Page 108 of Lunar Desires
“Hello?”Mum answered her landline.
Hi! It’s your adopted son.“It’s me.”
“Hello, you. Good to hear your voice.”
What did you do to Dad?“Are you free anytime this week? I was going to see if I could come over one evening.”
“Finally! How about Thursday? I’ll make salmon en croûte.”
Which she may throw across the room the moment I mentioned Dad. “Sounds great. Erm…” Crap. Deep breaths, keep things cool. “Is it okay to bring someone?”
A brief pause.“What kind of someone? A boyfriend?”
Why the damn bashfulness creeping up my neck? Ugh. “Yeah. His name’s Drake.”
“Oh, sweetie. That’s wonderful. I can’t wait to meet him. Does he like salmon en croûte?”
Considering we were sitting on the bed together, I asked him.
He did. Thank God.
Mum was relieved. Being one of her signature dishes she made from scratch, she loved to show it off whenever possible.
Not your mum…
“I’m so happy, Riley,”she said. “How about seven on Thursday?”
“Sounds great.”
“I can’t wait to tell Peter.”She chuckled with delight. “You’ve brightened my day. I was in such a bad mood earlier.”
No change there, then. “Happy to have helped.”
“As much as I want to question you on this new man of yours, I’ll wait to see him in the flesh.”
“Cool.”
“Are you keeping well?”she asked.
“Yeah.”
“You sound tired.”
“I am a bit.”
“Make sure you get some rest. When are you back to work?”
I’d have to give my notice soon.
Damn.
“Soon, I think,” I answered.
“Great. Well, I’d better go. See you on Thursday. Thanks for your call.”
“Bye, Mum.”
“Bye, son.”She hung up.
