Once they were back in Morgan’s SUV her lips quivered slightly with nerves. Maybe she needed to prepare Morgan in case her mother did something crazy like bring up the subject of grandbabies, her favorite subject lately. “Morgan?”
He glanced over at her as he backed the vehicle out of the driveway. “Yes?”
“My mother. I think I need to prepare you about something so you won’t be surprised, in case she brings it up.”
“Okay, what is it?”
“She wants grandkids.”
“Oh, I see.”
Even as he said the words, Lena doubted if he really saw at all and decided to explain. “She’s getting older and—”
“Lena, you don’t have to explain. I have parents, too, remember. And when it comes to wanting grandkids they’re just as bad.”
“They are?”
“Yes. For years Marcus was enough for them, but then they started throwing out hints to the four of us again. They felt Chance needed to remarry and Bas, Donovan and I needed to find wives. Now with Bas married and Chance with a new baby on the way, they’re satisfied for now, but I’m not counting on it lasting too long. They’ll be looking at me and Donovan again in a few years.”
A few moments later he asked, “What about you, Lena?”
She lifted a brow. “What about me?”
“I asked you before and you said you wanted kids…but. You never explained what that but meant.”
Lena recalled that day a couple of weeks ago. She met his gaze when he halted at a stop sign. “But means that I would love to have children of my own one day and I would love for my children to know my mother while she’s still here with me in good health and a good frame of mind. But since I’m not married and don’t see myself getting married in my near or distant future, then it doesn’t matter how much I love kids or want them, does it?”
Yes it did. Morgan’s jaw tightened and he wished to earth that he could tell her right then and there that it did matter because he was willing to give her as many babies as she wanted. He could provide their child a loving, stable environment that included two parents and grandparents. And he didn’t have a problem with Lena being her mother’s primary caretaker. They would do it together, share the responsibility. And he would be able to provide all the financial security she’d ever want.
But at the moment he was too deep into his plan of pursuit to tell her that. He would have to show her better than to tell her. In the past men had disappointed her in such a way that it would be hard for Lena to put her complete trust in one again. So he would take his time and continue with his plan to build her trust and belief that he was different. He had to prove that all the other men in her life had been Mr. Wrong but he was her Mr. Right.
When he brought the car to the gate to exit out of the subdivision he smiled and said, “Don’t worry. Your mother and I will get along great.”
Lena inwardly sighed. That was exactly what she was afraid of. And then when Morgan stopped coming around the way the others had once they realized that her mother was a permanent fixture in her life, she wondered just what her mother was going to think.
“Who are you, young man?”
Before Morgan could respond Lena quickly answered as she snapped her mother’s seat belt in place. “Mom, this is a client of mine, Morgan Steele. I was out showing him a house and time slipped away. He was kind enough to offer to bring me here to pick you up.”
“Oh.” Odessa, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, smiled over at Morgan, in the driver’s seat. “That was nice of you, Mr. Steele.” She then bunched her brows. “I know another Steele. Kylie’s husband.”
Morgan smiled. “That’s Chance, my brother.”
The woman’s face crinkled into an even wider smile. “So, you’re one of those Steele boys.”
Morgan chuckled. He hadn’t heard him and his brothers referred to that way in a long time. “Yes, ma’am, I am.”
“I heard there were four of you.”
“Yes, there are.”
“Another one got married recently, right?”
“Yes, that was my brother Sebastian.”
“You and your other brother are still single?”
“Mom! Please don’t make Morgan feel like he’s part of an inquisition,” Lena said from the backseat as Morgan drove away from the adult day care center.
Odessa glanced over at Morgan. “Sorry about that, son.”
He chuckled again. “No harm’s been done, Ms. Spears. And to answer your question, yes, my brother Donovan and I are still single.”
To avoid her mother asking Morgan any questions about his personal life, Lena quickly asked her how things had gone at the center today. Odessa then went into a lengthy explanation, filling everyone in on the happenings of that day. Lena sat in the backseat thinking most of it was an everyday occurrence, especially the information about Mr. Talbot trying to eat Ms. Meriwether’s lunch. But what was different today was that her mother had another set of ears, attentive ears. Lena knew Morgan was just being nice but he was hanging on to her mother’s every word; and the more he hung on, the more her mother had to say. She couldn’t recall the last time her mother was so chatty with a stranger.