Page 50 of Just the Wrong Twin

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It turnedout that Mack had booked Nate into a suites hotel that was reasonably new. He had a two-story unit at the end of the building with a parking spot outside the door for his car. On the main floor, there was a living room with big television, a kitchen and a small bathroom. Nate carried his bags upstairs to the bedroom. The bedroom had a king-sized bed and there was a huge bathroom on that floor.

The view, so to speak, was of an empty lot loaded with dandelions, with a shopping mall in the distance. The entire suite was decorated in tasteful neutrals. There was a small patio outside the living room and a balcony above it.

He had a shower and shaved, then checked on supplies. Mack had stocked the fridge in advance and left a note on it, welcoming him to town and listing all the phone numbers he might need. That apparently included the local restaurants that made deliveries. There were several bottles of wine in the rack on the counter, snacks in the cupboard, and even candles on the coffee table.

Home base.

It seemed empty and a bit devoid of character, especially compared to a certain studio apartment hung with fairy lights, but Nate wasn’t going to dwell on that.

Onward.

Instead, he called his mom. The plan had been for him to call when he arrived the night before, and he was ready for the inevitable questions.

His mom answered right away. “I was worried about you when you didn’t call last night.”

“I was late getting in,” he said, omitting the fact that he’d been in Manhattan for the night. “I didn’t want to call and wake you up.”

“I was awake, waiting to hear from you,” she chided. “It’s always that way.”

“I figured you were past that,” he teased and heard her laugh.

“I’ll never be past it, Nate. It’s part of the job description. How was your drive?”

“It was great.”

“And how is your hotel? Is it nice?”

“Yes, really nice. A little suite with a kitchen and everything.”

“You won’t know what to do with yourself for two weeks.”

“Oh, they have plans to start bringing me up to speed while I’m here.”

“It only makes sense since you’re on the payroll.”

“You should come up and visit once I get a place of my own,” he suggested, knowing his mom would want to see where he was living. Maybe he could figure out a way for her to meet Pierce. He didn’t need her approval, but he wanted her to be confident that he’d made a good choice.

“I will,” she said. “How was the wedding?”

“Nice.”

His mom laughed. “There’s a man’s answer. What did the bride wear?”

Nate had to think. “A jacket and skirt. It was red.”

“Oh, that is a statement. Is red a good color for her?”

“Yes. And the groom had a red bow tie.” He remembered just in time.

“Tell me about the flowers.”

“Mmm, there were some?”

His mom laughed again. “Is it reasonable for me to hope that you were distracted by anyone?”

“Distracted?” Nate pretended not to understand.

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