Prejudice Meets Pride (27 page)

There was really only one explanation. He didn’t want them to meet.

The thought settled in Emma’s mind like a migraine.

“And you are…?” Victoria coached, still holding Emma’s hand.

“Emma,” she said. “Emma Mackie.”

Why wasn’t Kevin saying anything? Why did he look so uncomfortable and tense and… guilty even? Where was the guy who’d texted her all those sweet notes? Who’d said he couldn’t wait to see her again? Who’d kissed her and held her and made her feel like she was something special?

Right now, Emma felt the opposite of special. She felt like an intruder.

Swallowing a yucky-tasting lump in her throat, Emma forced a smile. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Victoria, and I’m so sorry I bothered you. I hope you enjoy your time with your son.” Without sparing Kevin another glance, Emma did what she should have done to begin with—ran away.

“Emma, wait,” Kevin called, coming after her. His hand caught her arm, and he stepped in front of her, blocking her escape.

Tears threatened to spill, but Emma refused to let him see how much he’d hurt her. She lifted her chin defiantly. “Did you need something? A spoon to go with your pie, maybe?”

He grimaced, then flashed a glance at Victoria. “Could you give us a few minutes, Mother?”

She nodded and walked inside, pie still in hand, and shut the door behind her.

Kevin turned back to Emma. “The reason I didn’t tell you about her is not the reason you’re thinking.”

“What am I thinking?” Emma asked. This ought to be good.

“You’re thinking that I didn’t want her to meet you. But that’s not it at all. It’s because I didn’t want
you
to meet
her.
”

Emma blinked, trying to understand the differences between those two sentences and how one could be better than the other. “Why, exactly, didn’t you want
me
to meet
her
?”

“Because you’re—” Kevin stopped himself, then winced.

“I’m what?” Her voice raised a notch. Why wouldn’t he just say what he was thinking?

“Too nice,” he finally said.

Too nice? What? “What’s that supposed to mean? Your mom only likes mean people?”

“No.” His fingers raked through his hair as he took a few steps forward then circled back around. Finally, he stopped and jabbed a finger toward his house. “If I take you back inside and let you have a real conversation with my mother, she’ll smile, talk, and ask you question after question, acting like she really likes you and is happy you’re dating her only son. But ultimately, you’ll walk away feeling like you’re nowhere near good enough for me. I don’t want that to happen, okay?”

His words only served to churn her anger. “So I’m not good enough for you?”

“No,” said Kevin. “That’s what
she
would say—I mean, not directly, but she’d imply it in her subtle way.”

“Why would she think I’m not good enough? She doesn’t even know me.”

“She knows some things,” he finally muttered.

“What things?”

Kevin let out an exasperated groan. “Emma can we please not go into this?”

“What. Things. Kevin?”

He tried to reach for her again, but Emma dodged his hand. She looked him straight in the eye, daring him to tell the truth. He finally sighed. “She called right after you moved in—before I got to know you—so all she knows is what my opinion of you was then. We were just about to sit down to dinner, and I was going to straighten her out—
before
I let you meet her.

“
Let
me meet her?”

“You know what I meant,” he groaned. “Listen, Emma, you don’t know my mom. She sees me with one type of woman, and you’re—” Again, he cut himself off. He might have even cursed under his breath, Emma wasn’t sure. But she did know how that sentence would have ended.

“Not it?”

“Well… yeah.” He looked worried, as though she’d take that the wrong way. Which she did.

Emma took a step closer and clenched her fists. “Tell me this, Kevin. If you were still dating Nicole¸ would you have felt the need to prep your mother before introducing
her
?”

“I’m not dating Nicole, I’m dating you.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Kevin glared back at her, and Emma could tell she was beginning to make him angry as well. “No, all right?” he finally said. “Nicole is a successful lawyer who comes from a successful family. She’s the type of person my mom wants me to marry.”

Emma felt her body start to tremble. “Whereas I’m a starving artist who has set her sight way too high.”

His eyes caught and held hers in a hard stare. “That’s what my mother thinks—not me. This is exactly why I didn’t want you to meet her.”

“I thought you didn’t want
her
to meet
me
.” Emma held on tight to her anger. It was the only thing keeping her from breaking down. “Did it ever occur to you, Kevin, that I can stand up for myself? That I could have handled your mother’s subtle insults? Or, that she might even like me when she got to know me? How weak and pathetic do you think I am?”

“You’re everything but weak and pathetic.”

“You’re right about that.” She glared at him, then strode back to his front door, where she knocked again. Only this time, she didn’t care that she was dressed in PJs or that her hair was wet. She didn’t care about anything.

His mother opened the door, still holding the pie, which told Emma they’d probably had an audience.

“Yes?” she asked.

“I’d like my pie back, if you don’t mind.”

She handed it over, looking bewildered.

“Thank you.” Pie in hand, Emma stalked back to Kevin and pressed it into his face. Using her pajama pants as a napkin, she wiped the lingering whip cream from her fingers and walked home. It wasn’t until halfway through
Tinkerbell
, when Kajsa and Adelynn had finally drifted off to sleep, that she let go of the anger and allowed the tears to fall.

The smell of shampoo mixed with steam lingered in the air as Kevin rubbed his hair dry with a towel. He’d taken so long in the shower that the water ran cold, and his mirror was so fogged up he couldn’t see his reflection. He grabbed a hand towel and wiped it across the glass, revealing a clean, slightly foggy face—one that looked as miserable as he felt.

