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“Good. Everything is good. And no updates. As of right now, everyone seems to be waiting for me to return to Boston, andsince no one knows where we are, there haven’t been any press stalking us here. It’s only been speculation in the tabloids and news, but that’s it.”

“Still no word on who turned you into the press in the first place, though?”

“No. But whoever it was doesn’t have an inside scoop on us being here, which is a relief.”

I don’t want to think it’s Fen’s mum lurking in the shadows somewhere and trying to hurt me. The fact that she’s a total mystery to us is troubling. I don’t like to imagine that his mum would want to hurt him. I like to think she gave him to me because she had no other choice.

I just wish she had told me about him from the start. I may never know why she didn’t. My attorney is working with UK courts since that’s the country of my citizenship to get Fen a proper birth certificate and a National Insurance Number, and then we’ll work on a passport for him as well.

But since I have a working visa in the US and will be in Boston for the next few months, their Child and Family Services has to be involved too, and my US attorneys are handling that side of it.

“And the girl you’re with? What’s her name again? Keelan?”

I snicker. She can never get Keegan’s name right, though it’s an Irish name, and Mum was born in Ireland. “Keegan, Mum. Her name is Keegan. And she’s good too.”

Her gray eyes flash with something like recognition. “There’s more to it than that, isn’t there?”

“How’s that?”

“Of course you’re shagging the poor girl.”

I roll my eyes, especially as she refers to Keegan as apoor girlfor shagging me. “Didn’t you ring to talk to your grandson?”

She blows past that. “I’d ask if it were serious, but I know with you it never is.”

“Stop it. Serious isn’t what either of us is after. In case you missed it, my life is a bit hectic at the moment.”

“And yet you’re keen on her.”

I shift uncomfortably in my chair. It’s frustrating how quickly my mother picked up on that. All I did was say her name. Am I that bad off with this?

Yes, springs instantly through my mind, though I shove that down.

I look at my timepiece. “And Bob’s your uncle, look at the time. Well, it was lovely chatting, but?—”

“Enough of that.”

I sigh. “How about you talk to Fen and lay off me?” Hearing his name, he smacks the phone and tries to bring it to his mouth. I battle it away much to his dismay.

“But it’s what mothers do. It’s in our job description. If I didn’t tell it to you like it is, who would?”

“No one, and my life would be better for it.”

“Cor. You’d be lost without me.” She pauses and tilts her head. “If you’re this keen on her the way you clearly are, why do you look so scared? Does she not feel the same way back? Are you not going to try with her?”

I roll my eyes derisively. “That’s rich coming from the woman who told me to avoid crushing heartache, never fall in love. And if I do, always love myself more.”

“What?” she barks sharply. “I said no such thing.”

“Yes, Mum, you did. You said it a year after Dad left. I was only ten, but I remember it perfectly. You were emphatic.”

Her face turns into a statue. “I did that?”

“Yes. Why do you look so shocked?”

Her eyes immediately fill with tears. “Loomis, for a while after your father left, I wasn’t… well, I wasn’t in a good place mentally.”

I scrunch my brow. “I know.”