“Yeah, well, six days a week she’s always happy to have me at her table and if I’d begged or sucked my gut in, she would have found something for me in her fridge. She likes to take care of people. I figure every once in a while I can leave her alone to have a Friday night to herself. So if you don’t mind, Adrian, I’d like to stay for dinner, get to know you a bit. Gillian and Miles are part of our family, you see. I’ve been charged to get the inside dirt, as Gillian has forbidden Jules to come over.”

“That’s a bloody lie, Calvin Whaley!” Gillian called out from where she’d just turned the soup on. She was easy around Cal. Relaxed and affectionate. Adrian tried not to be grumpy as he watched Cal coax the ginormous Fat Lucy into his arms where the furry traitor purred and enjoyed being scratched behind her ears. Slutty cat.

“Whatever the truth, I’m in. I’d like to get to know the people in Miles’s life better.” Adrian sent the man a charming enough smile, but also he hoped enough seriousness that he saw Adrian would be also checking them out.

“Well, good then. Want a beer?” After depositing the cat on her perch, Cal moved past Adrian into the kitchen as Miles came back downstairs.

The man sure was at home in Gillian’s house. Hm. He seemed to also have great affection for both mother and son. Adrian wondered how much he had for the mother.

“Yeah, thanks.”

Cal popped the top on a bottle, poured it into a glass and put it at Gillian’s elbow as she sliced cheese for the sandwiches.

“Thank you, darlin’.” Which sounded more like daw-lin in her accent. Hot.

To Adrian, he handed a bottle, as he had himself. “She’s got that thing about glasses.” Cal laughed, assuming Adrian knew the story he of course did not.

“Nothing wrong with liking to drink from a glass. I’m at home. Dishes are clean. Why not drink from that instead of the bottle? Set the table, Miles. Cal’s going to stay.”

“Awesome.” Miles moved to the cabinets and began to gather plates and soup bowls.

“I’ve got ham, tomato, pickles and mushrooms to go on the sandwiches if anyone wants.”

Adrian moved to her, wanting to be near. “Here, let me help.”

The smile she gave him was plenty reward. “All right. How about you assemble and I’ll get them started?”

“Tell me about yourself, Cal.”

It was Gillian who spoke though. “Miles likes ham and pickles on his sandwich. With mustard.”

“Like a Cuban sandwich of sorts.”

“Yes, exactly. I blame Mary for that too. I’d never had such a marvel until I met her. Now Miles and I are addicted. Not enough to make them pressed the way she does, though.”

By the time the sandwiches were ready and they’d all sat at the table, Adrian knew Cal Whaley was an attorney, the one his attorneys had been dealing with. He needed to talk with the man one on one, alone, about that stuff later.

“Do you have a wife or a girlfriend or anything like that?”

Gillian laughed in her delightful way and then chided Miles to not eat an entire sandwich in one bite.

“I’m afraid he gets that from me.” Adrian shrugged, looking guiltily down at his own plate.

“Figures.” But she wasn’t angry. In fact her smile pleased him. It held intimacy and affection. He didn’t feel as suspicious of Cal just at that moment when she looked at him and he knew all her secrets.

“And yet, so many boys his age don’t know the Heimlich and I worry he’ll choke on half a bag of Cheetos because of it. There’s no food shortage, boy, slow it down.”

They hung out for a while and after dinner, Miles and Adrian cleaned up while Cal and Gillian moved into the living room.

“So does Cal have anyone? He didn’t answer my question.” Adrian kept his voice down, nonchalant, as he and Miles loaded the dishwasher. An ancient model that had clearly seen better days.

“There was Angel; he and Cal lived together for three years. I was bummed when they broke up. I was only seven though. He was a cool guy. Then for a few years there was Callie. She was hot. But they broke up last year. I know he dates. He says he doesn’t want to bring anyone fleeting into my life. They all want to protect me, Mum says.”

Gay, okay he could deal with that. It meant, well, it didn’t mean shit. Ben, his sister’s other husband, liked men too, and he managed to have both. But hearing the man was careful about who he brought into Miles’s life was a good thing. Almost as good as the way Miles had seemed to make clear Cal and Gillian had nothing romantic going on.

Not that he should care, but of course he did and he was too damned old to pretend otherwise. He wanted Gillian. And he wanted to slowly work into a situation where they could be openly affectionate in front of Miles. But the two of them wanted to be slow and careful about it. Which wasn’t such a reassuring thing when other people saw Gillian for the wonder she was.

“Thanks. I just . . . you know want to be sure people around you and your mom are good to you.”

Miles grinned.

When they came out, Gillian and Cal were near the front door. “Just in time! Cal’s got to run now.”

Cal hugged Gillian before kissing her cheek and whispering something into her ear that made her roll her eyes and shake her head.

“Good night, Calvin.” She said it primly, and it got to Adrian the way it always did.

Miles hugged Cal, who then ruffled the boy’s hair. “Two weeks until cards and junk food.”