I entered the dining room last, but all of the men were still standing behind their chairs, politely waiting for me to sit first.

I felt near to bursting as I took them all in.  I couldn’t help feeling more than a twinge of pride at being surrounded by such magnificent men.

I said a quick prayer that they all wouldn’t kill each other and took my seat.

CHAPTER

TWENTY

No fists flew.  No dishes were thrown.  No profanity was spewed.

All in all, I counted the evening a victory.

Of course it wasn’t perfect.  Gustave and Heath did not meet and hit it off.  They didn’t bump fists, talk about sports and become best friends, but I’d known they wouldn’t.

For the most part, Rafael and I kept the conversation going, light and easy.  Heath and Gustave were largely silent, answering questions when asked, but in general just eating in silence.  This, also, was how I’d known it would go.

Heath loved the pot pie; going by the way he cleared his plate and went back for seconds.

Gustave was not far behind him.

I was fairly preening, knowing that at least with my cooking I’d done well tonight.

We hit a slight bump in the road when Raf asked Heath in a friendly way, “What was it that you do for a living again?”

“I work in security,” was Heath’s typical vague answer.

Gustave took exception, instantly and obviously.

He set down his fork, eyes boring into Heath.  “What does that even mean?  What do you do in security?”

Heath was unfazed.  “Lots of things, most of them confidential for the sake of my clients.”

Raf, ever the peacemaker, promptly changed the subject to something else.

Another little bump occurred some time later when Gustave burst out with another question, delivered with a frustrated tone.  “How old are you, anyway?  And how did you meet my mother?”

Heath finished chewing his mouthful of food.  “I’m twenty-five, and I met her at the grocery store.”

“Are you usually into older women?”

“Gus!  Rude!” Raf’s voice barked, uncharacteristically sharp.  His brother had managed to offend him.

“Sorry,” Gustave muttered, and I could tell by the dark flush to his cheeks and the way his eyes darted to me that he was instantly remorseful of the rude remark.  I even knew why.

He’d only just realized that it was insulting to more than just Heath.

“No,” Heath drawled, his amused eyes swinging to mine.  “To be honest, I didn’t realize our age difference was quite so dramatic when we met, but I didn’t care when I did find out.  Have you seen your mom?”

It was my turn to bark out sharply, “Heath!”

The last thing he needed to do was egg them on, but thank God my sons just seemed to find his remark amusing.

“Do you live around here?” Raf asked, again trying to turn the conversation to something innocuous and friendly.

It was like my children had decided to approach the dinner with a good cop/bad cop dynamic.

“Not far,” Heath replied easily.  “I rent a place a short walk from here.  I’m in town on a job that’s turned out to be longer term than I’d expected.”

This, if it was true, was all news to me.  Apparently Raf was better at getting information out of Heath than I was.

“How long do think you’ll be sticking around?” Gus asked, a hint of belligerence in his tone.

“It’s impossible to say,” Heath returned, eyes staying on his food.

Raf and I made eye contact, and I swear I could read his mind we were so much alike.

We’ve pushed it enough tonight, I thought at him.  Best to wrap it up shortly after dinner before any blood was drawn.

We finished eating and made short work of dessert.  The boys cleared the table and did the dishes, while Heath and I put away the extra food.

When he finished his chores, Gus declared that he had to go, and I walked him out to his car.

“You’re having a hard time with this,” I observed.  “The age difference is understandably shocking.”

“It’s not his age, Mom.  I honestly don’t care how old he is.  He just, he strikes me as off.  There’s something wrong about him.  Like he’s, I don’t know, he’s playing nice enough, but there’s something wrong with his eyes.”

That was another thing about Gustave.  His instincts had always been very sharp.

I gave him the shortest, most to the point answer I could think of.  “He’s ex-military.  He’s lived through some rough stuff.  I believe he’s still acclimating to normal society, to be honest.”

“That adds up,” Gustave admitted grudgingly.  “But, really, Mom, I don’t care what he’s been through.  I want you to be with someone normal, someone that’s good for you.”

I sighed.  “I’m the only one that can decide what’s good for me, sweetie.  And, frankly, I’ve never in my life given a damn about what’s normal.”

“Is it serious?  Are you guys, like, boyfriend and girlfriend?”

How to answer that one?  I thought a non-answer was best.  “This whole thing is new to me, too, and I’m just taking it a day at a time.  I’ve been seeing him for a few months, and I like him.  That’s all I know for sure, so far.”

“Does Dad know about him?”

I frowned at him.  Why would he even ask that?  “It’s not his business,” I hedged.

“I agree, but just so you know, if he ever finds out, he’s going to freak.”

I frowned harder.  “What’s it got to do with him?  Or are you just referring to the age difference?”

“I’m sure he won’t be happy about that, but I’m referring to everything.  You seeing somebody.  Anybody.  You may have moved on, but I doubt he ever will.”

“I don’t know why you say that.  He moved on while we were still married.”

“He knows he blew things with you forever, but that doesn’t mean he’s okay with it.”

“I think you’re wrong about that, but honestly, it just doesn’t matter to me what he thinks.  Seeing as you and Raf are grown, I don’t even have to worry about co-parenting with him.  He’s just not in my life anymore, and he never will be.”

“I know.  Doesn’t mean he’s accepted it yet.  And believe me, I don’t want him in my life, either.”

“I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t apologize for him.  It’s not your fault.  It’s all him.  He’s a liar, a hypocrite, and an asshole.  I can’t stand anything about him, and I know you think we’ll change our minds, but we won’t.  We’re just done with him.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.  I felt guilty about their disdain for him, though I’d never done anything to actively court it.  It just was.  They’d seen too many things in their father that they couldn’t make peace with.  I thought perhaps in time that might change, but I was starting to accept that it was out of my hands, either way.  I thanked God every day that my boys were in my life and remained close to me, and I’d do anything in my power to keep it that way.  What my ex-husband did or didn’t do to re-establish or maintain a relationship with his boys was his duty and his business, at this point.

“I promise to try to play nice with your new boyfriend,” Gus said, grudgingly.

I thought it counterproductive to correct him on the boyfriend thing at this stage in the game.  “Thank you,” was what I said instead.

“Sorry if I was a jerk tonight.  It’s just, I don’t know, it’s hard.  You seeing some guy I don’t know is going to be an adjustment.”

“I know.  I understand.  And you did fine tonight.  You tried your best.  That’s all I’ve ever asked.”

He swallowed hard, his throat working with the motion.  “Love you, Mom.”

I hugged him briefly and kissed his cheek.

“Love you, sweetie.”

I came back inside just in time to see Raf out.

“I think it went well,” I said.

“It could have gone much worse.  Gus’ll just need time.  You know how he is.”