Drunk on Love(46)

“Sure,” he said to his mom. What else could he say? “I don’t think Avery can come, but I’ll meet you guys there.”

Maybe today was a good time to tell his mom the truth about his job. And about this Avery thing. He was feeling better about everything, maybe because he’d been out of that job for over a month, and working at Noble for three weeks now. It was fun, to learn something brand-new, to get to interact with people all day, none of whom seemed to be looking for him to fail. He wasn’t stressed, anxious, about work anymore. That felt weird, almost unnatural.

Maybe Avery had been right—it was good to do something so different from his old job, get some distance from it. He was maybe even starting to get his swagger back.

He laughed at himself and got in the shower.

Before he left home he texted Craig back. Partly to stay friendly with him, just in case he’d ever need Craig in the future for a reference. But also because he’d always liked Craig; he didn’t want to blow him off.

    LUKE

Thanks for reaching out—good to see this. Hope all is well with you.



There. That was good enough.

When he caught up with his mom and Pete, his mom grinned at him.

“I can’t believe my son voluntarily came to this place that I dragged him to for years when he was in high school,” she said.

Luke hugged his mom.

“That’s the difference between age fourteen and twenty-eight, I guess,” he said. “Just point me toward the rooster.”

He and his mom both laughed. Once, in high school, when he’d come with his mom to one of these things, she’d insisted on buying a huge metal rooster for his grandfather’s yard; she’d said his grandfather would love it. Luke had hated the thing, and had no idea why his mom was so thrilled with this find, and was furious at his mom for buying it after she’d dragged him along to this stupid event, especially because he knew he would have to be the one to carry it to the car. But then, he and his mom had laughed so hard when he’d tried to wrestle the damn rooster into his mom’s tiny sedan for the drive home that he’d forgiven the rooster. His grandfather had loved it, just like his mother had predicted. After his grandfather had died, his mom had called him and told him an antiques dealer had offered her hundreds of dollars for the thing, which had made them both weep with laughter.

His mom pulled him in for another hug.

“It’s good to have you so close by, Luke. It’s nice to be able to see you more often. When do you have to go back to work? Your real job, I mean. Or are you thinking about staying up here, working remotely?”

This was the perfect opening.

“Actually, Mom, I . . .” He swallowed. “I’m not sure.”

He’d chickened out, again. But then, the time wasn’t right—he couldn’t tell her he’d quit his job and had no idea what he was doing with his life when they were in public. He’d do it later.

She nodded, that smug look back on her face.

“I understand.”

She thought he meant Avery. She thought he was waiting to decide because of Avery. He had to tell her that wasn’t actually happening.

But if he told her that, then how would he explain what he was doing here?

“Oooh, looks like there are some treasures over there!” she said, and ducked into a booth, leaving him and Pete standing there.

“You, um, liking the job at Noble?” Pete asked him.

A question he could actually answer honestly.

“Yeah, it’s been great so far. A nice change from what I’d been doing, that’s for sure.” He shrugged. “I know it’s weird to do it with my background and all, but it’s fun, and the people are great. Really supportive and helpful.”

“It’s a good group there,” Pete said.

Pete had been there with his team every day that week.

“Margot seems pleased with how the landscaping is going,” Luke said.

Pete nodded.

“She’s definitely very particular about what she wants, but I don’t mind that. And she doesn’t do that thing where she changes her mind after we’ve already made a decision. When she wants something, she makes it clear.”

Luke thought back to that first night with Margot, when they’d left the bar. Yes, when she wanted something, she definitely made it clear. He fought back a grin.

His mom popped her head around the corner of the booth.

“I found a gorgeous set of vintage CorningWare. Can one of you bring it out to the car?”

Luke groaned, then laughed at himself. How did he always revert to teenage Luke when he was around his mom?

“Lead me to it.” He reached his hand out to Pete, who was trying to volunteer for this. “I had this job first, Pete. Just give me your keys.”

When he walked back to find his mom and Pete, he heard his mom’s voice before he saw her.

“Well, Luke has only wonderful things to say, too!” She saw him walking toward her and beamed at him. “Oh, there you are! Look who we found!”

He knew, before she even turned around, that it would be Margot. Had he conjured her up, just by talking about her to Pete?

She turned and smiled at him.

“Hi, Luke,” she said. Why was her voice always perfectly normal whenever she talked to him?