Black Heart (Cursed Hearts #1)(14)

“Well, sweetheart, you did try to give him a sponge bath,” Tom calmly pointed out while giving his wife a small sheepish smile.

“You what?” Denny nearly shouted.

Beth stood stubbornly in the kitchen with her hands on her hips, glaring at the men. “He’d been shot. He needed to be taken care of. Besides, he’s my baby. It’s not like I haven’t seen him na**d before,” she said with a roll of her eyes.

“Yeah, twenty years ago you might have seen him naked. For Christ’s sakes, Mom, he’s a grown man. He was shot in the shoulder, not paralyzed. I doubt he appreciated the effort,” Denny said in clear disbelief. He shot a look at his father. “If I ever get bedridden you keep this woman and her sponges the hell away from me. Hire some busty blonde to tend to my wounds,” he said with a lecherous grin.

Tom just chuckled as Beth narrowed her eyes on her oldest son. “That’s nonsense. I would take better care of you.”

Denny shot his father a look of pure panic. “I’m serious.”

“Well,” Beth said with a sniff, “I don’t think that’s the problem anyway. Tristan appreciated me taking care of him.”

Tom raised an eyebrow at that. “Sweetheart, he barricaded himself in his bathroom and refused to come out until Hank and I dragged you and your sponges out of his house.”

At that, Denny started laughing. Beth folded her arms over her chest, glaring at him. “It’s not that funny.”

He held up a hand while he tried to catch his breath. “That’s not why I’m laughing. I think that was the night he called me up to suggest that we have you committed.”

Beth’s lips twitched despite herself. “Yes, well, it’s not my fault that my babies don’t appreciate me.”

“Oh, come on, Mom. You know that’s not true. You just have a tendency of overdoing it a bit.”

“No, I don’t!”

Tom chuckled softly. “Yeah, you kind of do.”

“Oh, give me one example.” When Tom opened his mouth to answer, she clarified, “That doesn’t involve me taking care of them while they’re sick.”

“That’s easy,” Denny said. “What about our love lives?”

“What about them?” Beth demanded.

Tom shifted uncomfortably in his seat, “Ah, sweetie, you are kind of desperate to get them married and give you grandkids.”

She scoffed, “I am not.”

“Sweetheart, you signed Tristan up without his knowledge on ten different internet dating sites. Then you invited the ones who met your qualifications to a party where Tristan was the only guy.”

She nibbled on her bottom lip. “So?”

“So? So, why the hell didn’t you do that for me?” Denny demanded.

Beth ignored him. “I had to do something,” she said defensively.

“Something, huh?” Tom sighed, “Sweetie, you’ve been known to drag poor unsuspecting women across town and shove them in his direction.”

“Well,” she looked down at the floor for a moment, “I had to do something. He never asks anyone out. Never. And he’s never brought a girl home to meet us.”

Denny chuckled. “Mom, he doesn’t have to ask women out. They throw themselves at him. Have you not seen him? With his golden blonde hair, green eyes, perfect tan and chiseled good looks,” he looked at Marty and winked, “much like myself except for the eyes and hair of course, women are constantly after him. He doesn’t have to ask them out.”

“But, he never asks anyone out! And he only dates them a couple of times. He’s never even had a girlfriend,” Beth pointed out.            

“Beth,” Tom said tightly in warning. His eyes flashed to Marty who was now focused on loading the dishwasher, afraid that Beth would direct her attention to her lack of a love life. Since that was the last thing that she needed at the moment, she decided that staying quiet and out of Beth’s radar was for the best, at least it was the best thing for her, Tristan was on his own.

Beth’s eyebrows shot up while Denny gave her a “duh” look. She mouthed Marty’s name and both men threw their hands up in frustration.

“Really, woman, where have you been?” Tom asked in disbelief.

“You know for a professor and a nosy mother, you’re really not that observant,” Denny said as he stood up and walked over to the counter to cut two large pieces of cake while Tom walked over to the fridge and poured two glasses of milk. The men sat down and ate their cake, leaving Beth to process the new information.

She looked at Marty, who was almost finished with the dishes and then back at the men with a calculating gleam in her eyes. “Are you sure?”

Denny shook his head as he looked at his father. “Perhaps we should reconsider having her committed.”

Tom sighed, “I’d have to agree. I’m surprised that she didn’t notice years ago and take matters into her own hands.”

Beth looked back at Marty who was done now with the dishes and smiled. “Hmm, interesting. I guess I overlooked a few things.”

“I’ll say,” Denny scoffed.

Marty frowned when she noticed three sets of eyes locked on her. “What? Did I spill something?” she asked, looking down at her clothes.