Free Frankie's Back in Town by Jeanie London Page B

noticed his mother walking up behind the car. He glanced up at her, looking fresh and ready to take on the day even though the sun wasn’t officially up yet.
    She’d always been an early riser, so he wasn’t surprised to see she was casually dressed beneath the wool coat that hung open despite the cold.
    “What are you doing out here?”
    She motioned a slender hand toward the street. “Just getting the recycling bin out before the collection. Your father forgot when he left this morning.”
    “Dad only forgets because he knows you’ll do it for him.”
    She eyed him curiously. “We made a mistake by not trying harder to give you a sibling, didn’t we? I figured if we were meant to have a bigger family, we would. When I didn’t get pregnant, I just assumed it wasn’t meant to be. Your father and I discussed the situation with the doctor a number of times, but we didn’t have too many options back then. Not like now with fertility specialists and in vitro and surrogate—”
    “Mom,” Jack interrupted. He had to stop her. She was making his head spin and he hadn’t gotten out of the car yet. “What are you talking about?”
    She folded her arms across her chest and stared down at him with a look he knew intimately. Disapproval.
    “Aren’t you listening?”
    “I’m listening, but you’re not making any sense.”
    “I’m talking about the disservice your father and I did you when we left you an only child. We even discussed adoption.”
    “You’re still not making any sense.”
    She took in a deep breath, part exasperation, part sigh, all disapproval that she had to explain herself. “If you’d have had a sibling, at least one, you might not think the sun spins around your little world. You might have some comprehension of what’s involved in making a relationship work.”
    He motioned her back then got out of the car, so he could stare down at her and level the playing field. “This is about canceling on Jessica, isn’t it?”
    “No. This is about you and the fact that I don’t want to see you wind up a lonely old man after I’m dead and buried. Look at your grandfather. Does he look like he’s having much fun holed up in that house of his day in and day out?” She scowled. “You don’t seem to have a clue that it takes two people working together to make a relationship work. Probably because you don’t have many relationships that last long enough for you to figure that out.”
    He opened his mouth to reply, but she held up a hand to stop him. “And don’t tell me that you’re looking for the quote perfect woman. Your father already tried that.”
    “But I—”
    “I did not raise an idiot, Jack. You know there is no such thing as perfect.”
    He wasn’t going to touch that one. Not when she was tearing into him. His father had warned him, after all. Normally Jack would have kissed her, handed over the dog bones, claimed his meeting was earlier than it was, and made his getaway.
    But today he actually had something to offer that might appease his mother. The truth was that he’d invited this rant. Not because he’d canceled on Jessica Mathis—that was his business and not subject to her approval no matter what his mother thought—but because he hadn’t been making time for his family. His mother wouldn’t come out and say that.
    “How about perfect for me, then?” he asked. “I’m not interested in Jessica. But I met someone I am interested in.”
    Her eyes widened. Her mouth opened for the interrogation of who, what and when to start planning the wedding.
    “Don’t get too excited,” he cautioned. “I haven’t asked her on a date yet.”
    “But you’re interested?”
    He gave a decided nod. “I’m interested.”
    “And she’s interested, too?”
    “I think so. But the situation is a little complicated because of work, so I can’t just ask her out.”
    His mother’s expression positively lit up. And Jack couldn’t help but smile with that pride he’d known