With a Little T.L.C. by Teresa Southwick Read Free Book Online

you back to the hospital now.”
    Oddly enough she didn’t want to go back to the hospital. But it was probably for the best, Liz thought a little sadly.
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    â€œWhat are you doing here, Joe?” Flo Marchetti looked at her second son as if he had two heads.
    â€œI can’t stop by to say hello to my favorite mother?” He leaned over and kissed her cheek.
    She stood and turned her back on the flat of plantsas she removed her gardening gloves. She was tall, silver-haired, and he couldn’t help thinking the years had been kind to her. She was still a very attractive woman and he understood how she’d kept his father interested for so many years. That thought gave him an odd feeling, as if something bad had happened, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Weird, he thought, shaking his head to dispel the sensation.
    Sliding her sunglasses to the top of her head, Flo peered intently at him. “What’s your problem?”
    Brunette. About five foot two, one-hundred-and-five pounds, hazel eyes. Name Elizabeth Anderson. But that wasn’t for general publication. His run-in with her had made him edgy and restless—he hadn’t been able to face his empty condo. So he’d stopped by to see the folks.
    â€œWhere’s Dad?” he asked, glancing toward the house.
    â€œGolfing with Nick and Steve. They called you for a foursome, but you weren’t home. Where have you been?”
    Orienting for the cuddlers program. Something else he didn’t want to put out for general publication. So he just said, “Driving. To the beach.”
    â€œGirl trouble.” She clucked sympathetically.
    So much for keeping secrets from his mother. “For Pete’s sake, Ma. Why do you jump to that conclusion based on what I just told you?”
    â€œI’m right. You asked a question instead of denying it. I’m glad.”
    â€œThat I have girl trouble?”
    â€œSee?” She pointed her gardening trowel at him. “I knew I was right.”
    â€œThat’s not what I said. I can’t believe you’re so happy that I could have problems.”
    â€œRelationship concerns. There’s a difference.”
    â€œAnd you think that I have a problem with a woman?” He would go to his grave without telling her she was right.
    â€œI know so. And I’m not happy about it. Not exactly,” she added.
    â€œWhat does that mean?”
    She sat down on the lounge beside the pool and motioned for him to sit on the matching chaise across from her. “You’re my son. I love you. I’d scratch out the eyes of any woman who hurt you. But—”
    â€œGo on,” he prompted. He was going to be sorry for this, he knew. But for some reason he needed to hear what she had to say.
    â€œWell, you’re not getting any younger. Nice—unattached—girls in your age group are getting harder to find.”
    He thought about Liz, the fact that she’d never married. And, as his mother so bluntly put it, she was in the appropriate age bracket. Which meant she wasn’t getting any younger either.
    â€œI’m not looking, Ma.”
    â€œGood.”
    â€œGood?” he asked, puzzled. “That’s not some kind of reverse psychology stuff, is it?”
    â€œOf course not. That would never work on you. It simply means that when you’re not looking for it, love is more likely to find you.”
    â€œNo really. I mean it. I have no intention of getting serious about anyone.”
    â€œAnd why’s that?” she asked.
    â€œYou and Dad.”
    â€œWhat about your father and I?” she asked sharply.
    He stared at her. Her reaction seemed out of proportion to his comment. “I just meant you two are so perfect together. I wouldn’t want to make a mistake.”
    â€œEveryone makes mistakes, dear. It’s not the end of the world. You have to get over that.” She looked at him. “Rosie