Page 22 of Reece & Holden (Gomillion High Reunion #6)

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Reece

My mom and Marina aren’t home when I walk in the door.

First I wash and shave and pull on some clean clothes, as I’ve been wearing pretty much the same stuff for three days.

Then I fix myself a late lunch and sit down to catch up on some work.

I’ve kept an eye on my emails on my phone, in case there was another crisis, but they’ve all been routine and could wait.

So I attend to those now and call Nolan.

It’s evening over there, and he tells me he’s cooking a meal for Uli, his boyfriend, who’s due any minute, so I keep it brief and tell him we’ll catch up tomorrow.

I manage to work for a couple of hours and get the bulk of everything that needs doing finished before I hear the door, signalling the return of my mom.

“Hi, honey,” she says, coming into the kitchen with a bag of groceries. Marina follows, similarly laden, and greets me too. Once she’s put her bag down my mom comes over for a hug.

“So you made it back okay?” she asks.

“Yeah. We were stranded in a really odd place, but we made do.”

“I would’ve come and got you. You know that, don’t you?”

“I do, and thanks, Mom, but we discussed it and decided to stay. Otherwise you would’ve had to drive us back as well.”

“Okay. And how was the store?” she asks, as I’d told her the reason why I was going.

“Oh, it was a bust. Not what Holden was looking for at all. Also the neighborhood didn’t feel safe.” My skin bristles at the thought of him being somewhere that could be dangerous.

“I’m sure he’ll find somewhere else,” Marina says, starting to help unpack the groceries.

“He was disappointed at first, but he seems pretty positive about it now.”

“What about the other thing?” my mom asks, lowering her voice. “Did you manage to sort it out?” From her veiled words, I guess she hadn’t mentioned our conversation from before I left with Marina, and I’m grateful for that.

“Well, you don’t have to be worried to go into the store anymore.” I pause to let my words sink in. “Unless you’d be embarrassed by your son dating the store owner.”

I count to three before she erupts.

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” she squeals. Marina looks over at the noise and Mom tells her, so I receive her congratulations as well.

“I asked him for a date and he accepted for Friday,” I explain. I’m definitely not going to mention what we were doing earlier.

“I’m really pleased you managed to sort it out between you, and not because of you know, the store,” she says.

“Well, we did have a lot of time to talk,” I say obliquely.

“But dating? Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life, Mom.” The words surprise me, but now I’ve said them, I know it’s the raw truth.

“Then I’m happy for you.” She pulls me into another hug. “Oh, this is so exciting,” she says, squeezing me tight. I have to agree with her. I am excited.