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He sat back in his chair and gnawed on his lower lip. I felt bad for him. I really did. I knew his mother and all the shit she kicked up was one of the reasons he’d been so excited to leave for college. It had always been that way with her, and it had apparently gotten worse over time.

If I had to be really honest, his mother was part of the reason I didn’t want to tell him about Brody. I didn’t want her around my son, and I knew Tyler was so desperate to have a relationship with his mother that he might try to use her only grandchild as a means to an end.

And that wasn’t happening with my son.

“I didn’t mean to upset you, but you know me. You know I don’t judge you for your parents’ actions. It pisses me off that your father is still sitting back and chilling like it’s nothing, but you carrying her upstairs and putting her in bed? It shows me the kind of man you are and how much you really do love her.”

“I don’t get why she won’t take help, Ana. It’s insane. I’ve offered to pay for her rehab. I’ve staged two different interventions with her. Nothing works.”

“If she doesn’t think she has a problem, she won’t attempt to fix it.”

“Why not? Why can’t she see she has an issue?”

“I don’t know. I don’t have any of those answers. But what you need to understand is that you can’t fix her, either.”

“Why won’t she get sober for me?” he asked.

I reached over and took his hand as our appetizer grew cold.

“You know it doesn’t work that way, Tyler.”

“I thought if I came back, she’d be better. Or at the very least she’d let me help. But she fought me every step of the way, from cleaning her up to getting her to bed. And do you know what my father had to say about it?”

“What?” I asked.

“That the consequences of her actions while drunk aren’t his issue.”

“He said that?”

“To my face.”

I rubbed my thumb along his skin, trying to comfort him as best as I could.

“Do you want to order food?” I asked.

“I’m not really hungry. But you can order something. It’s on me.”

“Nope. Not this time. Today I’m picking up the tab. So order something, even if you get it to go. You always get hungry later.”

“You know me better than anyone. You know that?”

It was the tone of his voice that made me pause. I was so scared he was going to bring up what he had said during our date, what he had admitted to me before we lost ourselves in one another. Instead, he pulled away and picked up his menu to figure out what he wanted. I was relieved he didn’t say a word about it, but a small part of me wondered why he didn’t bring it up.

Had he not meant it? Did he regret saying it?

“What are you getting?” Tyler asked.

“You know what I always get from here.”

“Eggplant parmesan with grilled chicken on the side?”

“That’s it.”

“You know that defeats the purpose of eggplant parmesan.”

“I like them both. Why can’t I have them both?”

He grinned at me and shook his head before he put his menu down.

“Let me guess. Lasagna with extra meat sauce poured over it and a fresh slab of mozzarella to melt over the top.”

“Nope,” he said.

“No? But you always get that.”

“Today I’m trying something different.”

“Oooh, changing it up a bit. How exciting. What are you getting?”

“I’m leaving off the mozzarella.”

I laughed at him as a smile crossed his face. It was nice to see him smile, especially after the debacle that had happened with his mother the other day. We sat and ate, and I shook my head when he began to inhale his food. I had known he would get hungry the second that food was set in front of him.

Brody was the same way. Every time Brody got upset, he was never hungry until he saw food.

Then it was game on.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to pick this up?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” I said as I slipped my card into the check folder.

“It’s really not an issue.”

“Tyler, stop. I’m paying for this lunch. You needed to get out and talk, so I’m covering it.”

“I appreciate it, Ana, but it isn’t necessary.”

“And neither was walking ne to my door.”

“But you didn’t let me walk you to your door. Does that mean I really shouldn’t let you pay?” The grin that slid across his cheeks made my eyes narrow.

“What did you do?” I asked.

“Ma’am?”

I looked up at the waiter who had appeared. “Yes?”

“Your card isn’t necessary. This is just a copy of the check rendered.”

“What?”

“You’re still not very observant, are you?” Tyler asked.

I flipped the check folder open and saw there was no total due. The bill had somehow already been paid. My eyes flickered up to him as a full-blown smile crossed his cheeks.