Angel Falling (Falling #1)(34)
“Hello, Mother,” I said with no endearment. I needed to talk to the clerk managing the doors. Remove family members from having immediate access to my home. Now that Hank was here, you never knew what position we’d be in. That thought put a little smile on my face.
“Aspen, Darling. I just heard about your accident,” even though it happened two weeks ago, I wanted to add, “and wanted to come and check on you.” She looked between Hank’s imposing form and then back to me. “I see you have company. I apologize for intruding.” Her long over-trained manners made her sound almost polite and concerned for my welfare. I knew better.
“I’m fine, Mother, as you can see. This is Hank Jensen. He’s the man who saved my life.”
“Oh?” Her eyebrows rose to the ceiling. “So I am in your debt then.” She thrust out a hand. Hank lifted it to his lips and kissed her knuckles in a move that was very old-fashioned. His Southern ways were quite charming.
“Pleasure to meet you, ma’am.” He gestured to a seat and pulled it out for my mother. Damn Hank and his gentlemanly behavior. I wanted the woman out of my house, not sitting at my table.
“Don’t mind if I do, Hank. Thank you.” She sat ramrod straight and delicately placed her hands into her lap.
“Would you like some dinner, Mother? I can have Gustav bring you something.” Please say no, please say no, please say no …
“No thank you. A lady has to keep her girlish figure.” Her eyes grazed over my huge plate of pasta. Normally I didn’t eat this way, but I did work out a lot and Hank had been working me double-time in the bedroom. “I would love a martini though, Darling.”
“Sure. Just a moment.” I got up and went to the kitchen to request the martini and another bottle of wine for me. I had a feeling this unannounced visit had more to it than motherly concern. She was not the type to fawn over her children.
Growing up, she never cleaned a wound, kissed a boo-boo better, stayed up with us when we’d had nightmares. None of that. All of the normal things a good mother did were done by highly paid nannies. London and I still spent time with ours and bought Christmas presents for them, celebrated our birthdays together, but Rio probably couldn’t even remember their names. He had always been self-absorbed. Just like my mother.
I made my way back to the dining room and could hear her highness grilling Hank. If she ruins this relationship for me, I’ll disown her. Relationship? I came to a screeching halt. Thinking about Hank and me as anything more than friends with benefits was going to get me in a world of hurt. Besides the jealous outbursts with Oliver and the possessiveness of my body between the sheets, he’d never so much as hinted at anything more.
I wasn’t even sure I wanted more.
Yes, things between us had been great—fantastic even—but how long would that last? Until he recovered? Probably. He was a cowboy from Texas. His business happened to be doing work in New York. That didn’t mean he’d be here indefinitely, and there was no way I’d be able to leave the city. Leave Air Bright for what? A man. Even in my head it sounded ludicrous. We were having fun. A lot of fun.
We were compatible physically and I genuinely enjoyed his company. He was different from anyone else I knew, better somehow. His honesty, character, and moral values were appealing, but that wasn’t enough. You actually needed to live the in the same state. Everyone knew long distance relationships never worked out, and trying to make it work with people from two different classes was an added knife in the shit cake that was my love life. Confused and downtrodden, I entered the dining room.
“So you’ll come, then?” were the dreaded words I heard come from my mother’s perfect crimson-stained lips.
“Sure thing. I was just telling Aspen here that I was going stir crazy on account I’d been stuck here for two weeks. Dinner with the family sounds great!”
“You’ve been staying here for two weeks?” It was the first time in a long time I’d seen my mother at a loss for words. Her perfect temperament slid off balance. Her fingers gripped the seat of the chair cushion and her lips formed a tight line. It gave me a great deal of pleasure to see her slip off her pedestal. Point for Hank!
“Yes, ma’am! Aspen’s been taking real good care of me.” He threw a wink my way. “So don’t you worry yourself none.” Oh Hank. She didn’t give a damn about him and his health. She was worried about what it would look like for others to find out that he was staying with me. To her it was as if I’d taken in a filthy stray.
“Excuse me … ” I butted in.
“Oh, it’s settled then. Darling, your friend Mr. Jensen is going to attend our dinner party at the estate.”
“You know, I don’t think that’s such a good idea. Hank’s treatments have been exhausting and … ”
“Oh nonsense. The man obviously wants to get out, don’t you, dear?” The sweet man ate it up. It was like watching the evil witch give Snow White the poisoned apple.
“Absolutely. Angel, you know I’m doing heaps better. ‘Sides, I’d love to meet your family.” He dug into his pasta, happy as a clam. Poor guy just didn’t know any better. She was planning to feed him to the society mavens and make a spectacle of him. My mother was nothing if not imaginative in her attacks.
Her plastic smile was on full display, her emotionless mask making her appear even colder.