Page 11 of Bone’s Choice

Ma said something.

The woman tipped her head back and laughed.

Not a polite little chuckle. A full laugh. Her eyes closed, mouth open, one hand going to her stomach as if whatever Ma had said was the funniest damn thing she’d heard all day.

I smiled before I realized I was doing it.

Leave it to my mother. The woman couldn’t have been here long enough to figure out where the nearest grocery store was, and Ma had already made a new best friend.

“Ma.”

Both women turned.

Ma smiled and the other woman stopped laughing.

I got my first good look at her.

Dark hair, brown eyes, and a pretty face. Really fucking pretty face.

There wasn’t anything overly done about her. No makeup that I could see beyond maybe some mascara. She looked like she’d spent the day moving, which made sense considering the trailer behind her.

Her gaze traveled over me.

Quick. But not quick enough that I missed it.

Her eyes came back to mine and something passed between us.

Nothing earth-shattering.

I didn’t suddenly hear wedding bells or whatever bullshit people claimed happened when they met someone important. I just noticed her, and judging by the way her eyes lingered on me for half a beat, she’d noticed me too.

“Bone.” Ma waved me over. “Come meet Hazel.”

Hazel. I walked across the strip of grass separating the two properties. “Been looking for you.”

“I’ve been right here.”

“Your car’s at your house. Your purse is at your house. You weren’t,” I pointed out.

“I walked twenty feet, Bone. I didn’t run away.”

“Could’ve said something.”

“To who? The furniture?” she sassed.

The woman, Hazel, pressed her lips together.

I looked at her. “You can laugh.”

That did it. She laughed. “Sorry.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Not really.”

Ma reached over and touched Hazel’s arm. “Hazel, this is my son, Bone.”

Hazel looked at me. Then Ma and then me again. Her eyebrows drew together. “Wait.”