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A knowing smile spread across Bill’s face. He knew exactly why his son wanted to camp out instead of spending the night under his parents’ roof. “Well, then, I’ll help you unload everything and haul it back to the campsite.”
“Thanks.” Drew stood and pushed in his chair. “Did you want—”
“You men go on ahead. Beth and I will clean up.”
There was a finality in Nancy’s voice that left an uneasy feeling in Beth’s stomach. She didn’t know the woman well enough to hazard a guess as to what was coming, but she knew something was.
Nothing was said at first beyond a few polite ‘can you hand me that plate’ or ‘there’s a container over there you can use’ for the first couple of minutes. It was tempting to let her guard down.
“My son tells me you own a café.”
It wasn’t the line of questioning Beth had been expecting. “I do.”
There was another pause.
“A lot of hard work running a business. Long hours.”
“It is,” Beth agreed, “but I enjoy it for the most part. Baking has always been a passion of mine.”
Nancy nodded, reached for a dishtowel, and began wiping down the counter. Beth could tell there was something on her mind.
Not sure she wanted to know what Nancy was thinking, Beth decided to keep the conversation on food. “Drew tells me he gets his love of cooking from you.”
His mother smiled. “My boy is very talented in the kitchen. Could probably have been a chef if he’d put his mind to it.” Nancy pulled out a chair and sat down, inviting Beth to do the same. “But he’s wanted to be a firefighter since the second grade. I thought maybe he’d grow out of it, find something a little safer he wanted to do with his life, but that didn’t happen. Too much of his father in him.”
There was no malice behind her words. She was only stating a fact.
“Are you disappointed he didn’t choose to do something different with his life?” Beth asked.
“Oh, heavens no. I want my boys to be happy. Both my boys. If that means one of them has to rush into burning buildings on a regular basis, then so be it.” It was clear Nancy had come to terms with Drew’s choice of profession a long time ago.
“I haven’t met Seth yet, but Drew’s told me a little about him.” In truth, Beth was extremely curious about her boyfriend’s brother. Some of the things Drew said made her think Seth had a superiority complex. After meeting Nancy and Bill, however, Beth had a hard time believing that. They were very down-to-earth people. She had to imagine Seth couldn’t have fallen that far from the tree. Drew certainly hadn’t.
“Seth and Drew are very different. There’s ten years between them, and where Drew always wanted to play outside, Seth preferred to have his nose in a book.” Nancy smiled but there was a sad element to it. “It’s good to see Drew has found someone that makes him happy. I can only hope that one day Seth does as well.”
A weight lifted off Beth’s shoulders at the compliment. Whatever Drew’s mom had been after in arranging this one-on-one time, she seemed to have found it.
Beth was about to ask more about Seth when they heard the front door open. She and Nancy both turned their heads toward the noise. Two seconds later, a man Beth didn’t know strolled into the room. He was tall—maybe an inch or two taller than Drew.
Nancy scrambled out of her chair and went to hug the new arrival. “You missed lunch.”
The man looked slightly abashed from the mild scolding. “Sorry, Mom. I had to go into the office this morning to pick up some paperwork.”
“This is a holiday weekend. You shouldn’t be working.” Nancy shook her head, a look of disapproval on her face.
It was then that the man whom Beth deduced had to be, Seth, noticed her sitting at the table. “Hello.”
Beth stood. “Hello. You must be Seth.”
He nodded and gave her a thorough once-over. “I am. And you must be my little brother’s new girlfriend.”
Before she could answer, Nancy stepped in. “Beth, this is my oldest, Seth. Seth, this is Beth.”
His gaze was scrutinizing and he showed no signs of extending the same welcome as Nancy and Bill had done. Trying not to let it bother her, Beth cleared her throat. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Seth. Nancy, thank you for lunch. I think I’ll go outside and see if they need any help getting the tent set up.”
“Of course,” Nancy said.
As Beth reached the door, she thought she heard Nancy saying something about being rude but it was said so low Beth couldn’t be sure.
