Page 93 of Then Came You

“Yeah?”

“No need to blab this to the entire precinct. I’m sure everyone will find out eventually, but you don’t need to feed the gossip mill. You might be strong, but I can beat your ass in arm-wrestling, and I don’t want to embarrass you.”

“Fair enough.” Dax nodded at him and went out the door.

Sam waited to make sure Dax didn’t come back in, and then he burst out laughing. If they had been two women, the conversation would have ended with tears and hugs, but instead, there had been threats of contests and violence. He expected Gillian would laugh too when he told her later.

Later. Yes. His shift ended at three o’clock, and she’d promised to leave the bookstore at four. They’d planned to go out for a nice dinner and then cozy up at her house for the night.

It had been cold and rainy all day, and the thought of snuggling up with her by the fire sounded like heaven. His version of heaven, anyway. Only a few more hours to go until she’d be back in his arms.

He was just about to leave the breakroom when his cell phone rang, and his parents’ phone number popped up on the display. He and Kristina teased them mercilessly about still having a landline, but they were set in their ways and had never bought cell phones. He worried about them being out of touch when they traveled, but they were homebodies, so they usually didn’t wander too far. Still, he kept an eye on them just like anybody he loved.

“Sam here,” he answered.

“You must be at work,” his mom said.

“I am, but I’m on a break.”

“Well, this will only take a minute.”

Sam rolled his eyes because his mom was anything but quick.

“Krissy told us you’re seeing someone and that it’s serious. Is that true?”

Here we go. “Yes.” There was no use denying it since his sister had outed him. Besides, there was no longer a reason to hide it.

“Why didn’t you tell us yourself?”

You’re never too old to feel like a kid, he thought as he searched for a response. “It’s complicated, and I was going to tell you eventually.”

“Your dad and I would like to meet her.”

Translation: his mom wanted to meet her, and his dad went along with it for the sake of their marriage. “You will soon.”

“How about Thanksgiving?”

He could hardly believe the holidays were just around the corner. He honestly hadn’t given them much thought. He’d been too busy working and falling in love.

“What about it?”

“You could bring her.”

“She has a family too, Mom.”

“Well, you can still invite her.”

He could hardly argue with that. “Fine. I’ll ask her, but don’t get your hopes up.”

“If she can’t come to Thanksgiving, then you can bring her by another time.”

She’d obviously thought it all out. “Okay.”

“Good.”

“I need to get back to work now.”

“Just one more thing.”