Submerged(Bound Together Book 1)(25)
I hand him back his phone and the room seems to stale with dead silence. Mom appears to be watching us both, smiling with a big grin, until Bill finally gathers up Liam’s hand in his and turns towards me. “Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, Carly. I’ll call you soon,” he says with another friendly smile. Yep, nice teeth. Nice smile. Handsome face. Decent body, a little on the skinny side, but hey, they can’t all be a hunk of beefcake. He appears to have it all.
Yet, he appears to be all wrong.
I shake off the negativity, and offer him a kind smile. “Yes, I’ll look forward to your call.”
Bill throws my mom a wave before stepping out and exiting the room completely with his young son in tow. I try to busy myself with gathering up Natalia, but I can feel my mother’s eyes burning into the back of my skull; like little laser beams embedding in my brain. I already know there’s no way in hell I’m going to get away with not telling her the entire story, but I’d at least like to get outside of God’s House before I blurt out that I have my first date in years.
Of course, she can’t wait. “What was all of that? It sounds like you two hit it off well.”
“Can we wait until we’re in the car?” I ask quietly as we step outside and slip into the receiving line to say goodbye to the pastor.
“I suppose. It’s only buying you a few minutes, though,” she says with a sassy smile. I roll my eyes, but know she’s right. I have a matter of minutes before I’m interrogated by the woman who was always able to figure out each and every one of my childhood lies. The woman should have been in the FBI.
I barely get the door closed to the car and she’s waiting. She sits there all prim and proper in her Sunday best, but deep down she’s chomping at the bit to find out all the juicy details about my encounter with Bill. “Ask.”
“What was that all about in the Family Room?” she asks without turning the car over.
“Bill asked me for coffee. I accepted. End of story.” I try for casual even though deep down, I’m freaking the hell out. I can’t believe I actually said yes.
“And that’s it?” she asks a little shocked.
“That’s it. He’ll either call me or he won’t.”
“And if he does call you, then what?”
I make sure my seatbelt is securely in place, signaling my readiness to leave, before answering. “I’ll probably go have coffee with him. I mean it’s only coffee, right?”
“Yeah, it’s only coffee, but you haven’t had only coffee with someone in a long time, sweetie. I’m glad you’re finally taking this step; for you and for Natalia.” I knew it. She was already picking out china patterns and deciding between the smoked salmon and the beef wellington.
“Mom, its only coffee. It’s not like we’re getting married. I have a very long way to go before this goes further than coffee,” I say, nervously smoothing a hand down my taupe skirt.
“Oh, I know, I know. It’s just that I’m a little shocked and very happy that you said yes. Bill might not be the right guy for you, sweetie, but at least you’re willing to try to find out. I’ve never said anything to you before, never asked too many questions about Natalia’s father, but I always saw the sadness in your eyes. This is a big step for you, and I’m proud of you for taking it,” my mom tells me with a look of sympathy. Mom knew that I was raising Natalia alone, but never really pulled for more information after I told her that it just didn’t work out between him and me. As much as she wanted to, she respected my decisions and my choices in life.
“Thank you,” I respond as my eyes fill with tears. I don’t know if I’m crying from the understanding and love in her words, or from the fact that I’m basically letting go of something that was never to be. Maybe it’s a little of both.
We head home, Mom in a much lighter mood than I am as she sings a song to Natalia in the backseat. It’s not that I’m in a bad mood, per se, it’s that I can’t stop thinking about what she said and trying to determine why I was on the verge of crying a few moments ago. It makes me want to release those unshed tears when I realize that I might actually be crying for the loss of something I never even really had in the first place. It all comes down to Blake.
It always comes down to him.
Chapter Eight – A Nice Night To
Boost Cars
Blake
We’re a go for Sunday night. The text just came through. I helped Styx find a few of the cars on his list, but he’d taken it upon himself to find a good chunk of them. While he takes my help when necessary, he’s a territorial son of a bitch and likes to remind us all who the man is that answers directly to Mattias and Roman. The cars that I helped locate are simple, easy steals, nothing too fancy or too hard to replace. This isn’t the bust the FBI is wanting. They want a big one with overseas contacts. This job has a quick sale within the U.S. and the rest in Mexico.