His mother had dragged things out as she served slices of pecan pie, and he recognized she was lonely. Respecting other people’s privacy was ingrained in members of the Riot MC. He realized he treated his mother the same way, but he shouldn’t.
“Mom. You hear from Ben lately?”
She glanced from her pie to him. “No. He should be in his last semester, I think. Once he took out those loans, he stopped calling.”
He made a mental note to call his brother. And if that didn’t work, maybe he’d drag Stephanie out to Spokane to work her magic. Better yet, they could ride up there. He glanced at Corinna, who looked remorseful.
“This might not be my business, Mom, but have you thought about dating?”
All the women’s eyes whipped to him. Then the women spoke at the same time.
“Honey,” Stephanie drawled.
“Are you serious?” Corinna asked.
“What are you talking about?” his mom asked.
He closed his eyes and shook his head before he focused on his mother. “Mom, you’re only fifty-six. You never dated after dad—”
Her fork clattered on her plate. “I never dated after your father because he was it for me. Period.” She turned her head away and huffed out a breath. “Jesus, if I had a dollar for every time one of his buddies came by and offered to set me up with a man. Hell, I’d have been able to put Ben through college.”
His chest burned hearing the pain in her voice. He knew Dad’s friends had come around occasionally to be decent influences on Ben, but he’d never known they’d discussed her dating again.
In a quiet voice, Corinna said, “I think Mike’s right, Mother. You’re lonely. I feel selfish for not seeing that.”
His mother sighed. “This is not what I had envisioned for this evening.”
“Now you know how we feel,” Corinna muttered.
Stephanie choked on a chuckle. “I’m sorry. I think my antibiotics have me feeling a little loopy. Really, I didn’t mean to laugh.”
His mother pointed her fork at her. “You can’t blame that on drugs. You did it, you should own it. And, frankly, I’m glad you laughed. Something needed to cut the tension in this room.”
Har put the last bite of his pie in his mouth and chewed.
When he swallowed, his Mom spoke. “I’ll think about getting back out there. But I won’t do any online dating. I’d rather meet someone the old-fashioned way.”
IN THE MORNING, HAR woke up next to a dead-to-the-world Stephanie. He wanted to wake her up because he’d never gotten the chance to ask her what she said to Corinna. By the time they were in his truck, she was prattling on about how his mother might enjoy online dating. When they had walked into the clubhouse, Suzy was still there with Turk and he didn’t want to stand in the way of their sister time. Block pulled him aside, and by the time Har got to his room, Stephanie was sleeping.
He still didn’t have the heart to wake her up, so he trudged into the bathroom to shower. While he stood at the sink with a towel wrapped around his waist, after his shower, a bleary-eyed Stephanie wandered into the bathroom. He had shaving cream on his cheeks and the razor at his face when she gasped.
“You better not shave your goatee, mister.”
He dragged the blade down his cheek before he looked at her. “And if I am?”
Her eyes turned fiery. “It’ll piss me right the hell off.”
He grinned. “Good to know. But I’m not shaving the goatee, just my cheeks, babe.”
She gave a curt nod. “I’ll allow it.”
He laughed. “You’ll allow it. You’re crazy if you think that’s how shit’s gonna work.”
Her head tilted and he knew she was going to lay on the drama. “Maybe I’ll go blonde. Is that going to fly with you?”
The thought of her as a blonde did not sit well with him, but he wouldn’t let her know that. “Your hair, Steph. Do what you want with it.”
She chuckled. “You’re so full of shit. I saw you grimace.”
He turned back to the mirror and finished the left side of his face. Her rapt gaze on every stroke of his razor was cute.
“You gonna take a long time?” she asked.
He tapped the razor against the basin. “Shouldn’t be much longer, why?”
“I need to use the bathroom. Needed to go when you got out of bed, but figured I’d wait until you were done in the shower. I had no idea you shaved every morning.”
He grunted with humor. “Not everyday, but if I don’t, I’ll have a beard. Not a goatee.”
A look of speculation took over her face. Then she shrugged. “Whatever floats your boat.”
He focused on the right side and she fidgeted. “I’m not stopping you, babe.”
Her eyes slid to the side. “I’ll come back.”
He chuckled, but hurried with his task. Once he dried his face, he dragged on his underwear, hung his towel, and left the bathroom. “It’s all yours, Miss Priss.”
She rolled her eyes as she passed him and he grabbed her hand. “You can’t take a leak in front of me, I’d say that’s reason enough to call you prissy.”
“We haven’t been together that long.”
“I don’t care. Go.”
When she came out of the bathroom, he had tugged a black Foo Fighters t-shirt over his head.
“Did you go to one of their shows?” she asked.
He nodded. “Long time ago, but yeah.”
“Lucky,” she said, all petulant.
“That I am. Cause I got you. Seems you’re a miracle worker after last night. What exactly did you point out to my sister?”
She smirked and came closer to him. “That Sammy doesn’t follow you blindly like she might have thought he does. And it didn’t hurt that Sandy had filled me in on
