Polished Rust (Wilkins Brothers Book #4)

Chapter 15

TATE

I barely make it to the couch before my entire body gives out. I’ve been burning both ends of the candle, so to speak, and it has finally caught up with me. After working full days at the shop and working with Nico on his model airplane, I also drive to South Chandler to spend time with Rosemary. Depending on what time it is, I’ll be there for dinner, but not always. 

Fighting my feelings for her is pointless at this point. I don’t know what kind of sorcery she’s used on me, but I want to spend time with her and I have little desire to spend time with anybody else. The thought of heading to a club or bar hasn’t even crossed my mind. I don’t know what this means, but I know that I want to spend as much time with her as I can while she’s here.

When I brought up the idea of accompanying me to my parent’s house tomorrow, she had a minor heart attack. I did my best to tell her it was no big deal, but I knew what it would mean if I brought a girl home with me. There was a reason I never did it before. Rosemary was different though.

I dig into the leftover shepherd’s pie that Mercy made for dinner last night while I dial my mom’s number. I didn’t want to completely blindside her with the news.

“Tate? Is everything okay?”

I don’t know why she seemed so worried, I didn’t even get a hello. “Everything is fine, Mom. Did you hear something I should know about?”

“No, I can just count on a single hand the number of times you called rather than sent a text message over the last dozen years.”

“That’s probably true, but everything is good, Mom. I wanted to ask you about family dinner tomorrow night.”

“Tate Sterling, if you tell me that you’re canceling, I’m sending Gruff or Maverick to drag you here. I know you and Hattie are going through some stuff right now, but that is no excuse to try to get out of this.”

“No, Mama, I’m not trying to get out of it. I was actually calling to ask if I could bring somebody.”

There is a long pause and I pull the phone away from my ear to see if she hung up on me. I begin to speak again when she finally responds, “Somebody?”

“Yeah. Before you go too far, I’m going to need you to reel it back in a bit.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you don’t,” I chuckle. My mom has been impatiently waiting for all of us to settle down. She’s got three of the five happily married and I know she’s crossing her fingers for Hattie and me.

“I’m just shocked, that is all. Tell me about her. Or is it a him? That’s okay too.”

“She’s a she, Ma, but I do love that you’re welcoming to whatever.”

“Tell me about her then. Is this serious? It has to be a certain level of seriousness if she’s meeting the family, right?”

“I guess you could say that. I met her some time back, but she’s been in town with her little sister for a getaway. We reconnected about and we’ve been spending some time together. I don’t know what this is and we certainly don’t have a label for it, but I like her and I think she’d get along with everybody else.”

“Okay, you know she’s more than welcome to join us. You said her sister is here too?”

“Yep, she’s sixteen, but pretty cool for a teenager.”

“I look forward to meeting them both.”

“Thanks, Mom. See you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, Tate.”