Free Unbreakable Hearts by Harper Bentley

head.
    Doug wanted to answer her all, “No!” as if he were shocked at what she’d told him. He shook his head and had to bite his lips to keep from laughing at his mother’s scandalous report.
    “ When Francesca finally met him, her granddaughter obviously knew he wasn’t good since she’d put off introducing them for so long, well, she told me she swore he looked like a living voodoo doll, things just sticking out of him all over the place!” She looked at Doug and nodded, eyebrow raised. “And to top that all off, he’s covered in,” she paused dramatically, “ satanic tattoos. She said he has flames up the sides of his neck and skulls on his forearms. And her granddaughter told her he has a giant crucifix on his back, but Francesca said she thought it was upside down. She told Father Santoro.”
    “Ma.”
    “What? Just telling the truth. I’ll bet he also has something else pierced.” She nodded at him again as if she knew what she was talking about. She was stirring the sauce ingredients in a pan on the stovetop now. “Oh! Mrs. Ingram’s son was sent off to rehab last week.”
    Good God.   No wonder his dad had left. The woman never shut up. He let his mother ramble on and on as he read through his magazine, giving her a “Hm,” or a “Really?” every so often to keep her appeased.
    “So, how’re you and Tilly doing?”
    That question got his attention. He looked up from his reading. “We’re fine, Ma. Uh, I think I’m gonna pop the question soon.” Oh, shit. Where’d that come from?
    His mother turned to look at him in shock then a grin slowly formed on her face. “Oh, Doug! That’s great! I’m so happy for you!”
    He grinned back at her. Well, i t was out there now. Might as well go for it. “Think I’m gonna look at rings tomorrow. Pawn shops should be open. Then I’ll ask her at Christmas.”
    His mother frowned. “A pawn shop? Doug.” She shook her head in disapproval. “And you know they say that’s cheap when men do that. It’s like they think they can get away with not buying the girl a Christmas gift if they give her the ring. But they’d give her the ring anyway at any other time when they were proposing, so you need to make sure to get her a gift as well.” She raised an eyebrow at him.
    He took a deep breath and counted to te n in his head. God, she’d been nagging him for years about when he was going to get married, and he thought what he’d told her would be enough to make her happy, but, no, she just found something else to gripe about.
    “I’ll take that into consideration, Ma.”
    “I like Tilly. She’s such a beautiful girl. You two always seem so happy when you’re together.” She smiled excitedly at him. “I think you should get married in June. A June bride is always the prettiest, don’t you think? I’ll have to see if the church is available! I’ll call Patty, the church secretary, to see what openings they’ve got. Then I’ll have to call Carol at the florists to see if they can get the flowers together.”
    And she was off and running.
    He continued reading, barely hearing his mother as she now rambled on about wedding details.
    “What do you think? Huh? Doug? Doug!”
    He looked up to see his mother staring at him from where she still stood at the stove holding a handful of spaghetti noodles.
    “I asked what size jacket you wear?” She dropped the noodles into the pot of boiling water.
    “Why?”
    “So I can order your tux!”
    “Ma, I’m sure Tilly will take care of all that. You don’t have to bother.”
    “But we need to get a head start on everything! Lord knows she’ll be busy finding a dress! I don’t want her to have to worry about things that I can help with!”
    “Ma. I haven’t even asked her yet. She might not even say yes.”
    “What? Of course she’ll say yes! You’re the most handsome man there is! How could she turn you down? Now, I’ll have to call Aunt Sadie and see if she still has her wedding dress.