Page 32 of Gray Hair Don't Care
“I’ll let you get settled, Lela,” Donovan said. “Do you need anything?”
“I’m good. Echo and I are going to get together in an hour so I can practice on her hair.”
“I’ll see you at five for cocktails?” he asked, starting for the door.
“I’ll be there with bells on.”
Donovan and Austin left Lela to herself and she turned to take another look at the room. She found Donovan’s mom’s style quirky and fun. Unconventional. Whimsical. Still, she could see how if you were a kid, and she was your mom, it might come off as something else.
Chapter Sixteen
Donovan practically hadto drag Austin from Lela’s room. As soon as they were out of earshot, he delivered a warning. “Step off.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Austin trailed Donovan down the hall to his room, which was around the corner, on the back of the house overlooking the pool.
“Lela doesn’t need you drooling all over her.” Donovan wandered into what had once been his bedroom. Thankfully, his mother had redecorated many years ago, transforming it into something completely unrecognizable, unleashing her odd sense of style with dark navy walls, black wainscoting, and dozens of clocks that didn’t work. Donovan tried not to do anything but sleep in that room. Otherwise, it felt too much like he was a prisoner of time.
“Hold on a minute.” Austin grabbed Donovan’s forearm and froze. “I’m just now realizing. Is Lela college Lela?”
“Yes. How many women named Lela can there be in the world?”
“How did she end up working with Echo?”
“It was total chance. A fluke.”
“Are you two a thing?”
Donovan bit down on his lower lip, if only to remind himself that he and Lela were definitely not a thing. Although there’d been a noticeable softening between them in the last few weeks. He wasn’t sure if that was all one-sided or if Lela felt it, too, but he had to think she did. Not that it mattered. Echo would lose it. “No. We’re not.”
“Hmmm…interesting.” Austin narrowed his up-to-no-good eyes. “But you two slept together?”
“We did. All the more reason for you to stay away.”
Austin flopped on to Donovan’s bed, tucked his hands behind his head and crossed his feet at the ankles. “She’s so hot, and her gray hair is sexy. I’m definitely into older women. They know what they want. There are no games.”
“She’s a year older than you, so not sure that qualifies. Then again, you’ve never been good at math.”
Austin smirked. “I still reserve my right to admire her.”
Donovan heaved his suitcase onto the bed next to Austin and began unpacking his things. “I reserve my right to beat on you.”
“And I, you.” Austin got up and wandered over to the window, leaning against the casing and looking outside. “I need to ask you something. Do you think Mom looks skinny?”
Donovan had noticed exactly that when he hugged his mom. Like his arms went around her a little too far. “I did. Do you think something is going on? Health-wise?”
“Not sure. I asked her about it and she told me that she loves being called skinny, which is ridiculous. It felt like she was deflecting.”
“I wonder when she last went to the doctor.” Their mom had always been skeptical of western medicine.
“I’m sure it’s been years. Her room is full of crystals and astral charts, and there are countless homeopathic remedies on the kitchen counter.”
“I’ll try to find a way to ask.”
Austin pushed off from the wall and slugged Donovan on the arm. “Finish up so we can go for a walk.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Just let me hang up my tux and I’ll do the rest when we get back.”
A few minutes later, the two were back on the ground floor, walking out through one of the many French doors opening onto the flagstone patio and pool area. Beyond that was the rose garden tended by their mother, even though it was more than enough work to have the landscaping crew handle it. She’d always insisted on doing these things herself. Part of it was her penny-pinching ways. Part of it was her reluctance to give anyone else control.
