“Thank you, Meagan. Save room for dessert. Caramel apple pie.”
Moaning, I closed my eyes and mumbled, “I just gained ten pounds.”
Grayson
“BE CAREFUL DRIVING back, kids.”
With a smile, I pulled my mother in for a hug. “We’ll be fine, Mom. Thank you for the chili and apple pie.”
“Anytime, Grayson.” Giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, I took a step back.
“Love you, Mom. I’ll see you soon.”
I watched as Meagan walked up to my mother with a huge grin across her face. I knew instantly my mother loved Meagan. “Thank you so much for the amazing food. I’ll have to try to convince you to share your secret ingredient.”
With a chuckle, my mother gave Meagan a hug. “We might be able to make some kind of arrangement.”
My mother shot a look at me and winked before turning back to Meagan. I’d never before brought a girl home and I knew my mother’s mind was going into overdrive right now.
“We better get going, Meg. The snow is really coming down now and sticking pretty good to the g
round.”
Meagan hugged my mother one more time before jumping into the truck.
I lifted my hand and waved goodbye as my mother gave me that all-knowing look. “I’ll be sure to call you tomorrow, Grayson.”
Oh hell.
With another quick kiss on her forehead, I whispered, “Don’t start planning a wedding, Mom. We’re just hanging out.”
“Uh-huh. Sure you are.”
Running around the front of the truck, I called out, “Later, Mom!”
I jumped into the truck and glanced over to Meagan. She only had my sweatshirt on still as she wrapped her arms around her. I cranked up the heat and headed back to Durango.
We drove a good part of the ride back in silence before Meagan broke it. “Your mom is so sweet.”
With a smile, I said, “Yeah, she’s the most amazing woman I’ve ever known. I’m not really sure how she did it all those years on her own.”
I could feel Meagan’s eyes pinning me with a stare but I chose to keep looking straight ahead. “What was it like? Growing up without a father and your mom having to work so hard to provide for you?”
My hand pushed through my hair as memories flooded my mind. “We had good times and bad. I can remember breaking down at the table one day and crying because my mother put a plate of scrambled eggs in front of me with toast.”
“Why did that make you cry?” Meagan asked as I turned to look at her.
“Because it was the tenth night of eating the same thing. Eggs and bread were cheap.”
Meagan’s eyes widened, and I saw pity in them. I couldn’t stand when people felt sorry for me.
“My friends gave me hell when I became a stripper, but they quickly shut their mouths when I was bringing in more cash in one night than they made in three months working at Home Depot.”
Meagan cleared her throat as she asked, “Does your mom know you were a stripper?”
“She didn’t at first, but I finally told her. The only reason I did was because she thought I was dealing drugs.”
With a chuckle¸ Meagan looked straight ahead as I pulled into the parking garage of my apartment. “Did you um . . . you know . . . ever get offered to do other things for women?”