Loving the Ice Queen

Chapter 5

Ryan

"I certainly do not understand why you can't bring her over," my mother said over the phone. "I would very much like to meet her. I must say, I haven't had the chance to speak with her on the few occasions I've seen her in the past."

I sighed, checking the rearview mirror. My son's head bobbed up and down as he headed towards the car, his backpack almost dragging on the snow.

"Mum, we've been on a few dates," I said. "There's no reason to bring her over to my mother's place."

"Of course there is," my mother's voice said through the car's speaker. "I'm your mother. I must see if she's a good fit for you and Jeremy."

My temper flared. "I'm thirty four, Mum. It's a bit too late to play mother now."

I regretted the words as soon as they left my lips. My mother was quiet. I rubbed my face and sighed. "Anyway, I can do that just fine on my own. I know what Jeremy and I need."

"Yes, look how the last one turned out," my mum said.

Jeremy opened the door, hopefully he hadn't heard his grandmother's words just then. The boy grinned.

"Mum, I gotta go. I just picked up Jeremy from school," I said. "I'll see you later."

"Oh, Jeremy! Darling, can you hear me?"

Jeremy exchanged a few words with his grandmother. She was extremely fond of Jeremy, and fortunately did not display any of the usual criticism she doted on me.

After they said goodbye, I ended the call and drove on.

"Are you going on another date?" Jeremy asked. I almost stepped on the brakes. I glanced at my son in the rearview mirror.

"Who told you about my dates?"

"I heard Grandmama speaking with one of her friends the other day," Jeremy replied.

"Eavesdropping is not good," I said on autopilot.

"I wasn't eavesdropping," Jeremy said with an exasperated tone he learned from Lia. "I just happened to be in the room while she was speaking on the phone."

I chuckled. Smartass. "Right."

"So when are you going on another date?"

"Son, my dating life is none of your business."

"It's none of Grandmama's business either," Jeremy said. "But she gets to badger you with questions and I can't?"

I shook my head. I did not know how I was going to deal with a teenage Jeremy. At six years old, he already managed to give me a few gray hairs.

"You can't," I said.

"Why?"

"Because I said so," I said. "All I'm going to tell you is that the woman is just a friend." Though I doubted Barbara considered me a friend. "We're simply having a few meals together. Nothing else is going on. I'm not really dating her. But don't tell your grandmama that."

"Is her name really the Ice Queen?" Jeremy asked, "like, is she actually a queen or something?"

I made a face. I couldn't believe even my mother called her that. "No. It's just a silly nickname."

"Why do they call her that?"

"Because... she doesn't smile much."

"Oh." I could see Jeremy frowning at the window. If I didn't divert his attention soon, the kid was going to get into a spiral of questions about Barbara that I wasn't sure I could answer.