Emily.”

“Then what’s the problem? Humility is grand, but don’t overdo it. I’m sure she can see past whatever silly habits you think might offend her. At a minimum, you’d be a big improvement over Lionel Blue.”

I snorted. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“You know what I mean.”

“It doesn’t matter. That’s not the problem either.”