Sip and Savor: A Slow Burn Small Town Romance by Bella Michaels

Author:Bella Michaels [Michaels, Bella]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781946510938
Publisher: Altiora Press
Published: 2022-10-03T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

hudson

“Hey, Mom.”

It was only seven a.m., and somehow the jet lag hadn’t hit. I should have been sleeping, usually did on days off. Maybe it was the strange environment. Or familiar environment. Mom hadn’t changed a thing in my old room yet.

“Morning, sweetie.” She poured me a cup of coffee as I walked into the kitchen. It was good to be home. “Your dad left for work already,” she said. Last night Mom told me she’d taken the day off to spend it with me.

“I figured.” I sat at the kitchen table.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I said, knowing she wouldn’t believe me. If Mom got it in her head that something was wrong, I’d be better off making something up than telling her I was fine. “I’m not used to being up this early, especially with the time change.”

She sat across from me. “It’s something else,” she said. “Last night you were on cloud nine to be home, excited to see this girl. Today, something’s up.”

“I’m still on cloud nine to see this girl,” I said, taking a sip of what tasted like home.

“But?”

There was no but. Or maybe there was a little but. “The wedding.”

After my flight got in, the three of us went to dinner. I told both of my parents all about Min, and while my dad didn’t say much, as usual, my mother seemed pretty excited. She’d love nothing more than to see me settled down and didn’t even pretend to hide the fact.

“It’s a high-pressure first date, that’s for sure,” Mom said.

I hadn’t realized it even bothered me until Mom pressed me on it. “It’s no big deal.”

“Except it’s bothering you. I can tell. Talk to me.”

Welcome home, Hudson. The two extremes between my mother and father were as stark now as they’d always been. One talked a lot, the other hardly at all. One wanted to know everything and anything about my life while the other was so busy running a school district I wasn’t sure what he knew, unless he was displeased. Not that I had a bad relationship with my dad or anything. He was just . . . very different from Mom.

“Honestly, it’s fine. I just know . . .” I hesitated. “The Encore thing will come up.”

“Well, of course it will. Can you blame them?”

“No, I can’t. But I hate having to be defensive about it.”

“So don’t.”

It was all so simple for her. “I’m not embarrassed by it. Or any of my life choices.”

“You know I support any choice you make. Not that I relish the idea of my son taking off his clothes for a living, but if it’s what you want to do, then do it. But you can’t expect Dominica’s brothers to be thrilled by the idea.”

“It makes people happy, Mom. That’s all I want to do. There’s so much shit in this world, is it so bad to want to put a smile on people’s faces? I know I’m not solving world hunger or contributing to our future generations, like you and Dad .

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