When Caleb came out, he was carrying his crutches, but still wearing a small air boot, which made Hawk frown.
“So you’re not cleared yet?” He asked when Caleb got back to the SUV, helping him layer his crutches in the back over the suitcases.
“Oh, I’m in the clear, but he wants me to ease into wearing regular shoes. I’m supposed to wear the boot for another week or two, depending on where my pain level is at and that kind of stuff.” Caleb snorted. “I think he’s afraid I’ll start snowboarding again or something.”
“That’s my man, jumping off mountains.” He got Caleb settled, then slipped into the driver’s seat before making the introductions. “Caleb, this is my mom and dad, Helene and David Montineau. Mom, Dad, this is Caleb.”
“Bonjour, Caleb.” His mom reached forward and put a hand on Caleb’s shoulder. “So nice to meet you. Hawk says we’re going to lunch, so I actually get to look at you face-to-face. You’re going to have to sign an autograph for me, you know.”
“Mom’s fangirling.” Hawk tried not to roll his eyes, keeping his voice monotone.
“I’d be happy to sign anything you want, including your son,” Caleb said, his wicked sideways glance made Hawk hoot.
“Oh, I like him already.” Mom sounded so pleased, and he could see her smiling at him in the rearview mirror.
He took them to a Mexican place for lunch, the one where they did the diving off the fake cliff. The food there wasn’t anything avant-garde, but it was fun and cheesy, and his mom thought it was hilarious.
She was relentless, chatting with Caleb, while he and his dad sort of just sat there and quietly ate chips and salsa.
“So tell me how it feels to win a gold medal, since my son never did.”
“Ouch, way to check me right into the boards, Mom. High stick to the back of the head, ba-bang!”
Caleb gave him a bright grin. “I love her. Can I have her?”
“Only part-time. Dad and I need her the rest of the month.”
God, he loved this. Hawk had never once imagined introducing somebody to his parents, but Caleb felt so much different than anyone else he’d ever met. He wanted his mom and dad to know him and to like him because Hawk was planning on keeping Caleb around.
Even his dad, who Hawk kind of took after as far as being awkward, opened up and started laughing and talking with Caleb, and it amazed him always how Caleb put people at ease. He was just so laid back and happy and easy to be around.
By the time he dropped Mom and Dad off at the hotel so they could have a nap and get ready to come over to his place for dinner, they were all laughing together and just gelling perfectly.
Caleb gave him a bright grin and reached over to touch his leg once his folks were settled, and they were back in the SUV. “I really like them Hawk. Thank you for letting me meet them.”
“Thank you for being so good with them. My mom loves you. I think she’s going to adopt you and get rid of me.”
“She’s a hoot.” Caleb patted his leg before letting go to let him drive. “So not like my mom.”
“Yeah, that sucks. I’m sorry your parents are hard.”
Caleb shrugged, turning to stare out at the passenger window. “My mom’s brother was great. I miss him a lot.”
“He sponsored you, right? Like, he was the one who paid for all your snowboarding stuff.”
“I think he knew what it was like to be the weird outsider. I told you he was a downhiller, right? He was so far removedfrom what everyone else in my family did that he never hardly even got invited to Thanksgiving, you know?”
Hawk thought that sounded like the worst thing he could ever imagine, being ostracized, but then his family was great, so he supposed it all came down to everybody’s different experiences.
“Well, like I said my mom is willing to adopt you. You have us now.”
Caleb glanced at him, just a slice of bright green eyes that were glinting with some emotion that he couldn’t quite name. “Be careful, babe. I might hold you to that.”
“I’m counting on it, Caleb. I really am.”
That might be as close as he was willing to come to a declaration today, but he meant it. The words come along in their own time.He didn’t want Caleb to panic.
Twenty-Five