AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"I see. A single dad, eh? Is he cute?"
"I think so," I answered, slipping out of my jeans, thinking of how sexy the man truly was.
"Okay, well, you better fill me in on all the details. Is he taking you somewhere nice?"
"A little place called The Italian Affair. Hold on."
I threw the phone down and quickly grabbed the dress that lay on the bed and slipped it over my head. The fabric was light but heavy enough that it slid down my body and hung exactly how I’d remembered. I glanced in the mirror at myself, running my hands down my sides. Then I reached for the phone.
"Now, you say he is a single dad. Do you know how he got rid of his ex-wife?" she questioned.
I cleared my throat. "No, why?"
"Just wondering."
"Beth?" I questioned, knowing full well she knew many people who lived up by the Willow Valley Bed and Breakfast. In fact, one of her best friends lived there, and they spoke almost daily.She was also an avid murder mystery and thriller fan, so her imagination always ran overtime, and I could only imagine she was thinking of a plot in one of them.
"Well, it's just I was speaking with LuAnn not that long ago, and she mentioned that a woman arrived outside of the bed and breakfast the other night. She was outside watering her plants and could hear yelling. I'm just worried. What if this Zach is hiding some dirty secrets?"
I blew out the breath I was holding. LuAnn Billings worked for the Willow Valley Gazette. Ever since returning to the small town, I'd learned rather quickly who to keep away from, and she was one of them.
I just wished Beth would agree with that statement; however, they'd been friends since high school, so there was no telling her any different. Plus, she lived almost two hours away from here, so she'd never believe a lot of the things that were circulating in town about LuAnn. She also didn't know the damage that woman had done to many of the residents here.
"I'm sure he isn't hiding anything."
At the moment, shrugging it off was what I had to do. I wasn't sure I wanted to get in the middle of a bad separation. I wasn't sure I could handle anything like that for a first relationship, and if I were going to bring my boys into this, I wanted to make sure that things were stable for them, including any relationship I entered.
"Maybe I will just cancel," I muttered, sitting down on the end of the bed and looking at myself in the mirror.
"Nonsense. It’s only a first date. You aren’t marrying the guy. Go have fun. Call me when you are back."
"Alright, I have to go. Talk soon."
Fixing my hair and makeup one more time, I slipped my feet into my shoes and made my way down the stairs. I could already hear Ava in the kitchen talking with the boys.
I popped my head around the corner and glanced into the kitchen to see Dylan, Noah, and Ava sitting around the table. A bag of chocolate chip cookies sat beside the box of donuts, and each one of them was eating cookies. The three of them were talking and laughing, so I let them be. I wasn't sure I wanted to be around the boys now, what with the nervousness I was feeling. They were normally perceptive.
I walked into the living room and laid my clutch purse on the side of the chair, along with a light sweater. Then I glanced out the window. The street was dark.
I was about to head into the kitchen when the phone rang. "Hello," I answered.
"Iris, it's your mother. How’s everything going?"
"Good, Mom. How's Dad doing?"
"He’s just finishing out in the garden. You know your father and his plants. So, what is this I hear that you have a date tonight?"
It was just like Mom jumping right to the point of why she called. No doubt Beth had called her right after we'd gotten off the phone and dished everything I'd told her. Now Mom had to find out for herself.
"It's just dinner with a friend."
"No way, no way are you going to try that. Beth told me all about it. She also told me all about the woman who was at his place the other night. The one that LuAnn told her about."
I took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of my nose. My nerves were bad enough about tonight. I didn't need my mother filling my head with all this stuff as well.
It was then I caught sight of myself in the mirror that hung in the living room. I’d overdressed, and I needed to go back up and change.
"Mom, I am sure it was nothing," I said, more to comfort myself than to calm my mother down.
