Page 14 of His Arranged Plus-Size Mate

She gave me a look. “Well, yeah, and I imagine it costs a lot of money a month.”

“Sometimes you have to pay for your own little slice of heaven.”

I got out of the car, and she hurried out herself. We headed inside and took the elevator up. I watched her chew on her lower cheek, her eyes staring at the door.

“You can turn back home if you want,” I offered. “I can say you weren’t feeling good or that you were working late tonight.”

She shook her head. “No. I’m fine.”

I felt a little bad about asking her to come. But I honestly didn’t want to come alone. I’d be stuck listening to my father go on and on about work, and my brother would agree with him, probably not even understanding half of what he was saying.

The elevator doors opened, and we stepped off. We walked down a hallway and got to the door. I knocked, and three seconds later, my mother opened the door. She was wearing a cream dress with her hair pulled back. Her smile grew as soon as she spotted us.

“Oh, I’m so glad you both came!” She stepped out, pulling me into a hug. “We just pulled the dinner out of the oven.”

She turned to Hazel and held her arms out for a hug. Hazel looked a little surprised but accepted the hug. My mother held her tightly for a long moment before pulling back. “Come in.”

She allowed us to step inside. The huge living room was quiet with the fireplace roaring. I found they had kept the space the same as I had it decorated. Photos of mine hung on the wall, and there was a piano pressed in the far left corner.

The space was warm, so I pulled my jacket off and took Hazel’s as she slid hers off. My mother wrapped her arm around Hazel, tugging her with her. “Have you seen Asher’s photography?”

Hazel nodded. “I have. He has some at the house.”

My mother beamed. “He’s gifted. I sort of wish he did it more. He didn’t start doing it until he was out of high school.” My mother chirped as she pulled Hazel to the living room. I looked down the narrow space and into the kitchen. But I didn’t spot my father or my brother. But I knew they were home since their shoes were out.

“This is my favorite.” My mother said, pointing toward a picture of a mountain I had taken after doing a trek in the Himalayas.

“He took it when he was twenty-one. He went trekking with a friend for two months.”

“Really?” Hazel looked at me with wide eyes. “ I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah, I did that before I started working with Brandon. It was my last long trip. Most of my trips are a week long at the most now.”

Hazel looked at the pictures. “They are beautiful.”

“Do you have any hobbies?” My mother sat down on the couch. “Play any instruments? Sew or anything?”

Hazel swallowed, and I could see the way she looked nervous, like she wasn’t sure if there was a right or a wrong answer.

“I uhmm….have tried a little bit of everything, but nothing that I would count as a hobby.”

“Such as?”

“I used to draw portraits. I think I did decent on them. I don’t have much time for hobbies between the two jobs I have.”

“You have two jobs?” My mother’s eyebrows went up.

Hazel nodded. “Yeah, I work part-time at the bar and part-time at the healing center. I’m hoping to get full-time at the healing center, but they don’t have the need.”

“The healing center is beautiful. I went there for a deep cough I’d been having for almost two weeks, and the gal who helped me was such an angel. We didn’t have anything like that in our old pack. It’s amazing how well things are handled here.”

“They are hard-working witches,” Hazel said, seeming to relax a little. The moment was short-lived as I heard my father come down the hallway. “Food is done.”

He stood staring at us, his eyes glued to Hazel. I could see he was judging, his jaw tense together and his shoulders tight. His lips were in a tight line as he turned.

My mother got up. “Great. I’ll grab the plates.”

We all moved into the dining room. There was a long maple wood table with eight chairs around it. My folks had laid out the stuffed chicken and the salad. My mother cut up fresh fruit and had a flower arrangement in the center.