Page 132 of Off The Ice

I snorted. “Who knows what Mom’s done to the inside. She’s spent the last few months having it redone.”

“You don’t trust her interior decorating skills?” Cassie giggled.

“No, not at all, actually.”

Cassie jumped down from the car, looking on edge as if I were leading her to an execution.

“Relax,” I told her, using my hand to guide her to the door. “We’re fine.”

“It’s scary meeting people’s families. Especially all at once like this,” she admitted.

“They’ll love you,” I coaxed her.

Who wouldn’t?

She smiled up at me, trusting me that everything would be okay.

Before we even got to the door, Maggie was standing there, throwing it open and hurriedly gesturing for us to move faster.

“Thank God you’re here,” she said when we got to the steps. “I’ve been waiting by the window for you to pull up.”

“Why?” I snorted.

“I wanted to warn you. Mom has gone mental. The entire house looks like a cowboy ranch. She’s giving everyone guided tours as if it’s Buckingham Palace.”

“A cowboy ranch?” Cassie asked at the same time I said, “Guided tours?”

I’d grown up in the house. It wasn’t as if I needed to relearn my way around.

But as soon as I stepped inside, I was pretty much eating those words. It was true. The place was unrecognizable.

As if I’d stepped onto the set of an Old West film, the entire place was redone with solid wood, a stone fireplace, a—

“Jesus Christ,” I muttered.

“I think it looks… nice,” Cassie said.

“We live in Massachusetts.” Maggie groaned.

“Is that Liam?” I heard my mother before I saw her. We’d barely entered the threshold, but as always, she had some type of supersense of detecting my presence from a mile away.

“There he is,” she gushed, her eyes lighting when she saw me. “My son.”

And she pulled me into her traditional hug that always made it seem like she hadn’t seen me in years.

“Hi, Mom,” I told her, surprised by the strength of a 5’6 woman.

“And Cassie,” she said, turning to her beside me. With no hesitation, she pulled her into a hug of equal intensity. “I’ve heard so much about you from Maggie. I’m so happy you’re here with us.”

“Relax, Mom, Maggie said.

“Don’t break her,” I said, only half-joking as I tried to pull Cassie to safety.

“Thank you so much for having me,” Cassie responded when she was finally freed of the death grip.

“Thankyoufor coming.” My mother waved it off. “It seems you’ve made quite the impact onbothmy children,” she said before turning to me with a smirk.

I hadn’t talked to my mom since that day at Maggie’s, so I had no idea what she thought the situation was, but it clearly made a hell of a statement that I was arriving here with her by my side.

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