Page 103 of So Not My Thing
Chapter Twenty-Six
Iwalked into my parents’place thirty minutes later, a graceful Georgian home in Mandeville. “Knock, knock,” I called to announce myself. My mom had to be home because her Cadillac was in the driveway.
“Honey, what are you doing here?” she asked, walking out of the kitchen.
“Nice to see you too, Mom.”
“You know that’s not what I meant.” She pulled me into a hug. “I just can barely get you to come out on a Sunday, much less the middle of the week.”
And without meaning to, without even the faintest warning that I would do it, I burst into tears.
“Oh, baby,” she said, gathering me close, and even though she was two inches shorter than me, I was a little kid again, wrapped up in the warmth of her hug. “Do I need to call Daddy?”
“No, it’s okay,” I sniffled, staying where I was.
“Come on and sit down.” She led me to the sofa and gathered me right back into a hug. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
I couldn’t at first. She and my dad were going to hate that I was dating Miles. They’d hated every mention of his name after hisLive with Lauraappearance, my dad threatening more than once to beat his scrawny behind because clearly Miles had gotten no home training.
Finally, my sniffling subsided enough for me to sit up and rub my eyes like an overwrought preschooler. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Just tell me what’s the matter.”
I drew a deep, shuddering breath, then a less dramatic one. How should I bring up Miles? If she would have hated the idea before, now she’d be ready to kill him.
I flashed back to his calm smile, heard him call me a “major asset,” someone he didn’t even want to publicly admit to dating. Maybe I was okay with some light murder. But I didn’t want her to think I was stupid. And I’d been so very, very stupid.
“There’s going to be something on Channel Five news,” I said. “Maybe tomorrow.”
“Okay,” she said, taking my chin in her hand. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
“I did something so idiotic,” I forced myself to say. Or whisper, anyway.
“Did you get tangled up in something at work? Do I need to call a lawyer?”
“Mom.”
“Well?”
“Honestly, can you imagine me doing something illegal?”
“Of course not. But I’m trying to think of why you would worry about making the news.”
“Remember how I told you that I got a tenant for my building?” She nodded. I shifted uncomfortably on the sofa. “It’s Miles Crowe.”
Her eyes narrowed into slits. “Is that so.”
It was a flat statement.
I shifted, wishing I could take it back. But there was nowhere else I wanted to be right now while my heart unraveled like it had when I was fourteen. I forged ahead. “He used Crescent City Properties to find a space for a jazz club he wanted to open. He was supposed to be Brenda’s client, but he asked to work with me.”
Her gaze sharpened. “Did he recognize you?”
“No. He said he wanted to work with me because he could tell at our first meeting that I wasn’t a fan of the sites she’d chosen. I tried to get myself fired with the first few properties I showed him, but...I don’t know. The more I worked with him, the more I realized that he understands New Orleans, and he’s the opposite of slick corporate.”
“So you moved him in with you?” Her tone was complete disbelief. “That boy nearly destroyed you twelve years ago.”
“Mom, no. Come on. I wouldn’t have offered him Mary’s spot, but she mentioned retiring in front of him and he couldn’t get it out of his mind. I still wasn’t sold on having him in the space. You know how protective I am of the Bywater.”
