The Late Bloomer's Road to Love by Marie Ferrarella

Author:Marie Ferrarella
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-06-09T20:35:18+00:00

Chapter Twelve

It took exactly ninety seconds after Wyatt and Rachel had crossed the threshold into the ballroom for Wyatt’s mother to hone in on them.

Once Ariel Watson had spotted her son and the young blonde on his arm, the small, powerful matriarch made a beeline for them.

Her eyes intently focused on her “target,” Ariel quickly wove her way around an inordinate amount of couples who were milling around, making small talk while they appeared to be waiting for the festivities to officially begin.

His mother was exceedingly fast for someone her age, Wyatt thought when he saw her heading toward them, moving like shark about to launch into an overdue feeding frenzy.

It was too late to turn around and leave, he feared. His mother would most likely just make a scene. Their only chance was to stand their ground.

He really hoped that Rachel was up to this.

Leaning his head in toward her ear, he warned Rachel, “Brace yourself. Incoming.”

Rachel had been busy taking in the general scene around them and didn’t immediately grasp what Wyatt was telling her.

Turning toward him, she asked, “What?”

“Mother at three o’clock,” he told her, nodding in that general direction.

Wyatt didn’t dare point his mother out for Rachel’s benefit because he knew the woman would see his gesture. He didn’t want to alert his mother even a second before they came together that they’d noticed her coming.

Rachel instantly looked toward the part of the room Wyatt had indicated. She could feel her stomach tightening as she readied herself for the interrogation.

Calm down, Rach. If you can get through your dad’s long journey back to his old life, you can get through and put up with anything.

Heartened to some degree, she pasted a wide smile on her lips. She was not about to let the woman know that she was intimidated by her. If nothing else, she owed this to Wyatt for getting her father back to his old self.

“So,” Ariel said on reaching them. Her alert brown eyes took in virtually every single inch of the young woman standing next to her son. “This is her.”

“Yes,” Rachel answered before Wyatt had a chance to say anything, “this is me.” Leaning forward, Rachel extended her hand toward the older woman. “How do you do, Mrs. Watson? Congratulations on your daughter and son-in-law’s milestone anniversary.”

Ariel made a vaguely dismissive sound as she waved her hand at the words. “Ten is not a milestone. Now, twenty-five or fifty, those are milestones.”

“Still, ten isn’t all that shabby,” Rachel told her. “Baby steps,” she added with a smile.

Apprehensive that his mother was going to escalate this exchange into a full-blown argument, Wyatt prepared to jump in, ready to draw Rachel out of the line of fire and leave if it came to that.

Instead, his mother surprised him by nodding her head at Rachel’s comment. “Baby steps,” she repeated as if she agreed with the evaluation.

“So,” Ariel continued, leveling a piercing look at the young woman. Rachel could have sworn the look had gone straight down into her chest.

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