Page 58 of The One Who Never Left: Colter

“One blueberry muffin coming up.” Jo handed it to her and Lynlee grabbed it with her greedy little hands and went to open the bag.

“We had pancakes,” Lynlee told Jo. “I wanted to put chocolate chips in for eyes and a mouth but Uncle Boone said that was dessert.”

Jo lifted a brow and mouthed, Uncle Boone?”

“Shut up.”

“Nothing going on my ass.”

“Then Mister Colter snuck me a handful under the table while Mommy and Auntie Vivi were doing dishes,” Lynlee finished completely unaware of the can of worms she was opening.

Jo snorted. “Mister Colter snuck you chocolate chips while you were doing dishes.” She glanced at Sutton. “Yeah, nothing’s going on there at all.”

“Hey pumpkin, why don’t you take your muffin to the table right there and you can have one muffin.”

“One and a half?”

“One or nothing,” Sutton said, her voice giving off all kinds of mom vibes.

“Okay.” Lynlee affixed her bottom to the chair and went to town on her pumpkin muffin.

Jo snatched up a cup for the next order, eyes glued to Sutton like a hawk. “Spill,” she said, voice sharp as a tack, “Or I ask Colter.”

“You wouldn’t.”

Jo pulled out her phone. “Hey, Siri. Call Colter Callah⁠—”

Sutton reached over the counter and yanked Jo’s phone out of her hand.

Jo’s smile sharpened. “You do know that I have a land line. Or that the clinic is literally down the street. We can walk there and ask him together.”

“Fine.” Sutton took a breath, then another. “I fell asleep.”

“Boring. Get to the good part.”

“In his lap,” she said burying her face in her hands.

Jo’s eyes went wide. Then she grinned so hard it was practically a public service announcement. “You fell asleep in Colter Callahan’s lap? I guess it’s true what they say about him being a panty whisperer.”

“It wasn’t like that,” Sutton whispered loudly. “It was late. We were exhausted. There was a dog involved.”

“There’s always a dog involved.”

"That's not a saying."

"It should be. Put it on a plaque."

“I’m starting to think he’s not the play-it-fast-and-loose guy everyone says he is.”

“Everyone says I’m intimidating but I’m just a truthful person. Maybe everyone thinks Colter’s a playboy when he’s just a people person.”

“You are intimidating,” Sutton clarified.

“Prove it.”

“You just scammed my kid out of a dollar.”

“She scammed me first. So the question is what came first. The lap dance or the coffee?”