She flushed guiltily. “I haven’t spoken to your mother.”
“Then how the hell do you know about the dinner party?” he asked, then was struck by the obvious. He knew exactly how his mother operated. When she couldn’t interfere without stirring Tom’s ire, she would delegate the task to his father. Of course.
He turned away and started to pace. Now his temper was about to skyrocket out of control. When he thought he had a grip on it, he paused in front of her, determined to get to the bottom of what had happened. “She sent my father over here, didn’t she? Please tell me that my father did not come barging in here and give you a rough time.”
“Tom, it’s okay. Leave it alone,” she said, a pleading note in her voice.
Tom took that for a confirmation. “How can I leave it alone? I won’t have them interfering in my life or trying to intimidate you. It’s past time for us to have this out.”
“I handled your father,” she said with a touch of pride. “In fact, I think he and I totally understand each other now.”
He shuddered just imagining how that had played out. “Was it anything like the way you handled my mother?”
For the first time since his arrival, she grinned. “I was a tiny bit more diplomatic. So was he—in the end, anyway.”
“What did he say to you?”
“It doesn’t matter. And your reaction just now is exactly why I promised him I wouldn’t say anything to you about the visit.” She looked flustered. “I thought I’d have more time to figure out how to avoid slipping up. Now I’ve gone and broken my word to him.”
“You should never have given him your word in the first place,” Tom said, yanking his cell phone out of his pocket and punching in a number.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling him, of course.”
She snatched the phone out of his hand. “No, you can’t do that. He and I made peace, more or less. If you call, it will blow the truce to smithereens. He’ll never trust me again.”
He could see her rationale, but he didn’t like it. He didn’t like it one damn bit.
“Okay, fine,” he conceded reluctantly. “But obviously we can’t go to that dinner party now.”
“Yes, we can,” she said quietly. “I gave him my word about that, too. I want to make peace with your parents, Tom. I really do. Today was a big step toward doing that.”
He regarded her in confusion. Where had this conciliatory attitude come from? “My mother, too?”
She nodded. “I understand her a lot better now.”
“You do? How?”
“Your father and I really talked. There’s a lot you don’t know.”
“About my own family?” he said incredulously.
“Yes. You need to sit down with them, have a real heart-to-heart. It’s long overdue. I think it would make a huge difference in how you get along.”
“Why don’t you just fill me in?”
“It’s not up to me. The three of you need to deal with this.”
“This is quite a change of heart,” he commented, not sure how he felt about it. Could achieving peace be as simple as she was suggesting? He doubted it, but he was willing to give it a shot. “You’re sure about this?”
“I am.” She regarded him solemnly. “I won’t get between you and your parents, Tom. I know what it’s like to have your family split apart by hard feelings and I won’t be the cause of it in yours. If anything’s going to happen with you and me, we have to try to get along with your parents.” She reached up and rested a hand against his cheek. “Besides, you promised.”
With that simple touch he pretty much forgot what they were discussing, much less something he’d apparently promised some time ago. “What did I promise?”
“That the holidays would be different this year, that you’d really try with the whole ‘peace and good will toward all men’ philosophy.”
“I didn’t anticipate anything quite like this,” he grumbled.
“Sure you did. After all, these are your parents we’re talking about. You had to know it wouldn’t be easy. If I can give them a chance, surely you can.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know if you’re insane or a saint.”
“Neither one.” She smiled. “But I am starved, so let’s go to Rosalina’s and have that pizza there.”
Her willingness to put the whole incident with his father behind her was baffling. Too baffling to deal with on an empty stomach. “And all that paperwork you were so worried about when I got here?”
She shrugged. “It can wait.”
He looked into her eyes. “Can I make a suggestion then?”
“Sure.”
“If we have the pizza delivered to your place, I could light a fire and open a bottle of wine,” he suggested hopefully. “How does that sound?”
She hesitated, though she looked tempted. “Romantic,” she admitted finally, a hitch in her voice.
“And?”
“You’re still not moving in.”
“Of course not.” He lowered his head and covered her mouth with his, lingering until she uttered a sigh. “But maybe we could discuss a sleepover, just for tonight.”
Her lips curved slightly under his. “We’re not twelve.”
He laughed. “Believe me, I know.”
“Oh, you want to have that kind of sleepover,” she teased.
He brushed his thumb along her lower lip. “What do you think?”
“I think we’re wasting time talking about it when we could be on our way to my place.”
Tom grinned. “As your town manager, I must tell you how much I appreciate your desire for efficiency.”
“I knew that trait would serve me well one of these days,” she said, making a quick dash to her office for her purse and keys. When she’d locked the door behind them, she held his gaze and asked, “Are we walking? It’s a nice night.”
Lost in the depths of her dark brown eyes, he murmured, “My car’s faster.”
“Then by all means, let’s take that,” she said, sounding vaguely breathless. She studied him warily.
