He raised a brow. “What did I do?”
“You didn’t do anything.”
“Mom, I know you, and I know that you never claim to have a favorite.”
“Do not be ridiculous. You have done nothing wrong.”
He stared at her, and she looked back at him as if she was waiting for him to explode or something.
“One of your friends called you.”
She laughed. “Can a mother not be concerned about her son?”
“You can, but I know you.”
Jane pushed some hair off her face and rolled her eyes. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She let out a pout. “I may have received a call that told me my son was seen leaving a certain teacher’s premises. The same teacher he’s had a crush on for years.”
“Mom, you know not to listen to gossip.”
“I also know to worry about my son.”
He sipped at his coffee. “Why do you need to worry?”
“Son, when you were a boy—”
“A fifteen-year-old teenager.”
“A boy. You would put your name and Miss Evergreen’s name around a love heart.”
“I had a crush.”
Now she put her hands on her hips. “Rome Hard, do not take that tone with me, and do not for a second think you can fool me. I know my son, and I know him now. You were in love with her back then, and you’re in love with her now.”
He sighed. “Your point?”
“I’m worried about you getting hurt. We all are. You don’t think it hasn’t escaped anyone’s notice how Miss Evergreen hasn’t been in a relationship the whole time she’s been here?”
“Don’t be worried.”
“I cannot stand the thought of you being upset.”
“Mom, please, do not worry, okay?”
“Is it just sex?”
“Mom.” He wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole.
“Jane, you’re going to scar him for life. You nearly did that as a child.” Fortunately, his father had entered the room. Hopefully, he’d make more sense.
“You know I was only telling him that masturbation is completely natural. James and Caleb did it all the time, and Rome locked himself in the bathroom that way as well. It was only natural for him to explore himself,” Jane said.
“This is gross.” He’d never locked himself in the bathroom to masturbate. Not that he’d ever get that kind of privacy. When he spent hours in the bathroom, it was to constantly look and see if he had any late-developing muscles.
While his brothers and dad were all buff, and the women preened over them, he’d looked like a stick insect, and so out of place. There was a time he did hear someone wonder if his mother had an affair.
“Jane, leave him be. Come, Rome, come and walk with me.”
He held his coffee like a lifeline but was more than happy to make an escape from the madhouse.
“Thanks, Dad,” he said.
“No problem. You do know your mom worries.”
“She has no reason to.”
They stood in the garden together. Back in the house, he heard his siblings and their families all inside.
Once again, he was the odd man out.
No wife.
No children.
Alone.
“Rome, you’re our son. It’s our duty that we care about you. We want you to have the best kind of life. To find a woman you love.”
“Dad, please, you have to stop worrying.”
“Then tell me about Andy. Talk to me.”
He thought about last night, and there was no way he was going to share that with anyone. His parents didn’t know about his visits to the private club back in the city, where he learned to explore women, to find out what gave them the most pleasure. Once again, the odd one out. Where his brothers were building a reputation with the ladies, he built his education. Rather than work his way through women, he’d gone to the experts and learned from the best.
“She is … amazing, Dad.”
“You love her.”
“I’ve never stopped loving her.”
“Does she have any idea how you feel?”
“We’ve been on one date. I don’t think telling how much I love her is going to go down well. She already knows I’ve wanted her for the last ten years.”
His father laughed. “We worry about you. All of us. Your mom, James, Caleb, and myself.”
“You have no reason to.”
“Do you think we don’t see it?” he asked.
“See what?” Rome took another sip of his coffee.
“See you struggle. In case you were wondering, you’re my son,” he said.
“Dad, I never had any doubts.”
“I know the way people talked. How they would look at you and think you were different, and they’re right, you are different. You’re more like your mother than me, but that doesn’t mean you’re any less a Hard boy.”
“Dad, being told I’m like my mother doesn’t make me feel better.”
“Your mother has always been about the books. She loves to learn. It’s why she had you boys sitting around the table, studying as often as she did. You flourished reading. James and Caleb, not so much. They’re more hands-on.”
Rome frowned. “What are you getting at?”
“It’s good to be different. Doesn’t make you any less in our eyes. We love and care about you, and only want to see the best.”
He pressed his lips together, feeling a tightness in his throat. “I love her.”
“I know, son, but she may not love you. You have got to give these things time.”
“You think I don’t know that?”
“You have a plan?” his father asked.
Rome laughed. “Plans are my superpower. I have a plan, and I’m going to be walking down the aisle with her. Andy will be my wife.”
He had no doubt.
****
Some students were easier than others.
Being a teacher was no walk in the park. There was nothing easy about it. Every now and then, you found someone, or a class of someones who made your job worth it.
Andy had a classroom of students who wanted to learn absolutely nothing and were more interested in their social media accounts and their futures as being the next big reality star.
This was one of the many reasons why she didn’t own a television. They were a curse. She liked to see a movie from time to time, but television sucked way too much time.
With her hair pushed back, she watched the last of her students go out the door.
None of them were interested in finding out how to improve their grade.
She turned to the board and wiped off the lesson. If one person got anything from today, she’d be happy.
The sound of a throat being cleared had her turning.
Rome Hard was in her classroom doorway.
“Mr. Hard, what brings you here?”
“I came to see you. I had a client not too far from the school, and seeing as I was passing through, I thought I’d come and give you a ride.”
She groaned. “You heard about my car trouble?”
“I was waiting in line at the coffee shop. You were the town gossip. Apparently, you woke the dead with that thing.”