I hug her back, holding her tight to me. As much as I want a break, I spend my time away missing her.
“Ready to get some grub?” Tommy walks into the kitchen in a light blue shirt that matches the dress Lily is wearing. I try to hold back a laugh.
“Yes! I’m starving.” I rub my belly for effect.
But I don’t miss Aggie’s smirk. “I bet you are, babe. Did you burn a lot of calories last night?”
I shoot her a look. “I don’t kiss and tell, Aggie.”
“Who you tiss, Mommy?” Lily looks up at me like she’s just as ready for the tea as Aggie and Tommy.
“Just you, my love.” I kiss her forehead with a large smacking of my lips for dramatic effect.
It serves the intended purpose and she runs out the door giggling behind Tommy.
“Come on, I owe you a donut and you owe me some gossip.” Aggie wraps her arms around my shoulder and we head out for the walk over to Emerald Roasters.
I’ve quickly learned that Emerald Roasters, and Esther, is the gossip hub of the town. If you want to be seen or know what’s going on, it’s where you go. Since I don’t want either, I typically avoid it. But I do love coffee.
On the walk over, Lily bounces between all three of us to hold hands with. At least she’s sticking to my rule that she needs to hold a hand. That’s all I can hope for at this point with her.
“Don’t worry, I won’t ask you any details. I know you’ll come to me when you’re ready.” Aggie bumps my shoulder when Lily leaves to go back up front to walk with Tommy.
“I slept with him. I think we’re dating.” I blurt out.
“How do you feel about dating?”
“With Cooper? I feel good. If I had a checklist of qualities I’d want in a man, he has every one. But isn’t that too good to be true? Isn’t that a red flag? What if I let him into our lives only for him to flip a switch?”
“I’ve known the Keatons since those boys were stealing apples off my trees. Trust me, Cooper Keaton is one of the good ones. There’s no flip to switch because Anna wouldn’t hesitate to correct his behavior. They were raised right. Not like Jack.” A sad smile ghosts over her face.
“You did a good job. He was just too much like his parents. And a really good manipulative liar.” I roll my eyes.
“I’m so sorry you dealt with all that, babe. I wish we knew all that was going on. I wish we could have helped sooner.”
I give her a weak smile and reach out to squeeze her hand. “You’re helping more than enough now. More than I could ever have expected.”
It’d kill her to know the full truth.
Headlights shine in the front window.
“Coopa!” Lily runs to the front door and rips it open despite my heart pounding in my chest because it might not be Cooper.
She stands on the front porch bouncing on the balls of her feet.
“I’m so sorry I’m late, I got stuck working with Liam and didn’t realize what time it was until Violet came out,” he apologizes, joining Lily on the front porch.
“It’s okay.” I smile.
“Is dat fo me?” Lily excitedly points to a bag in his hand.
“This?” Cooper holds the bag up. “I don’t know. Let’s let Mommy peek inside first.” He winks.
I take the bag, opening it to see a bag full of candy. Of course this man would bring her a bag full of candy at seven o’clock at night.
“She can have a couple.” I say handing the bag back to him.
The two of them run off, thick as thieves, to the kitchen table. By the time I join them, Lily has already chosen her two pieces of candy and the rest is being put away.
