Page 121 of Love Is Brewing

“He told me this was business, not family.”

“Andthatis your answer. He’s looking at it that way. If you weren’t family, it’d be business first.”

“Once he said it, I felt like that.”

“Then why are we having this conversation?” his mother asked. It’s as if he could see her rolling her eyes too.

“You started it,” he said, forcing out a laugh. “You called me.”

“And you assumed your brother tattled on you,” his mother said. “Just so you know, West threw none of you under the bus. But you all did it to him enough.”

Elias smirked. “He had it coming. He was bossy. Is still bossy.”

“I’m not going to dispute that,” his mother said. “Now back to Phoebe.”

“So that is why you were calling? Mom, don’t even think about an engagement. It’s not even been four months.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” his mother said. “When it’s meant it’s meant. But I’ll let you two figure it out.”

“Gee,” he said. “Thanks for that.”

He hung up after that and went back to work.

But he thought of it all day knowing Phoebe was the one he wanted to talk to.

She’d been in court most of the day and he wouldn’t bother her.

He sent her a text asking if she wouldn’t mind getting dinner at his house later.

“I’ve got takeout,” she said at the end of the day.

She walked in his front door with a pizza box in her hand. She didn’t knock. That was the first thing that occurred to him and he wasn’t sure why he hadn’t realized it before.

“I’m starving,” he said. “I spent a lot of my day talking to family.”

She moved over to kiss him. “I know that feeling well.”

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“Just work related,” she said. “Some personal. What happened with you?”

He told her about the call with West. How it made him feel to start and finish it.

“I guess it was an eye-opener,” he said.

“Imagine that,” she said. “My call with my mother the other day was the same thing. It’s funny, don’t you think?”

“Not sure how funny it is,” he said, opening the pizza box and pulling out a slice. “Unless you tell me what happened with your call.”

She grabbed plates out of his cabinet and handed him one for his pizza and one for hers.

“Well. Remember when you asked me to Laken’s wedding and it was funny because my mother had just talked to me about inviting you to Ben’s?”

“Yes,” he said. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“My mother said a few things to me to open my eyes. That I’ve done so much in my life to prove myself and it was me I had to prove it to. Not them. Kind of like you.”

He laughed. “I agree with that. From what you’ve said, your family is very proud of you and supportive.”

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