Keri walks in, purpose in her stride. When she notices Natalie, her step hitches. “Oh. Hello.” She turns her gaze to me. “You’ve been in here forever. I was starting to worry.”
I lean toward Natalie. “My parental.”
She giggles.
Keri ignores my comment. “Why were you taking so long?”
“I was stranded in a deserted stall with no TP in sight until this young lady heard my SOS and rescued me.”
Natalie’s grin widens even more.
Keri shakes her head. “And this young lady is...”
Natalie holds out her hand. “Natalie Keller.”
One of Keri’s brows raises. “Jeremy’s niece?”
I stare at her, wondering how she knows about Jeremy’s niece. And by her surprised tone, sheknows.Why didn’t she tell me the guy I thought couldn’t get any better actuallywasbetter? A man who’d stepped up to the plate to become an instant father and take on the responsibility of raising his niece and nephew? How could a girl not swoon at that? Forget bouquets of flowers and expensive grand gestures. A man who demonstrates his dependability is one that makes me go weak in the knees.
“Thanks for showing me how to French braid, Mackenzie. It was nice to meet you.” Natalie offers a small smile.
I smile back. “You too.”
Keri gives me a look I can’t decipher as soon as Natalie walks by her.
What?I mouth.
She rolls her eyes and shakes her head, then spins on her kitten heels and follows the tween out of the restroom. The caboose that I am, I leave last.
“That was something else in the conference room earlier, am I right?”
Lincoln’s distinct New Orleans accent stops me in my tracks. His voice is loud and clear, and I realize he must be standing on the other side of the large potted bamboo palm to my right. I take half a step back, not wanting to discomfit him by making him aware that he’s been caught talking about someone by the person he’s talking about.
“It was like watching a newborn giraffe try to take her first steps.”
Jeremy’s rich tenor makes me suck in a sharp breath. He’s talking about me behind my back too? But being compared to a baby giraffe isn’t that bad. Baby animals are cute, at least.
“All gangly limbs and awkward movements, weak legs shaking until she falls flat on her face. You can’t help but feel sorry for her.”
Okay, that wasnotcute. I take another half-step back, but my retreat is thwarted by the wall at my shoulder blades. A thousand thoughts flood my mind at once.
This is why I don’t like attention drawn to me.
I told Sofiya I couldn’t do it.
Jeremy Fletcher thinks I am weak, awkward, and someone to be pitied.
A warm hand closes around my wrist, drawing my attention back to time and space. Keri’s expression is somewhere between comforting friend and avenging warrior princess. Where I had been taking steps back, she takes one forward. This time it’s my hand that reaches out and clasps her wrist.
Her storming out from behind the palm and letting Lincolnand Jeremy have a piece of her mind isn’t going to do anything more than add fodder for those who want to gossip by the nonexistent water cooler. I’d rather ignore everything I just heard than add more flames by letting a confrontation happen.
I tug Keri in the opposite direction of the guys. Maybe they won’t notice and we can get away before we accidentally eavesdrop any more.
“Can we stop by that candy shop on the corner and pick up some saltwater taffy on the way home, Uncle Jeremy?”
I’m not too far away to miss Natalie’s question.
Or Jeremy’s reply. “Sure. You deserve a treat after getting those braces on.”
