Page 56 of Enticed

“You’re too good to him, Mom.”

“It’s easy to be good to the ones we love, Cooper,” she casts me a look, and I’m not sure what she’s trying to communicate with her eyes. “How’s Clara by the way?” She asks without making eye contact with me—and for that I’m grateful becausethatquestion was not what I was expecting out of her mouth at all. I’m pretty sure my jaw dropped and I’m going to have to pick it back up from the floor.

“Uh, good, I suppose,” I fake innocence but then my mom turns to me and a creepy smile stretches across her face. “Don’t look at me like that, Mom,” I point in her direction. “You look like you’re channeling the Joker.”

“So you’re telling me that the last time you saw her was on your date from the auction?” Her brows lifts, and if there’s anything I’ve learned with Stacy Walsh as a mom, is that you can’t lie to her. She stands there with her hands crossed over her chest, her dark brown shoulder length hair streaked with grey pulled back off of her face, and those dark eyes full of love but demanding honesty that I’ve seen looking at me my entire life.

“No,” I admit, leaning against the counter across from her while we stare each other down.

“When’s the last time you saw her then?”

I swallow and then take a deep breath. “Last night,” I answer as I think about how fast I rushed home knowing Clara was going to meet me at my condo after my shift. I normally don’t work Friday nights, but they needed me to cover a shift which made me even more anxious to get to her when I was finished. She greeted me in fire-engine-red lingerie and I worshipped her body until we both passed out.

“Huh,” she says and then turns back to the stove.

“Huh? That’s all you have to say after that inquisition?”

She chuckles. “If you thought that was an inquisition, you must not know your mother very well. So how long have you two been seeing each other?”

And now the real inquisition starts. “Since the auction date—but truth be told, there’s been something there since last fall.”

“Yes, I’m aware.”

“You’ve just been watching us this entire time, haven’t you?”

She turns to me and shoots me a crooked grin. “That’s a mother’s job, son. I can’t force you to do anything, but I had faith you and Clara would figure things out on your own. As soon as I realized she bid on your date at that auction, I knew she felt the same way. I’m glad to hear that you’re still seeing each other though. Does Liv know yet?”

I shake my head. “No. Clara doesn’t want to tell her until we’re sure what this is between us. But I’m sure…”

“You’re in love with her, aren’t you, Coop?” She tilts her head and I swear I can see moisture building in her eyes.

I’ve been fighting that realization for weeks, convincing myself it was too soon. But I don’t think it’s something that came on all of a sudden. In fact, in some capacity, I’ve always harbored feelings for Clara. And since December, they’ve grown and shifted into love.

“I think so,” I confess and my shoulders drop, my head hanging between them.

My mother walks over to me and dips down so I’m forced to look her in the eyes as both of our heads pop back up. “You think so?”

I huff. “I do. But she’s so stubborn, Mom. She’s convinced we have to wait to tell anyone, but I’m tired of feeling like a dirty secret. Because what’s happening between the two of us, it isn’t dirty. It feels right. She makes me happy and fulfilled and… I want to let everyone know that she’s mine. But I don’t know how to make her see that.”

“What if you take her away from Emerson Falls for a weekend? You can take her to our cabin at Hyatt Lake. Spend time just the two of you and show her how things could be if you just came out?”

“You make it sound like we’re hiding our sexuality or something,” I joke, but my mom just shakes her head.

“I know that’s not the case. But hey, even when gay people come out and admit their truths to their loved ones, it’s one of the bravest things a person can do. You need to show Clara that it’s okay to be brave, to admit what she wants, and that you’ll be there beside her no matter what happens.”

“You really think that could work?” I cautiously ask, toying with the idea in my head. I do have this weekend off and Clara doesn’t have to travel for a while. Maybe getting away from the people we’re avoiding will help her see what a real relationship could be like between the two of us. Although the relationship we’ve been building for the last two months has been completely real for me.

“Yes. It’s worth it, son. I’ve known Clara as long as you. That girl is like a second daughter to me, and I know how stubborn she can be. But I also know that she doesn’t believe she deserves a family and to be loved—why, I’ve never understood. But the two of you together is right. I’ve always suspected there was something between the two of you, especially when she’d tease you and call you Twiggy.”

“You were rooting for your daughter’s friend to date your son, who’s three years younger than her, when we were teenagers?”

My mom laughs as the stove timer dings and she bends down to retrieve the wings from the oven. “I wouldn’t say that. But as a mother, I can sense things and after last fall when Liv came home, I saw the writing on the wall.”

I walk over to her and wrap her in a hug, kiss her temple and breathe her in. “Thanks, Mom.”

“I just want you to be happy, Cooper. And if Clara is who makes you happy, then what your sister thinks about it shouldn’t matter. In all honesty, I think she’d be thrilled.”

“I don’t care about Liv, Mom. It’s Clara who’s afraid of how it will alter their friendship. And I’m not so sure that thrilled would be the word I’d use. She did warn us both away from each other during dinner back in October.”

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