"Can I help—" Asher starts to ask but my mom cuts him off.
"Where’s November?" my mom snaps.
Crap! Crap! Crap!
“You are?” Asher asks in a low growl.
"Her mother." The air changes and I can feel the angry energy beating against my skin and it is all coming from Asher.
"What the f**k are you doing here?” he asks and I know this is going to go badly. I bend my head under Asher’s arm that is holding the door open.
"Mom, what are you doing here?" I say and her eyes come to me.
“I’ve been calling you and you haven’t answered.”
“You came to Tennessee because I haven't answered my phone?” I ask in disbelief.
“No, I came here because your fiancé’s in the hospital,” she says and my eyes narrow.
“Her fiancé is standing right in front of you.” Asher growled, taking his hand off the door and pulling me into his side.
“How did you find out where I lived?” I ask, completely ignoring the fact that she said my ex was in the hospital. I hope that he isn’t going to die or anything, but I’m not going to go to New York to sit at his bedside.
“The boy from the lawyer’s office told me.”
She looked up at Asher when his voice rumbled. “Nick?” My mom nodded. “I'm going to f**king kill him.” Asher was pissed.
“I'm her mother. Why wouldn’t he tell me where she lived?” she snaps, looking at Asher then back at me. “Why haven’t you returned any of my calls?”
“The last time I saw you, Mom, you made it clear that you were not interested in having a relationship with me.”
“You’re my daughter.”
“Yes, and you have never acted like my mother.” What the heck is going on? I feel like I’m in the twilight zone when I see tears form in her eyes.
“I’ve been worried.” My eyes narrow.
“What’s really going on?” Just then, my cell phone rings in the kitchen. I look up at Asher in a silent plea for him to not let her in. He nods and I hope that we are on the same wave length. I walk to the kitchen and pick up my phone, seeing that it is Mr. Stevenson.
“Hello,” I answer.
“November, this is Tom Stevenson.”
“Hi, Mr. Stevenson. How are you?”
“Could be better, darlin’.”
“Um, sorry to hear that,” I mumble, looking toward the front door to make sure Asher hasn’t let my mom in.
“Sorry to do this, but something just came up and I'm leaving my office in twenty minutes. If you can come now, I will put through the transfer. If not, we’re going to have to reschedule for tomorrow.”
“I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I say, confused.
“Like I explained to your mother this morning, I know that your signature is on the transfer papers, but I or a notary public has to witness you signing the documents.”
“What?” I whisper.
“They have your signature, but from your tone, I take it that you didn’t know.”
“No,” I whisper again, moving down the hall so I can talk without my mother knowing. “You said they have my signature?” I ask, making sure I heard him correctly.
“Yes.” He pauses and I can hear papers shuffling in the background. “I double checked when I got the papers.”
“Oh my God,” I mumble into the phone, realizing why my mother is really here. “She’s here right now,” I say quietly, more to myself than to Mr. Stevenson.
“She’s at your house?”
“Yes,” I whisper.
“I'm calling James. Keep her there,” he says, hanging up.
“Okay,” I say to dead air on the phone. I look down the hall, trying to come up with a plan to keep my mom here until Asher’s dad arrives. I consider going outside and slashing her tires, but figure that might be a little extreme. Then, I thought about sicking Beast on her, but if she hurt my dog, I would be really upset. So, after a few more non options passed through my head, I decide to just invite her in and ask her if she would like something to drink. I leave the hallway.
When I reach the kitchen, I can see over the Island that Asher is sitting on the couch with his hands resting on top of his head. My mom is sitting on the coffee table in front of him. “I guess we weren’t on the same wave length after all,” I mumble to myself. Asher’s eyes come to me as soon as my feet hit the tile floor in the kitchen. He shakes his head. I narrow my eyes. My mom looks at me, smiles, and I see she has a gun in her hand pointed at Asher.
“What are you doing?” I scream as I start running into the living room.
“Don’t come any closer or I’ll shoot him,” she says and I stop at the edge of the living room. My heart is pounding as if it’s going to jump out of my chest. I look at Asher. His eyes are on me and he looks worried. His eyes drop to my stomach and they close, but not before I see pain flash across them.
“As I was telling your boyfriend here—”
“Fiancé.” Asher growls, glaring at my mom. I almost laugh. Only he would stop a crazy person with a gun to clarify our relationship status.
“As I was telling your fiancé,” my mom says, glaring back at Asher. Then she looks to where I'm standing. “You need to come with me.”
“Where?” I ask even though I know where she wants us to go. I just need to stall for time.