Page 34 of Love in the Stacks
My mouth falls open. This is Adam’s mom? I look her over again, and now I notice the resemblance. The slender frame. The brown eyes. The lilting smile.
“Well, honey, I was, but then I thought I’d pop in to see if I could meet any of the coworkers you’ve hinted about.” Adam’s face flushes red. “And now having done so, I can definitely see what you mean.” She winks.
“Means about what?” I ask innocently. I can tell she’s teasing him about something, and I give in to my urge to join her.
“Nothing,” Adam says quickly.
Adam’s mom places her hand on his arm. “Honey, aren’t you going to introduce us?”
Adam rubs the back of his neck. Shoulders drooping in defeat, he announces, “Mom, this is Nicole. Nicole, this is my mother, Mary Burgess.”
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Burgess,” I grin.
“It’s Dr. Burgess, actually.” She smiles back. “But you can call me Mary.”
I nod. “Mary,” I say, “are you a medical doctor, or…?”
She chuckles. “No. I have an education doctorate. After many years as a schoolteacher, I became a high school principal.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Brave,” I say.
She shrugs. “It had its moments.”
Adam looks back and forth between me and his mother. He clears his throat. “Well, we should get going—”
“What brings you to Parker Library today, Mary?” I ask, ignoring Adam’s obvious efforts to pull his mother away.
She beams. “Adam’s taking me to lunch.”
I put my hand to my heart. “Aww,” I can’t help but gush. “That’s so sweet.”
She grins slyly, glancing at Adam. “He’s a very sweet man,” she says. “And handsome. Don’t you think he’s handsome, Nicole?”
“Um…” My face feels warm as I decide how to respond.
Adam quickly jumps in. “You don’t need to answer.”
But I notice a glint of curiosity in his eyes. I throw him a bone.
“Of course he is,” I answer Mary honestly. “A man with glasses always looks so distinguished.”
I didn’t think Adam’s blush could go any deeper, but at my words, his face is literally crimson. Mary looks smug as she pats his arm. I feel a little smug, too, but I can’t explain why.
“Well, dear, let’s get going. We can talk to Nicole more later.”
“Are you here all week?” I ask hastily.
“Yes,” she replies. “I don’t leave until Sunday.”
“You should come to the graphic novel launch party on Thursday. It’s a project Adam and I have been working on.”
She eyes Adam questioningly. “I’d love to. Adam’s mentioned the project, of course. He’s quite excited about it. But he never mentioned who he was working on it with.”
Adam grimaces, and I get the feeling they’ll have a lot to talk about over lunch. I pause. Like me?
Finally, I grin. “See you Thursday, then.”
“It was a pleasure meeting you, dear.”
