Conceited Concierge: A Hero Club Novel by Renea Porter (little readers txt) 📕

additional six thousand is interest it has gained over the years.”

“Okay. Thank you.” I stood and held my hand out to shake his.

“We hope you continue doing business with us.”

“I will. Thank you.” I smiled and headed out.

***

I knew I was on a time crunch, but I decided to stop and see my mom before heading to Las Vegas later tonight. It had been awhile since we had seen each other. I wanted to see for myself how she was doing because she always said she was fine.

Her place was in Barstow, which was almost the halfway point to Las Vegas. I hoped she would be excited for this surprise visit since I didn’t tell her I was coming. Two hours later, I pulled into her driveway and got out to knock on the door. This wasn’t my childhood home. Mom had downsized when my brother and I moved out.

Mom answered. Speechless, she pulled me into her for a hug. “Oh my goodness,” she cried. Her glasses dug into my shoulder but I was smiling at her reaction. When she pulled away, she stepped back to give me a look over.

“We were sitting down to have dinner. Looks like you need some meat on them bones.”

“We?”

“Yes. Come in. Come in. Meet James. We’ve been dating over a year now.”

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“I wasn’t sure if it was serious. But looks like he’s sticking around.”

She took my hand and led me to the kitchen.

“James, this is my son Levi. He’s my oldest.”

James stood from the table and shook my hand. “It’s really nice to meet you,” he said. Even his eyes smiled when he did.

“It’s nice to meet you. What are your intentions with my mother?” I was half-joking.

“Come on and sit, boys,” Mom instructed. “I made my famous spaghetti and meatballs.”

I was protective over my mother. And I wanted to know what his intentions were.

She took our plates and piled the food on. “How long are you in town for?”

“Only for the day. I gotta leave tonight.”

“Great. It will give you time to get to know each other.”

Once the food was in front of us, the conversation flowed between us. James seemed like a nice guy as far as I could tell. I explained my situation to them and they offered the same advice Bud gave me.

“I hope I get to meet Rylee one day,” Mom said.

“I hope so, too, Mom.”

After dinner, James asked if he could talk to me. “Let’s step out onto the porch.”

We sat in chairs on the porch. “I wanted to talk to you because you asked about my intentions with your mom.”

“Yes. I’m protective of her. She doesn’t have anyone looking out for her. And I worry about her as she gets older.”

“That’s completely understandable. I would be the same way. Back when we first started dating, she told me the difficulty she had working long hours and that your younger brother isn’t coping well to this day. I promise you, I will never hurt your mother. I love her very very much. She’s a wonderful lady. And I consider myself lucky she gave me a chance.”

“Yeah, because she hasn’t dated in years.”

“I know. But since you’re here and you are the oldest, I would like your permission to ask your mom to marry me.”

I was shocked. “She seems very happy with you. And as long as you treat her right and always do the right thing, you have my permission. You seem like a nice guy, James. Don’t make me regret giving you my blessing.”

He smiled wide. “Thank you. I appreciate that. I won’t disappoint you or her.”

“Good.”

We stood to shake hands and headed back inside.

***

It was late in the evening when I stood from the couch. “Well, it’s time for me to go. Maybe I can stop by if I head back this way.”

“I’m so happy you came today. It was so nice to catch up. Now you go get that divorce and go back to that woman of yours.”

I smiled. “I will, Mom.”

She walked me to door. “Drive safe.”

“I will. Love you.”

She waved. “Love you, too.”

James put his arm around my mom’s shoulder and waved.

I could tell they were in love. And Mom deserved to be happy.

Chapter Twenty-Five

 

 

RYLEE

I hadn’t seen Levi in two days. Either he was making himself scarce, which I highly doubted, or he left. And if he left, I wondered if he would be coming back. Did I push him away enough to cause him to leave me alone for good?

I was so confused by the whole ordeal. Time was something I definitely needed. But I wasn’t sure I could ever trust Levi again. It would be hard to start all over with everything we had shared and been through together. I couldn’t believe I was so stupid to think this could work between us. He was immature and not taking care of what should have already been done in the first place.

Now that I thought about it, I was kind of glad not to see Levi first thing in the morning or even throughout the day. I swallowed a hard lump, thinking what my life would look like if he weren’t in it. I was sure I could move on. It would be hard, but I could do it. It had been done before. It was one of those things where some people come into your life for a minute and some for a lifetime. I wasn’t quite sure where Levi would fall. Only time would tell.

“We keep going at this rate, we’ll be done in a week or sooner,” Amber told me as we put some finishing touches on one of the last