“I stock it up just for you,” Bonnie says and walks out of the room.

“She’s nice,” my mother says, looking at me. “I said I wasn’t going to say anything.” My mother pours herself some water in the cup. “But now that you’re mayor, it’s time for you to start planting roots.”

I close my eyes. “Are you saying that I need to have a kid?”

“I didn’t say that exactly,” she says, putting her cup down delicately. “I’m saying that now that you’re mayor, you need a wife and then a child.” My mother is the most traditional woman I’ve ever met. Church every Sunday and cooks every meal for my father. She waits on him hand and foot and never talks back to him.

“I think I’m okay, Mom,” I say.

“Your brother,” she says, shaking her head. “He isn’t even close to giving me a grandchild.” I swallow now, not saying a word. “I think they are having problems.”

“Well, he probably should lay off the booze a bit more,” I say, and she just looks at me.

“He’s under a lot of stress.” My mother’s making excuses for him, and I have to shake my head. She was very good with that when we were growing up. She made an excuse about everything when it came to my brother and father. I was the only one who took it like a man and admitted when I was wrong. She called me the wild child for doing this.

“He is barely working,” I remind my mother.

“He consults on a lot of stuff,” my mother says, and I laugh. “It’s not funny, Beau. You should think about hiring him to help out here.”

“Doing what?” I ask. “Drinking?”

“You know what I mean. He can help take some pressure off your shoulders.”

“Mom, having him here would put even more on my shoulders.” I try to let her down quietly and with as much respect as I can. When, in fact, I want to tell her that he can find a rock and hide under it for all I care.

“Anyway.” She changes the subject. “I’m making a huge dinner tonight,” she tells me. “I’ve invited a couple of friends and their eligible daughters to come over.”

“Mom …” I shake my head. “Not going to happen. Besides, I have a barbecue at Casey’s with Savannah and Ethan.”

“Honey.” She picks up her cup and puts it to her lips. “I know that Savannah is like a sister to you and all that.” I cringe when she says that because the things I want to do to Savannah are nothing that you should do to your sister. “But this is a chance for you to meet eligible women to date and get to know.”