The Winning Season by Alison Packard

Author:Alison Packard [Packard, Alison]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Carina Press
Published: 2013-07-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

It was difficult, but Kelly managed to keep her jaw from hitting the patio. “Hi, Dad,” she said, totally blown away by the fact that Matt was standing in her parents’ backyard, looking quite at home, and extremely attractive, in faded jeans and a light blue polo shirt that accentuated his deeply tanned skin. “Matt.” She gave him a curt nod as she moved to the redwood picnic table covered with a colorful red-gingham tablecloth. She set her purse on the bench as her mother opened the screen door and stepped outside.

“Kelly, we didn’t expect you so soon.” Patricia Maxwell’s eyes lit up. “Matt said you were running late.”

“Did he?” Kelly looked from her mother to Matt and manufactured a wide smile. “Well, I’m here now,” she said as she gave her mother a hug. Over her mom’s shoulder, she gave Matt a hard stare. Oh, how she wished she could wipe the smug expression clean off his face. He was totally enjoying her discomfiture and it was annoying as hell. “And it seems you were able to get here without any trouble at all,” she said with a frosty tone to Matt.

“GPS is an amazing thing,” he replied with a self-satisfied twist of his lips and lifted his beer to his mouth.

Patricia stepped back and beamed at Kelly as only a mother could. “You look beautiful, as always.” Before she could say a word, her mother grabbed her hand. “Come inside, I need to check on the beans.”

“Check on the beans?” Kelly asked with suspicion. “Don’t you usually open a can and nuke them? What’s there to check?”

“I made them myself.”

“You what?” Kelly whipped her head around and met her father’s gaze. He gave her a sheepish shrug and then focused his attention on the grill. The traitor. How could he let her mother make something from scratch? Nothing good ever came of that.

“The recipe was easy,” Patricia commented and chuckled softly. “Don’t worry. There won’t be a repeat of the great chili disaster of 2010.”

Kelly clutched her stomach. “God, I hope not. I was sick for a week.”

“I didn’t know there was a recall on that ground beef.” Her mother’s tone was defensive. “This time I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

Yes, they’d be surprised all right, but not pleasantly. Patricia Maxwell wasn’t exactly a wizard in the kitchen. Unfortunately, both she and Kayla had inherited their mother’s lack of skill in the cooking department. On the plus side, though, they both could work a microwave and order takeout like nobody’s business.

“I’m sure the beans will be great, Mrs. Maxwell.”

Kelly rolled her eyes. What a suck-up.

“Why, thank you, Matt.” Patricia’s cheeks turned pink. “Didn’t I ask you to call me Patricia?”

Oh good God. Her mother was just as smitten with Matt as she was with Sean Barrett. The man couldn’t have been here more than thirty minutes and already he’d charmed her mother as easily as he’d charmed her father. Whatever voodoo he’d used on both of them had worked.

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