If Cameron had taken time to think of how he was about to meet Jane’s mom, he might have second-guessed his invitation to drive Jane. Yet, he wasn’t too worried about it—and why should he be? It wasn’t like they were dating or anything; she wasn’t his girlfriend. They were just fetching her mom’s dog, and then he’d drive Jane back to Pine Valley.
Besides, Cameron hadn’t even met her dad—the parent she did live with.
The drive had been just under two hours, and because it was Saturday, they didn’t hit any California rush-hour traffic. Regardless, Cameron was surprised at how relaxed he felt around Jane. Whenever he had to drive Crystal just a short distance, it seemed they had to make multiple stops, and she was on her phone most of the time, either talking to a friend or texting.
Jane had taken some pictures on the way but had otherwise stayed off her phone.
She told him about the high school golf team she’d played on and how there were four coaches. “They just wanted to get out of teaching their last-period classes on tournament days,” she said.
“Did you want to do more with golf? Like play in college?” he asked.
“No,” Jane said. “Like I said, I wasn’t all that good. It was just a fun thing to do. When I was a senior, my art teacher helped me apply to one of those fancy art schools. But when the acceptance letter came, my mom flipped out over the tuition.”
Cameron glanced over at her. “Art? You’re an artist too?”
“I could sketch a mean flower,” Jane said with a self-deprecating laugh. “Nothing good enough to get me a scholarship—thus the tuition.”
“Still, it sounds like you were accepted to a prestigious art school.”
Jane shrugged. “It didn’t matter, because in the long run, I still had to make money to support myself. When you meet my mom, you’ll understand why I couldn’t keep living with her, and my dad had his own life with his new wife. Art school would have put me into a lot of student debt, and then who knows if I would have even been able to make a living as an artist.”
“So what led you to starting a cleaning business?” Cameron asked.
She told him about working as a receptionist at the office where her mom worked as a dental hygienist. “But when my step-mom died and I went to the funeral, I saw that my dad was in bad shape. So I decided to move. I got a job cleaning hotel rooms at the resort and picked up a few private clients that way. Eventually I had enough to quit the resort.” She pointed to a street sign up ahead. “Turn right at the corner.”
Cameron obeyed. Jane’s mom lived on a quiet street in an older neighborhood. The yards were well kept, though, and he could tell that people took pride in their homes.
“It’s been nice to have a break from my mom, to tell the truth,” Jane said. “I love her, but... She’s more stubborn than my dad, which is saying something. Just don’t, uh, tell her your last name. She knows plenty about Pine Valley.”
“Okay,” Cameron said, raising his brows. “But what if she notices my license plates?”
Jane’s eyes widened. “I forgot about those. Um, I guess we’ll just deal with the possibility of her flipping out.”
Before Cameron could ask her to explain more, she leaned forward, pointing to a two-story stucco house. “It’s that house.”
He slowed the Audi and pulled up to the curb. “Is this where you grew up?”
“Not exactly,” Jane said. “My mom moves about every year. She always tried to stay in the same school district so I didn’t have to keep changing schools. This house has an apartment. That’s where she lives.”
“She never remarried?”
Jane laughed. “She’s had plenty of boyfriends, but none of them stick around long.” She sobered. “Oh, there she is now. I should have guessed she’d be watching for me.”
Cameron looked past Jane to see a woman coming up out of the stairwell stairs at the side of the house, a vision in yellow. Her yellow sundress and yellow sandals were emphasized by a yellow headband and dangly red-and-yellow earrings. Her red lipstick completed her ensemble. The only thing in common that Cameron could see about Jane and her mom was their dark hair color.
“Oh boy,” Jane said, opening her door and climbing out.
Cameron did the same, and by the time he reached the sidewalk, Jane was hugging her mom.
“What’s this?” her mom said, pulling away and eyeing the car. “The cleaning business must pay well.”
Jane flushed. “Mom, this is my friend Cameron, and he drove me here because my car wouldn’t start.”
Her mom glanced at Cameron. Then her dark eyes flashed to Jane. “I told you your car is junk. Tell your father to cough up some of his money and get you something decent.”
“I’m twenty-seven,” Jane said. “Dad doesn’t owe me a car.”
“You’re taking care of him,” her mom said, still basically ignoring Cameron.
“I’m saving money on rent,” Jane said.
Her mom’s eyes narrowed. “You are spoiling him. When you spoil a man, he treats you like dirt.” Her gaze cut to Cameron. “At least this one dresses nice.”
“Mom,” Jane said. “He can hear you.”
Cameron took it upon himself to step forward and extend his hand. “Nice to meet you, Mrs....”
She looked at his hand, then back up at him. “Morris. I still go by Morris so people don’t think Jane’s my stepdaughter or something.” She shook his hand slowly while she looked him over from head to toe. “What line of work are you in? It must pay well if you can afford to drive a nice car. Or do you have it on lease?”
Cameron had been around bold people before, including Crystal, but Mrs. Morris might be at the top of the list. He didn’t know whether to laugh or take offense.
“Mom,” Jane said. “It’s not polite to ask people about their incomes.”
Her mom placed her hands on her hips, and yep, she had yellow nails too. “Fine. Whatever. Just make sure he takes you places that are nice, none of those fast-food joints. Make Audi Man treat you right.”
