Page 35 of Love’s Strongest Soldier

Ending the call, I found a pair of shorts and a T-shirt to toss on. Being at home was great because I could dress down and not have to worry about my appearance. Wearing suits and dresses all the time was exhausting, but I did it for my image.

Exiting the bedroom, I headed for the kitchen to fix me some breakfast. I had to start the day with food. It didn’t matter if I planned on doing something today or not.

As I grabbed the stuff from the refrigerator, I heard the front door. “I didn’t think you were going to get back so—” My words caught in my throat when I saw a woman standing there. She stood about five feet four with jet-black hair that was cut into a bob that stopped at her shoulders. She looked like she was about in her late forties or early fifties. “You’re not Ghost.”

“And neither are you.” She signed as she spoke. That was when it dawned on me. That must be how he knew ASL.

“I’m Luxe,” I signed back to let her know that I knew it as well.

“Are you his girlfriend? He hasn’t told me that he was dating anyone.”

My cheeks reddened. “No, ma’am. He’s just protecting me right now.”

Her eyes wandered my frame. Suddenly, I felt naked all over again. I was sure she knew that something was going on between us. I was standing in his kitchen in these little ass shorts and cooking breakfast. Certainly, she wasn’t a fool.

“Uh-huh,” she said as she fully entered the kitchen. “Do you know where he went?”

“Uh, he didn’t say,” I told her and continued to move around the kitchen to grab everything that I needed to make this breakfast. My stomach was rumbling, and I didn’t have time to keep standing around wasting time. I could multitask—talk to her while I cooked if that was what she wanted.

“I was hoping that I’d be able to catch him. His friend Chris told me that he was back in town. He didn’t even bother to let his own mama know he was back home.”

I frowned at the sound of Chris’s name. She had no business going around telling that man’s business.

“Well, he’s been kind of busy with me lately. I’m sure he was going to eventually let you know that he was here. I have been kind of a handful for him. Sorry.”

“If you don’t mind, I’ll just sit here with you and wait for him to come back.”

She placed her purse onto the counter and eased onto the barstool.

“I don’t mind the company. Do you want some breakfast?”

“As long as you know how to cook.” She snickered, but she wasn’t wrong for that comment. There were a lot of people who couldn’t boil water, but that didn’t stop them from getting in the kitchen and fucking up some shit, then got mad when people didn’t want to eat the mess they made.

“Oh, I throws down in the kitchen,” I told her.

I cooked us both breakfast and then sat down on the stool next to her. We ate our food, and somehow, she ended up showing me pictures of Ghost that she had in her phone. He was such a cute little boy, growing up. I could see how he turned into such a handsome man.

He and his mama seemed close. I didn’t understand why he hadn’t mentioned that she was deaf. Honestly, he hadn’t told me much of nothing when it came to his life. Trying to get stuff out of that man was like pulling teeth.

The door opened, and Ghost entered the house. He stopped when he noticed his mama sitting at the table with me.

“Why you didn’t tell me that you were in the drama club?” I asked him, and he turned his attention back to his mama.

“Ma, what are you doing here?”

“Well, I came to see with my own eyes. Chris told me that you were back when I ran into her at the hospital.”

I snickered when she said that because I knew I was the reason why she was there. Mrs. Devereaux glanced back at me. Probably was trying to figure out what I was laughing for.

“She talks too much. I’ve been working a job. I didn’t come over there because I wanted to keep you safe. Once the job was over, I was going to come and see you before I leave.”

“Leave?”

I couldn’t help myself.

“Ghost doesn’t stay here anymore,” Mrs. Devereaux said.

As if I didn’t have enough to worry about, now I had to worry about Ghost up and leaving my ass once the mission was over with. He stared at me with this sympathetic expression on his face. Sighing, he turned back to his mama.