Page 27 of He Loves Me Knot
Should he just go and come back later when his mum was in the office?
Seconds later, Sophia breezed through the back door, a warm smile on her gorgeous face. Her feet faltered for a split second, then she pushed on toward the counter. “Callum.”
She’s just as beautiful as ever.Five years had done nothing to change that. She had curves in all the right places, long, dark, and glossy hair—that she appeared to have highlighted—and tanned, olive skin that spoke to long days in the sun. Her dark eyes shifted over him, and she raised her chin. “I—um.” She cleared her throat. “Let me getTía.” Her English was near perfect, though she had an accent. Like his mother, Sophia had not only learned English in school but had plenty of practice speaking it now.
Maybe it was strange that his ex still called his mum by the affectionate “auntie” nickname, but she always had, so he’d never thought twice about it. When they’d been engaged, Sophia had switched to calling her“Mi suerte”a slang term for “my mother-in-law” orsuegra. But that, at least, appeared to have stopped.
“It’s fine.” Callum crossed the space toward her, determined to dispense with the awkwardness. He’d have to see her many times during this trip. She meant nothing to him now, and he wouldn’t pretend he still harbored old wounds. “I just need to check in and get my room key.”
“Tía!”Sophia called out, ignoring him. She gave him a taut smile. “It’s so good to see you, Callum. How are you?”
“Fantastic.” He could do without the chitchat. He avoided looking her in the eye, reaching into his pocket for his phone. “I think my reservation is?—”
“Callum!” His mother came around the corner and rushed toward him. She threw her arms around his neck, tears in her eyes. “Cuánto deseaba verte.”How I longed to see you.She held him tightly, as though nothing had ever changed between them.
In a small way, this was preferential to the other Latina mum way of handling a contentious situation—resentment and guilt.
When Callum pulled away, she framed his face in her hands, holding his cheeks. “You’re even more handsome than you look in photos. I can’t believe how tall you are now.”
Callum groaned inwardly.This spectacle is ridiculous.He hadn’t seen his mother since he was twenty-three—and he certainly hadn’t grown since then, though he’d filled out. He’d been much leaner and lankier before. Before he’d traded endurance training for lifting weights.
Sophia had slipped away.Thank God.
“Good to see you, Mum.” He forced the lie out through his teeth. Funny how the “mum” title had stuck. Dad had used it, so Isla and Callum had used it. That his Costa Rican mother was stuck with a British term for mother set by a man she’d divorced so long ago was sort of . . .ironic?He didn’t know what it was.
“I kept praying you would come back here. Every day, I prayed.” Mum wiped her face, leaving behind a streak of mascara on her cheek. She was smaller than him, by about a foot, only about five foot two. He’d taken after his father, while Isla was only a couple of inches taller than Mum. “I have your room at the house ready to go. Come, I’ll show you.” She spoke in a mixture of English and Spanish to him, sometimes blending so much “Spanglish” that Callum didn’t really keep up with what language she’d said. He typically responded in English, regardless.
Callum didn’t care to remind her of why he hadn’t come back. Why he avoided her calls most of the time or had scheduled work trips for the couple of times she’d come to London to see Isla. And that Mum kept acting as though he should just forgive her already and just go right back to “home sweet home” was the only evidence he needed not to bring it up. They would never see eye to eye on what had happened with Sophia.
“I actually booked a room.” He grimaced and took another step back. “But I appreciate the offer.”
“Yes, I saw the reservation come through.” Mum frowned. “But I canceled it and gave that room to someone else. There’s no reason for you to pay good money to stay here when I have a place for you to stay for free.”
Fuck, no.
Anger flushed through him, his gut churning.
This is why I should have told Quinn about my mum.
She would do something like this. He gritted his teeth, taking another step back as he tried to calm himself. He rubbed his jaw, feeling the stubble of the morning against his palm. “This—this is justclassic, Mum.”
His voice had come out louder than he’d intended, and Sophia poked her head through the doorway, a concerned expression on her face.
Mum shrank back, any visible joy in her demeanor vanishing.
The door to the office opened, and Lydia breezed through, a burst of fresher sea-salt air coming with her. “There you are!” Lydia sidled up to him.
Uhh . . . what?
Lydia hugged him from the side and whispered in his ear, “I couldn’t tell her.”
Callum stiffened, trying not to react.What the hell?
Elle and Quinn were just steps behind Lydia.
“Callum!” Elle’s voice came through the door. She wore a confused look, her pretty face already tanned, her long blond hair cascading in perfect waves over her shoulders. Even her sundress seemed to shimmer as she made her way toward them even though they were inside the office.
Where did all her anger on that phone call go?