I nod, gratefully. "Yes, please. Whatever you recommend."
She smiles warmly. "A lady of good taste. Excellent."
A nervous chuckle flits out of my lips. Johanna flags down the waiter and, after running her eyes over me, orders two almond flat whites.
"You know your Australian coffees."
She shrugs. "It comes with the territory when your son packs up with an Aussie."
My lips pinch involuntarily when I think about facing Seb. I force air in and out of my lungs. Breathe.I owe them this.
Mercifully, two steaming cups are placed in front of us before the silence can stretch too thin.
I sip mine. It reallyisgood coffee. I find myself closing my eyes and exhaling some of the tension that's built in my chest.
"So, Dellie. I'll be honest here. I thought there was another reason why you wanted to see me—or did I misread, and you really just wanted to join a senior citizen for overpriced coffee?"
I nearly spit out my mouthful. She smiles, humour glinting in her eyes. I swallow rapidly, mopping my lips with a napkin.
"Uh. No, Johanna, you didn't misread. Um. You might have noticed, but I sometimes lose words when I'm a bit nervous—"
Johanna chuckles. "It can happen to anyone. And I promise, I would let you know if you needed to be nervous.Ifyou asked nicely."
My cup freezes halfway to my lip. "Um. Please tell me if I need to be nervous?"
She shrugs. "I'm not sure yet. How about you tell me what really brought you here, and I'll tell you if you need to be nervous?"
… I don't need perfect words to be worth hearing.
I swallow a fortifying sip of coffee. "Um. So. I… I really like your boy and his pack."
She nods, sipping her coffee. "Go on."
"Um. Well. When we met—it was just such an instant connection with all of them—"
"With all the alphas?" A slight frown is forming on her forehead.
"Well, all of them in different ways, but honestly, particularly with Ralph." I smile at the memory. "I don't think I've ever met anyone who… just got me straight away. He just… knew what I wanted to say, but couldn't. He just, I don't know. Saw me. And knew what I needed to hear."
She nods, thoughtfully.
"I didn't know what they did for work—"
She frowns. "Does them having worked in heat support bother you?"
"No! No, not like that. I mean, it'ssuchan elite field, and I know how insanely hard they must have worked to get to where they are. You don't do anywherenearas well as they have, unless you really value caring for other people. And I knew they had been building their business for the best part of twenty years. But…" I sigh, and take another sip.
Step up, Adeline. Say what you came to say.
"But… well, I'm an omega. And my omega is… greedy. Selfish. She couldn't bear them supporting another omega through their heat. And I didn't want to put them in a position where they had to choose between me or their careers they'dspent twenty years building. I guess I kinda panicked and I thought if I just took myself out of the way, they could just… get on with things?"
She raises an eyebrow.
"I guess I realised that I got to make a choice, but… they didn't. And as shitty—oops, sorry, slipped into a bit of Aussie there."
She huffs a laugh through her nose. "My son packed up with Sebastian. Trust me, this is far from the worst language I've heard. But I'd be, uh, grateful, if you kept it to a minimum."
I have to remember to keep her and Loz as far away from each other as humanly possible.
