Page 81 of Objection to Love

Garrett’s eyes widened, and Mr. Stevenson smiled then looked at his watch, standing. “I have a conference call I need to get back for, but we’ll send over all of the information via email. I think you’ll be pleased with the offer.”

Garrett stood as well, shaking the man’s hand and seeing him out of the office. After closing the door behind him, he turned back to his desk. Western regional division head? Where had that come from? He’d gotten a contract from one of his other companies just that morning too—for a one-year position in Texas. It was good pay, and he liked the company.

But this was a steady position. Probably one with benefits and a salary and no concern of where he’d be six months or a year from now.

He sat down, drumming his fingers on his desk. The change was part of what he liked in this job though. There was a level of adventure in constantly moving around and doing something new. He hadn’t wanted consistency in years. Not even when he’d been dating Jenica and planned to settle down with her. He’d seen a lot of travel for work in his future even then. Maybe some part of him had also known that if he’d ever needed to see Jenica outside of a long-distance relationship, they wouldn’t have lasted.

Without realizing it, his eyes had strayed to his phone. Em was supposed to be out of court at two. But it was now three, and he hadn’t heard anything from her. What would she think of these job offers? They’d only known each other a couple of months… only been dating a couple of weeks. Yet her opinion had become the most important right now.

Which was crazy since he didn’t even have all the details. He had no idea where this regional job might put him. He should wait until he had all the information before talking to her.

His phone lit up, and he grabbed for it, accidentally knocking it off his desk. By the time he’d stooped to grab it from where it slid under the desk, it had stopped ringing, and there was a missed call. From his mom.

He groaned. He loved his mom. But his mom was not who he wanted to talk to just now.

Still, he redialed her number.

“Garrett, hi, honey. I just left a message. I figured you were working.”

He settled back into his chair. “Just finished. I had to come in early today, so I’m off early.”

“Oh good. I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes.” She paused, and Garrett zeroed in a little more on the conversation. Was this something serious? “Well, honey, I don’t really know how to tell you, but I didn’t want to spring a surprise on you this Sunday.”

“Surprise me with what?”

His mom took a deep breath. “I’m dating someone.”

Garrett stilled. He tried to respond, but nothing came out.

His mom must have taken his silence as some sort of answer because she started talking a mile a minute. “I know it seems like a bit of a surprise, but I met John at the hospital in Denver when I had my knee done last year. He’s a doctor there. A fetal surgeon, if you’d believe it.”

This time when she paused, he managed a strangled, “Oh,” which was enough to keep her talking.

“And he’s so nice; I know you’ll like him. We’ve been dating for a couple of months now, but I didn’t want to bring it up until I knew it was a serious thing. And now it is. Serious. I really like this man, Garrett. I know you will too.”

Garrett was still trying to collect his thoughts. “A couple of months?”

“Well… yes. As I said, I didn’t want to tell you until I knew it was serious. You know I loved your father. I still do—”

“I know, Mom,” he cut her off, his mouth finally catching up with his brain. “I know. Don’t worry. I’m just… surprised. I think it’s great you’re dating again. John, you said? Sounds like a… a good, strong name.” Oh, great, he was turning into an eighty-year-old, commenting on the strength of a name.

His mother sounded a little wary when she responded. “Good. I’m glad. I’ve invited him to Sunday Sundae night. If that’s okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course. Sure. Can’t wait to meet him. Hey, Mom, Em’s calling me. She had a big trial today, and I want to know how it went. See you Sunday?”

“Sounds great, honey. Why don’t you bring Em? I’d love to see her again.” She sounded a little deflated.

“Uh… sure. I’ll ask her.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too, Mom.” He hung up and then stared at his phone. He wished Em had actually been calling. He needed a distraction—needed to focus on something other than his suddenly topsy-turvy world.

He had two job offers, two months left on his current lease, and now his mom was dating again after she hadn’t even talked about men in the last decade. He knew it shouldn’t affect him as strongly as it was, but somehow he’d started to think it would just be him and his mom always. No one could ever fill the third chair at the table. No one could come close to being his dad.

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