“Not bad, but I’m on my way to work. What’s up?” His dad wasn’t the talker his mom was, the opposite in fact.
His dad cleared his throat.
“I’m going to be in town next week for a few days and was hoping I could spend some time with you. Maybe get dinner.”
“Yeah, sure, that sounds fine.” Mitch’s brain was already jumping ahead. “Are you free on Wednesday?” Domi always had dinner with Ana, Ana’s dad, and stepmother on Wednesdays, and Mitch had off, so that would work out well.
Unless… did he want to introduce Domi to his dad? No, not really. They’d have to meet eventually, but it would be better if he introduced her to his mom first. Otherwise, it might hurt his mom’s feelings. Unlike Domi’s relationship with her parents, things were always a bit awkward between Mitch and his dad. He didn’t want her seeing that right after he’d charmed her parents.
“Wednesday is good. I’ll see you then. Also, you should talk to your ma soon, she wants you to come home for Passover. Bye, Son.” The phone clicked off, hanging up before Mitch could respond, so he wouldn’t have to answer any questions about how he knew what Mitch’s mom wanted.
It wasn’t a surprise his mom wanted him home for Passover. It was one of the bigger Jewish holidays, but the only reason his Catholic dad would be saying something was she’d said something to his dad. Which meant they were talking again. Typical. Scowling, Mitch shook his head. Yeah, he wasn’t ready for his parents to meet Domi yet. Introducing her to that dysfunction could wait.
Chapter Nineteen
Domi
“This one, mommy,” Ana said, tugging on the skirt of a dark purple dress Domi almost never wore. In fact, she was pretty sure the last time she’d worn it was for a friend’s wedding before Ana was born.
“That’s a little fancy for Pasta Plus, sweetheart,” Domi said, hesitating. When she’d agreed to let Ana pick Domi’s outfit for her birthday dinner, she hadn’t expected her daughter to go straight to the back of her closet where her cocktail dresses were hanging. All three of them. Of course, Ana had picked the flashiest one with lace and tiny sparkling gemstones. Since they were going to the same restaurant Ana always chose when she had the choice, Domi didn’t know why her daughter suddenly wanted her to look so dressy.
“You said I could pick.” A mulish expression Domi recognized settled onto Ana’s face. She was not going to be easily talked out of this.
“You did say that,” Rae said from her spot on Domi’s bed, amusement in her voice. Domi shot her a dark look.
“Are you going to pick out something similar for Aunt Rae?” Domi asked in an innocent tone, even though Rae hadn’t offered to let Ana pick. If Ana said yes, it wasn’t like Rae would be able to tell her no. It was Ana’s birthday, which was why Domi already knew she was going to end up wearing the purple dress.
“Aunt Rae looks fancy all the time. You never do.”
Ouch. That hit her where it hurt. Going by the way Rae’s eyes widened, her lips forming an ‘o’ even if she didn’t make the noise, she felt the same way. The brutal honesty of children could be unintentionally vicious.
On the other hand, Ana wasn’t wrong. Rae didn’t dress extra fancy for work, but she did have to wear business or business casual, which included dresses. Since Domi worked from home, she tended to go from her pajama pants to her yoga pants. She tried to remember the last time she’d dressed up—that wasn’t for Stronghold. Or her third date with Mitch since Ana hadn’t seen her then. Thankfully that dress was tucked away in a box at the top of her closet with her other super sexy clothes and fetwear—where her daughter couldn’t find it.
Damn. It had been a long time.
“Alright, birthday girl, you win.” Domi reached over Ana’s head to pick up the hanger. The little girl clapped her hands in excitement. She’d been clapping a lot lately, thrilled to no longer be hindered by the cast.
“Yay! Now you can look nice and get a boyfriend.”
“Excuse me?” Domi froze, blinking in shock at her daughter.
“Mama Julia says that’s how you get one.”
Domi’s jaw dropped open. She had absolutely no idea what to say to that. From the bed, Rae cackled madly.
Mitch
Making small talk with his dad was always awkward, even when they hadn’t seen each other in a long time. It was funny because his dad ran a bar and actually excelled at conversation with the strangers who came through there, but with his own son or his ex-wife…
“You look good,” Mitch said, giving him a hug, which his dad returned. Hugging was good, taking up time that didn’t feel like an awkward silence.
“So do ye, lad.” His dad thumped his back before releasing him. Stepping back, his dad looked Mitch over, grinning. “Chip off the ol’ block.”
Mitch snorted, but he couldn’t deny he could do worse than look like his old man. While he didn’t want to emulate his dad in other ways, his dad was what the women at Stronghold called a ‘silver fox.’ Only an inch shorter than Mitch, he was still in extremely good shape, and his mostly grey hair made him look more distinguished than when it had been dark brown. His blue eyes twinkled with good cheer ninety percent of the time. The silver beard was new since the last time Mitch had seen him, but it looked good.
Wearing jeans and a blue button-down that matched his eyes, it was no
