dropped his pen. Warily, he raised his head. His mother was sitting there across from him, rigid and tense, obviously begging for a fight.
He was frightened enough to let her have one. Was her insurance not paying for her drugs the way they’d planned on? “What happened? Are you sick?”
She rolled her eyes. “Honestly, August. I’m fine. This money is for…personal reasons.”
Huh? “Mom—”
“You said you wouldn’t interfere.”
“That’s before I knew you wanted three thousand dollars.” And before she was acting so strange.
She bit her lip. “It’s not for me. Not, really.”
“What is it for?”
“A club.”
“What kind of club?”
“A social one. August, there’s no other way to tell you this but straight out.” She took a deep breath and plunged in, saying the words in a jumbled mess. “For your information, I’m joining Harmonious Haven.”
Harmonious Haven. The singles club advertised during late-night syndicated shows on Channel 12. Couple after couple were highlighted, each looking more fit, handsome and romantic than the last. The couples made the matchmaking Internet site sound like the best thing since sliced bread, but August knew it had to be a scam.
Falling in love was never that easy.
Before he could think twice, all of August’s good intentions about being supportive of his mother went out the window. “Mom—”
“Don’t you ‘Mom’ me. I know what I’m doing.”
“It doesn’t sound like it.” Before he thought better of it, he said, “What happened to Dad?”
“Your father is buried at Park Hill, thank you very much.”
August blinked, amazed at just how much her words could hurt. “He’s barely been gone a year.”
“He was sick for a long time before that.”
“And your point is?”
His mother jabbed one French-manicured finger toward him. “Watch your mouth.”
“Watch my mouth? You watch yourself.”
“I need companionship.”
Companionship? Was she talking about sex? For a split second, he recalled the last time he and Erin had gone to bed. When had that been? Two months ago? Three?
It felt like a hell of a long time. “It’s not my business if you want to join Harmonious Haven,” he said slowly, doing his best to try and forget about his own lack of love life and focus on his mother’s. “I just think this is coming from out of the blue.”
“For you, maybe. For me, I’ve been thinking about joining for a while. I’ve been surfing the Web site.”
“Surfing?” When had she gotten so computer-savvy?
She continued as though he’d never spoken. “I even called the number and asked some questions. HH is a member of the Better Business Bureau.”
Now that he thought about it, his mother looked…fresh. Like she’d gone somewhere besides Suzy’s Salon to get her hair done. Like she’d gone to one of those fancy counters at the mall and gotten her makeup refreshed. Like she got one of those BOTOX injections and was looking better for it.
It all made him a little squeamish. “You’ve got a heart condition.”
“But it’s still beating, August.”
“But—”
“I’m better, August,” she said more gently. “The doctors say I’m better. I feel better. I’m ready to do things again. That’s why I need to join now.”
Somewhere in the back of his mind, August realized just how hard it must have been for his mom to have to come to him for money. And to tell him the truth. After all, she certainly didn’t owe him any explanations.
Picking up the pen again, he said, “Is three thousand enough?”
“It’s enough.”
August pretended he didn’t notice that her eyes were shining. That she looked…happy. Signing the check, he handed it to her. “Will you be mad if I asked you to be careful?”
Her eyes softened and she stood, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’d be sad if you didn’t care. Thank you, dear.”
When he was alone again, August picked up the phone and started dialing Evie’s phone number. Obviously it was time to take some risks.
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