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“There’s no situation.”
“But everyone in town knows he was your date for couples Bunco!” Momma gave her a sly smile. “And of course, now he’s practically a hero after delivering Kitty Pappas’ baby. I can’t believe you were there to assist him! Not that I heard the story from you. No, I had to hear about it from Lanie Miller.”
“When did you talk to Lanie Miller?”
Momma waved a negligent hand in the air. “We had lunch together the other day.” She leaned in close. “I hear you had to stop on the side of the road and Nate had to deliver the baby with his own bare hands. No anesthesia or pain killers! Poor girl. She must be traumatized.”
“Kitty seems to be doing fine, Momma.”
“Well, for now. Who knows when the whole thing will come back in the form of that PTSD everyone seems to have nowadays.” Maureen Handy shuddered. “So, back to you and Nate. Have you seen him since couples Bunco?”
“Here and there. We’re friends, Momma. Nothing more.”
Not unless you included that time last week when he’d come over and they’d ended up in bed again. She suppressed a little shiver. Before Nate, she thought she was a perfectly normal woman with a perfectly normal sex drive. She liked sex, but it had never taken over her life before. Now it seemed it was all she could think about.
She didn’t just like sex. She loved it. Last night, she’d almost called Nate and demanded he come over at once. Thank God for Henry. Having a twelve-year-old boy in the house had given her some semblance of restraint.
But she couldn’t go on like this forever. For one thing, it wasn’t fair to Nate. She was beginning to think that maybe Henry needed to slowly be introduced to the idea of her dating. Not sleepovers. But it wouldn’t kill him to know that his “Ma” had a life of her own.
“Some of the best relationships begin as friends,” Momma said, trying to sound cheerful.
“Agreed.” Lauren secretly smiled at the one word answer. If she didn’t watch herself, she was going to start sounding like Nate.
She found Daddy on the patio table next to the pool, reading the paper. Momma brought out a pitcher of lemonade and some sandwiches. Lauren showed him the pieces. “What do you think?” she asked.
He looked the clothing over and frowned. “Good idea. I think you should take them to the cleaners.”
“What? But these are clean, Daddy.”
He blinked, then shook his head. “Then why are you asking me?” He sounded irritated, which wasn’t like him.
Lauren bit the inside of her cheek. It was obvious Daddy was confused. She began to put away the clothing.
Momma’s bottom lip quivered. “Dan, your daughter wants to know what you think about the clothes she made!”
“Momma,” Lauren said gently, “Please, it’s okay.” She knew Momma hadn’t meant to yell, but Daddy’s bouts of confusion always put her on edge.
And then, just like that, he seemed like his old self again. “You made these, Sweet Tea?” He reached out and fingered the fabric on the pants. “Well, I’ll be damned. Beautiful and talented. Isn’t that right, Maureen?”
Momma nodded, but she didn’t say anything.
Lauren let out a pent up breath. “I’m going to sell these at my booth at the Spring Into Summer festival. And…if people like them, then I’m going to take orders to make more.”
“The Spring Into Summer festival,” Daddy repeated, like he’d never heard of it before. But then he smiled. “Good idea. But at what rate can you produce these? What if you get a bunch of orders and then can’t fill them? Have you thought of that?”
Daddy didn’t know anything but fashion, but he did know business. He was the shrewdest person Lauren knew and she genuinely wanted his opinion. One day, maybe even one day soon, he might not be able to give it. She didn’t want to think about that. Daddy was still Daddy. Yes, he got confused at times, but that happened more often when he was outside the controlled environment they’d created for him. And most days, the medication seemed to be working. Like she’d told Nate that day at his office, medical science was always making advances. She wasn’t giving up hope. Not ever.
She hesitated, but only because she’d been afraid to bring up the subject of her expansion plans before. And of course, there was the matter of her lease and the search for a new building. She’d wanted to present them with something more concrete, but maybe this was a good opportunity to give them a heads up, so she filled her parents in on her plan to expand into the retro maternity market with her own designs.
“You know, Sweet Tea, you’re going to need some capital for this project. I’ll be happy to give you the money.”
“No, Daddy, absolutely not.”
“But why not, darling?” Momma interjected. “I just don’t understand why you won’t let us help you.”
“Because it’s important I do this on my own. Besides, you know I have my trust fund. Which, I’m not planning to use. Well, maybe just a teeny bit. But only what’s absolutely necessary. I’m only going to go through with this plan if it sustains itself.”
Daddy looked at her with pride in his eyes. “I understand, Sweet Tea. You want to stand on your own two feet. Leave her alone, Maureen,” he said to Momma.