The conversation with Emma had gone from bad to worse. And now, not only did he have to figure out a way to undo the damage that was done, he also had to find a way to explain that whole scene to his mother. He could only imagine what she thought of Emma now.

He took his time changing before he found her relaxing on his couch, flipping through a cooking magazine.

“This chicken Marsala looks good, doesn’t it? Maybe we could make it for dinner tomorrow night.”

Kevin sat down next to her and rested his elbows on his knees. He turned to face her. “How come you stopped making mud pie?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You used to make it all the time when I was a kid. Cookies, cakes, and brownies, too, if I remember right. But then Dad decided to run for public office, and things started to change.”

She set down the magazine and clasped her fingers around her crossed knees. “I was trying to be healthier. What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing,” said Kevin. “I’m just curious as to why you suddenly became concerned with health as soon as Dad announced his intention to run for the senate.”

His mother shrugged. “He and I had both gained some weight over the years, and I thought it would reflect poorly on his image. So we made some lifestyle changes. You make it sound like it was a bad thing.”

It wasn’t a bad thing. What Kevin had a problem with was the reason behind those changes and the importance his mother placed on image—the importance that Kevin realized
he’d
been placing on image. From the get-go, he’d fought his attraction to Emma because of that. Even after he’d gotten to know her, he’d still let Janice and his mother give him reason to doubt.

And now he might lose her because of it.

His mother’s hand came to rest on his knee. “You obviously have feelings for that girl, and I’m sorry you developed them before you realized her true nature. But be grateful you saw it now instead of later.”

Kevin flashed his mother a look. “I have no intention of letting Emma walk out of my life now or ever. I love her.”

Her eyes widened briefly before that serene, unemotional smile came back. “It’s never a good thing to act rashly. If you give it more time and thought, I’m sure you’ll see reason. Do you really want to be with someone who is okay with making a scene like that in your front yard? Anyone on your street could have seen that.”

Kevin searched his mother’s face. Underneath the schooled serenity, he knew she felt sadness, happiness, anxiety, and anger. Everyone did. But over the years, she’d become a master at hiding everything but a fake smile and a bland expression. It was no wonder that his parents had grown apart over the years. They were so good at presenting a strong union in public, but Kevin knew that at home, his dad disappeared in his study, and his mother went a different way.

That wasn’t the type of relationship he wanted.

“You’re right, Mom, anyone could have seen that. But you know what? I don’t care if they did. Yes, it ticked me off to get a pie thrown in my face, but now, looking back, I’m glad she did it.”

“Excuse me?” His mother had never looked so confused. It was a nice break from her usual impenetrable mask.

“Emma’s not stiff or formal. She yells and throws pie when she’s upset, she cries when she’s down, she laughs when something strikes her as funny, she kicks lawnmowers, fixes sprinklers, burns casseroles, speaks Spanish, and paints the most beautiful murals you’ve ever seen. She’s beyond prideful and stubborn, and she loves deeply. And until a few minutes ago, I was beginning to think that she might even love me, but now I’m not so sure, and that scares me more than anything. She’s the most genuine person I’ve ever met, and I adore her.”

His mom’s gaze dropped to her hands, and she rubbed at a spot on one of her manicured nails. When she looked up again, her eyes were wet with tears. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his mother cry. “There was a time when your father might have said those same things about me,” she said wistfully. Then she wiped at her eyes and smiled the most genuine smile he’d seen since he was a kid. “My son has finally fallen in love. It’s about time.”

Kevin gave a mirthless chuckle. “Yeah, to a woman who now hates my guts, and for good reason. You should be really proud of me.”

Silence. Followed by, “I am proud of you. I have always been proud of you.”

Kevin shot her a look that said
yeah right
.

She sighed and reached over to clutch his hand beneath hers. “All I’ve ever wanted for you was to be happy. There’s no denying you have it in you to become a wonderful political leader, like your father, and when you decided on dentistry—especially pediatric dentistry—I thought it was your way of rebelling. I thought the same thing about Emma. I’m not trying to control your life, but I know from experience that rebellion doesn’t lead to happiness, and I didn’t want that for you.” She paused, searching his face. “But I was wrong, wasn’t I? You are happy with the life you’ve chosen and the woman you’ve chosen. I can see that now.”

“I’m not feeling that happy at the moment.”

His mother laughed. It was a sound he hadn’t heard in a really long time. A sound he’d missed. She squeezed his knee. “Give her a day or two to cool off, and she’ll come around. You’ll see. No woman could resist you for long.”

His mother obviously didn’t know Emma Mackie.

“In the meantime,” she said, giving his knee a pat. “Why don’t you take me to your office and show me this amazing mural Emma has been painting. Then we can come back here and whip up another mud pie. I was looking forward to eating that other one.”

Kevin gave her a look that said who-are-you-and-what-have-you-done-with-my-mother? “You’ve never had any desire to see my office before. And mud pie isn’t healthy, remember?”

She stood and slung her purse over her shoulder. “I just traveled all the way from New Hampshire to save you from yourself. But now that I know you don’t need saving, I’m in the mood for a nice slice of homemade mud pie. Maybe even two. It’s been too long.”

Yes, it had.

“And of course I want to see your office.”