Page 19 of Igniting Sparks

Pivoting, I catch sight of Mina’s mom and offer a courteous nod. “No problem. I’m happy to help. Mina’s a sweetheart.”

"That she is."

But instead of walking away, she fiddles with the locking mechanism on the trailer. Uh oh, she’s stalling, which means one thing. We’re about to havethetalk.

Am I surprised? Hell no. Her mother doesn’t know me and let’s be honest, although I might not have a reputation like my older brother, I’m still well-known amongst the ladies of Sparkwood.

Plus, there’s a giant age gap between Mina and me. Twelve fucking years, to be exact.

So, do I make a preemptive strike and reassure her mom that I’m not planning anything untoward, even though Minaand I are now engaged and about to be living under the same roof?

Yeah. I wouldn’t buy it, either.

But I never get the chance.

"You don’t remember me, do you?" she asks.

For a split second, I panic.

Please, for the love of everything that is holy, don’t tell me I slept with Mina’s mother.

No, I haven’t engaged in a ton of drunken one-nighters, but there have been a handful of fuzzy mornings in my years.

I pause and lean against the wall of the trailer. “We met the other day. I might be getting older, but my memory isn’t that bad yet.”

Her mom snorts out a laugh. “I watched you and your brother years ago, when your parents went away for a long weekend. Ash was none too happy about it—he was fourteen and the last thing he wanted was some nineteen-year-old taking care of him. I think he had plans for a party.”

“Yeah, I think I remember.” I mumble the words because, to be fair, I can’t place her. Mom and Dad traveled quite a bit during my teen years, and there was a revolving door of babysitters, mostly because us Hammond boys were hellions.

Some things never change.

“It’s okay if you don’t remember me, Braden, but I remember you. Fondly, too. While Ash spent the weekend giving me grief, you were the peacemaker. You kept reassuring Ash that everything was going to be fine, and he needed to give me a chance. We spent the weekend playing poker. By the end, you’d cleaned me out of matchsticks.”

Just like that, the memory of that fateful weekend floats up to the present time. “That wasyou? Therese, right?”

She nods. “You insisted on calling me Terry, which I hated.”

“Sorry about that. I was a teen boy. Idiocy couldn’t be helped. But you were so cool. You taught me how to playTexas Hold ‘Em, which comes in mighty handy on my Vegas trips. That was a good time. I didn’t realize you were only nineteen. You seemed so grown-up.”

A rueful smile plays on her lips. “I had eloped with Mina’s father a few months earlier. Your parents knew I needed the cash and figured it couldn’t hurt to have someone watching over you two.”

But the laughter dies on my lips as I realize that Mina’s mother is only seven years older than me.

I’m closer in age to Mina’s mother than I am to Mina—by a lot.

Holy shit. What am I doing?

Yep. Braden, once again—this is a disaster.

Seems Therese picks up on the sudden shift in my demeanor. “I’m not here to give you grief. Quite the opposite. I want to thank you for stepping up to help Mina. I always knew you’d grow up to be an amazing man.”

Wonder if she’d agree with that statement if she knew the thoughts flitting around my brain about her daughter, because they are the furthest thing from holy.

“Do me a favor, Braden?”

Here it comes.

“Sure,” I reply, steeling myself for her demand.