Temptation Trails - Page 130

“Tell me you’re not going to marry him.”

“What? I… I mean, we haven’t really had that conversation. But why not?”

“If you’re having the baby, and I assume by the way you phrased it that you are, whatever you do, do not get married.”

“Why?”

“Because then you’re stuck with him. No one wants that. Not really. We’ve evolved. We don’t need to be tethered to a caveman to meet our needs. We can meet our own needs quite well, financially and otherwise.”

“Okay, but I’m in love with Garrett. If he wants to marry me, I’m absolutely going to say yes.”

She groaned again. “I honestly don’t know where you came from.”

“Just because I want different things doesn’t make me wrong, Mom. This baby was very unexpected, but it’s turning out to be the best thing that’s ever happened to me. So is Garrett. He’s a wonderful man.”

“I’m sure he seems that way, what with your hormones acting up.”

“I don’t think it’s my hormones that are in love with him, but okay.”

“You think that now, but wait ten years. When he’s on the couch, scratching himself under his beer belly and keeping you awake at night with his snoring. Then we’ll see how much you love him.”

I had no idea why my mom was so cynical. She’d never been married. How did she have any idea what it was like? But fortunately, I was able to stop myself from asking her who’d hurt her so badly that she hated men so much.

It kind of made me grateful she’d never had a son. She hadn’t been a terrible mother to me and my sister, but what would she have done with a boy? He would have perplexed her more than I did. And she had no idea what to do with me.

“How about this? I’ll keep your advice in mind as I move forward. But I just wanted you to know that you’re going to be a grandma and—”

“Stop.”

“What?”

“I’m not a grandma.”

“If I’m having a baby, that means you are.”

“That child is not calling me grandma. It makes me sound old.”

“That’s fine. What should the baby call you?”

“I don’t know. I’ll have to give it some thought. But absolutely not grandma.”

So maybe that was what this was about. She was feeling insecure about aging, and me having a baby reminded her that she wasn’t in her twenties, or thirties, or forties anymore.

“You can let me know what you decide. There’s plenty of time. It’s still early and babies don’t talk when they’re newborns anyway.”

“No, I suppose not.”

“Tell Holly congratulations for me.”

“I will. Do you have prenatal vitamins?”

That made me smile. She wasn’t perfect, but she did care about me in her own way. “Yes. I have prenatal vitamins and a doctor and everything. I’m doing fine.”

“Okay. Don’t forget to take them. And eat a vegetable once in a while.”

“I eat plenty. I bake for a living, but I don’t live on pastries.”

“I hope not. You’d never lose the baby weight.”