“His name is Cameron,” Jane said, her face reddening. “We have to get going. Is Sparks ready?”
Her mom’s expression softened. “I’m going to miss him so much.”
Jane grasped her mom’s arm and started to tug her toward the house. Jane shot a look back at Cameron that said he didn’t have to come inside. So Cameron waited outside, leaning against his car. Less than five minutes later, Jane was coming outside again, carrying a dog that looked like he could easily tip Jane over.
Over her shoulder was a bag, and behind her, her mom was bringing out another bag and a blanket.
Cameron hurried to open his trunk.
Jane’s mom sidled up to him and handed him the bag and blanket. “How old are you, Cameron?” she asked, emphasizing his name as if it was hard to pronounce.
He shouldn’t have been surprised at the question, especially after the other things she’d said to him. “Thirty, ma’am.”
“Oh, he called me ma’am, Jane. Did you hear that?”
Jane shook her head. “Can you spread the blanket across the back seat?”
Her mom promptly handed Cameron the blanket, so he walked around the car and spread the blanket across the back seat. Sparks looked at him as Jane settled the dog into place.
“Stay, boy,” Jane said. When Sparks obeyed, she continued, “Good boy. Here’s a treat, but you’ve got to stay until I say so, okay?”
Sparks happily ate a piece of what looked like beef jerky.
Cameron moved to close the trunk of his car and turned to see Jane’s mom standing with her hands on her hips again.
“You drive safe, you hear me?” she said. “I don’t want anything to happen to Sparks.”
Or your daughter? Cameron almost added but thought better of it. “Will do. Jane can let you know when we get to Pine Valley.”
Her gaze moved to Jane’s. “Did you hear him? He said you need to call me when you get to Pine Valley with Sparks.”
“I will, Mom,” Jane said, giving her mom a quick hug. Then she climbed into the car, so Cameron did as well.
He started the car and glanced back at Sparks. The old dog had put his head down, as if he’d already resigned himself to his fate for the next two hours of driving. Jane’s mom continued to watch them as they drove away, standing like a yellow sentinel on the sidewalk.
“Sorry about my mom,” Jane said. “She has no filter.”
Cameron laughed. “I think you handle it pretty well.”
As they got back on the interstate, Jane’s phone rang. Even though Cameron could only hear Jane’s side of the conversation, he guessed immediately that it was her mom.
“Hi, did we forget something?”
“Um, yes... that’s his last name.” She paused. “A lot of people have vanity plates.”
Jane held the phone away from her ear for a moment. Then she said, “I don’t think so. We’re friends, that’s all.” Another pause. “Yeah, well, you can’t believe everything you read on the internet.”
“I’m going to hang up now,” she continued. “Have a nice trip, and I’ll keep you updated on Sparks.” She hung up, although it was clear her mom wasn’t finished talking.
Jane sighed and leaned her head back on the headrest.
Cameron glanced over at her to see that she’d closed her eyes. “Is everything okay?”
Her eyes popped open. “My mom and dad are complete opposites, even when they never talk. My dad tells me to stay away from the Vance family, and my mom is practically demanding that you declare your undying devotion to me and propose as soon as possible.”
“Undying, huh?” Cameron chuckled. “Should I take that as a compliment?”
“Not really,” she said with a laugh. “My mom is always very interested in men who are successful financially. It was probably one of the reasons she and my dad didn’t work out. He was an assistant manager at a discount store. Ironically, being a single mom just made her bills that much harder to pay.”
“She definitely seems to live life to the fullest,” Cameron said. “I’ve never seen so much yellow on one person, unless you count a sports fan on game day.”
“You should see her when she dresses up,” she said.
“Ha. I can’t wait. Maybe we should invite her to the next benefit in Pine Valley.” He cast a sideways look to gauge Jane’s reaction. He was mostly kidding, but he wouldn’t mind spending more time with Jane.
“She’d absolutely die of excitement.” She shook her head. “I don’t think I could handle it though. Her flirting with all of your friends would reach epic proportions.”
“My friends?” he said. “Do you mean my dad’s friends?”
“She’s not picky on age.”
“Ah,” Cameron said. “I think I understand why you moved out.”
Jane’s phone rang again. “Great. It’s her again.”
“You can take it, I don’t mind,” he said with a laugh.
Jane rolled her eyes and answered. “Yes, I wrote down the medication schedule, remember?” She paused and glanced at Cameron. “No, I won’t ask him that. Shouldn’t you be packing?”
When she hung up, Jane turned off her phone.
“I could pull over and propose now if you want,” Cameron teased.
“You wouldn’t even have to pull over,” she said. “Apparently my mom has been Googling you since she saw the license plate. She just informed me that a December wedding would be perfect in Pine Valley.”
“Should we give her my mom’s number and they can start planning?”
Jane groaned. “I’m sure your mom would love that too.”
Cameron shrugged. “I was actually surprised my mom wasn’t all that disappointed when I told her things were off with Crystal. She’s been dropping hints about grandkids for years.”
Jane met his gaze briefly. “She didn’t want little Crystals running around, I guess.”
He chuckled. “I think you have that right.” Would his mom want little Janes running around? He dismissed that idea as soon as it popped into his head. But it was really hard to ignore the real Jane who was sitting next to him as they drove back to Pine Valley. He was finding fewer reasons to stay away from her.