Outside The Lines (Love Beyond Reason Book 2) by Beth Rhodes Page B

being hosted at the house.
    It sounded so normal.
    David squeezed her shoulder, giving her a smile, opened the door, and tensed as a woman approached them, his eyes staying on the woman too long. Maria frowned.
    “Colleen.” Mr. March did not sound happy.
    “Greg.” The woman nodded, taking in the small little group. Her gaze stayed on David a breath longer. Maria looked from one to the other, and she saw it.
    His mother.
    Her heart began a rapid beat.
    She was here? In town? Did she live here?
    Maria couldn’t imagine doing something so life-changing as get married without inviting her mother. She stopped herself—again. She didn’t have to imagine it. She’d done it.
    “The little league team looks good this year, David.” Colleen spoke, obviously trying to draw David out.
    He spoke with nonchalance, yet there was a note of something else—irritation? “With Tad in line to take over for Emil, we’ve got a great team. When did you—?”
    “Oh, I was over at the gym last week and Charlie was hosting one of his winter workshops. They were using the indoor batting cages.”
    Maria gave a shiver. She couldn’t help it. They were standing in twenty degree weather.
    David put an arm over her shoulder. “We better head in.”
    Another woman, her hair cropped short and her eyes smiling with mischief, came toward them as they crossed the threshold. “Oh, well, if it isn’t the March clan.” Her brow rose as she took in Maria’s presence. “And a newbie. How did you get hooked up with this bunch?”
    “Oh.” Maria froze on the spot. Her gaze went from David to Colleen and back to the newcomer. “Well, um, I—I’m with David.”
    The woman laughed heartily. “Well, that’s good. He’s a good boy,” she said, holding the door open for Colleen on her way out. Colleen turned back, though, before exiting. “It was nice meeting you…”
    “Maria,” she filled in.
    “Maria. I hope you enjoy your time in Lynnbrook.”
    “Thank you.”
    David was speaking with the hostess when she turned. “That’s your mother.”
    “It is.”
    Maria frowned. “How come you didn’t invite her to the ceremony…or lunch?”
    “Honestly? I didn’t think of it.”
    Her frown deepened. He was probably telling the truth. Everything happened so fast there was hardly time to send out invitations. She sighed. If he could do it, she could.
    “Look, she hasn’t been a part of my life for a long time. Maybe we’re starting to touch base again, but changes like that take time, and I really just didn’t think of it.”
    “A new start,” she whispered. This was definitely new.
    Different.
    And a little bit loco.
     
    ~*~
     
    Lunch ended with little to no fanfare.
    The food did wonders to assuage the funny feeling in her gut, and to stave of the grumpies, and Mrs. Kraus handled the middle man position with poise and ease. As if she’d done it before.
    But, before long, and she knew it was because David had promised they’d keep it short, he looked at his watch. “Ready, Dad?”
    Mr. March lifted the linen napkin from his lap and set it on the table. “Definitely.”
    “Ladies,” he added as he stood. “Would you excuse us?”
    David followed his Dad’s lead and stood as well. With a hand on Maria’s shoulder, he leaned over. “See you in a few hours, okay? I promise, I won’t be long.”
    “Don’t worry about me.” Maria was ready to go anyway. “I’ll find something to do.”
    Independent. Strong. No strings.
    She smiled at him, then—at the last minute—pulled him down to kiss his lips, which she’d been watching during the meal. She liked his lips. And if she liked his lips, she could now kiss them because they were married.
    His eyes widened at first, but the hand on her shoulder slid—surreptitiously—closer to her neck where she felt the light brush of his fingers in her hair. Her breath stopped. He smiled and it reached his eyes, making them shine a little brighter and remind her of what they