“Mom, this is Luke and Ryan.” I turned so they could step closer.
“Hi boys, it's nice to meet you.”
I smiled at her calling them boys. It was very obvious they weren't boys.
“Ryan is my landlord, I suppose. And Luke is my neighbor and...” I paused, l
ooking at Luke not sure how to continue.
Ryan butted in and finished for me.
“Her boyfriend.” Ryan took my mom’s outstretched hand and shook it before winking at me.
“Boyfriend?” Her hand went to her chest.
“Yes,” I answered.
“Well, it is nice to meet you both. I didn't realize you were bringing your boyfriend.” She looked over at me, eyes wide.
“It was kind of last minute. They were competing today, and I went out to watch.” Ryan was talking to the girl at the podium; flirting would be a more accurate statement.
“Is that the same thing Chris was doing today?”
I should have known she would mention Chris. She knew him fairly well, and I felt Luke’s hand tighten on mine.
“Yeah, I guess.” I said steering the conversation away from Chris.
“Table will be ready in just a minute. They are cleaning it now,” Ryan said as he walked back over to where the three of us were standing.
After we were seated and the waiter got our drink order, Mom asked, “Have you talked to your father lately?”
It was the dreaded question, and I hated even talking about him because it always seemed to end with us mad at each other.
“Not recently.” I shrugged.
“That's a shame.” She was digging for information on my Dad’s new girlfriend. I didn't go out of my way to see him, and she knew that. His new girlfriend was just a few years older than me, and it made me uncomfortable. I had only met her a couple of times, and she was always trying to be my friend, talking about boys and work.
“What do you do for a living, Luke?” She turned her attention to the man sitting beside me.
“I make furniture.”
“What kind of furniture?” Luke started talking about his work, and I watched as his face lit up.
“Custom pieces. I take old or scrap pieces of wood and repurpose them. Bring them to life.”
“So you live near Emmy?”
“Next door actually.” He smiled at me.
“That's nice,” she said. The table silenced as the waiter placed our drinks in front of us. He went from each of us collecting our orders and left again. We sat in silence as we munched on the bread left on the table. It was an awkward silence but not one I was willing to break at the moment.
“So, have you lived here all of your life?” Ryan asked unable to bear the silence for one more minute. He was looking at my mother and she sat her bread down on the table, took her glass into her hand lifted it and gulped some water. I knew the question wouldn't be that hard to answer but she was over dramatic if nothing else.
“Yes. My parents are from here and I came back here after… well after Em went to school.” I looked over at Luke and pleaded with him to change the conversation.
“I grew up close to here as well. It really is a beautiful place to live.” He said, squeezing my hand in his.
“Where did you grow up?” she turned her gaze to him.