Page 33 of Country Road Romance

Why did families have to be so complicated?

It took a few rings, but she finally picked up.

“Charlie, sweetie, I’m so glad you called. I was just thinking about you,” his mother’s cheery voice said at once. “How are you?” That sweet Appalachian drawl was just as he remembered it, and it made his heart constrict in his chest.

“I’m…I’m good, mom,” he said, taking a second to clear his throat. “How are you?”

“I’m good, darlin’. Just trying to get some bakin’ done today.”

“That sounds great, mom. What’s the occasion?”

“Oh, no particular reason. I was just thinkin’ about how much I missed the old home place and thought I’d get in touch with my roots by makin’ a cobbler.”

His mouth started watering as he thought about the taste of her delicious cherry cobbler, but he also braced himself for the guilt trip he knew was coming.

“I saw that you went back to West Virginia yesterday,” she said. “I gotta say that my feelings are a little hurt that you didn’t ask me if I wanted to come along.”

He took a deep breath and pinched his nose. He’d known this was coming, and he did feel a bit guilty about not inviting her, but he also wished that she would, or could, understand howmuch of a pain in the ass she could be when she tried this passive aggressive approach to conflict resolution.

“I know, but I just figured that with the whole film premiere and everything that I wouldn’t have as much time to be with you as I would have liked, and it doesn’t seem like the kind of movie that you would like anyway.”

That much was true, anyway. He highly doubted that she would go out of her way to watch some hard-hitting drama about the perils of gay life in the middle of the 20th century.

“But you somehow found time to get into a fight with someone at a bar?”

“Uh, yeah, that probably wasn’t my proudest moment,” he said, scuffing his foot on the floor, fixating on a knot in the hardwood so that he wouldn’t have to really pay attention to what was sure to come from the other end of the line. “That’s kind of why I’m holed up for the weekend, so I don’t cause any more problems.”

There was a heavy sigh on the other end of the line. “Sometimes, Charlie, you’re just like your father.”

It was a refrain that he’d heard a lot growing up. Any time that he expressed an opinion that his mother didn’t like or started to shut down or even came close to losing his temper, she’d tell him that he was being like his father. While he understood where she was coming from, it’d come to a point where he’d decided it was easier to avoid conversation rather than to risk getting in trouble again.

Typical Charlie Garrett,he thought.Face a challenge, run your mouth, and then take the easy way out.

However, being with Jared and seeing his family had shown him that there might be another way of handling this. Perhaps the pattern of losing his temper and withdrawing wasn’t the most helpful way of communicating with her.

“I’m sorry, mom,” he said softly. “I know that I’m a bit too much like him sometimes. I…I’ll try to do better. You deserve better. We both do.”

“Oh, Charlie. You’re a good boy. I hope you know that I’ll always love you and be here for you. I hope you know that I just want you to be happy. That matters more to me than anything else.”

“I really appreciate that,” he said, and for the first time in a long time, he really meant it. It suddenly felt as if a great weight was lifted off his chest. It was a small thing, a little thaw, but it suggested that the two of them might be able to work things out, if they took it slow and made meaningful changes. Ifhemade slow but meaningful changes.

“So,” his mother said, “where are you staying this weekend? I bet Sheri wanted to get you out of Huntington as fast as she could after your little…incident.”

“Well, that’s the thing. I’m staying with a guy named Jared and his parents. He was kind of recruited into getting me out of town.”

He cut himself off before he could blurt out too much.

“I see,” she said slowly. “And what are this young man’s intentions with my son?”

“Mom, it’s not like that,” he said.

“But maybe it could be?” she said, making the words half statement and half question.

“I don’t think he sees me that way.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

Damn it,he thought.

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