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Momma sighed heavily like she’d heard this before, didn’t understand it, but didn’t have the energy to fight it, either.
Lauren wrapped her arms around her father’s neck and kissed him on the cheek. She was almost thirty-one years old, but she still couldn’t envision a world where her Daddy wasn’t there to back her up.
It was Friday evening and Nate had big plans. He and Hector drove over to Lanie’s apartment. His sister opened the door and immediately snatched Hector from his arms. Lanie’s two big mutts, Medea and Persephone, wagged their tails in excitement. “See, Mommy told you your little cousin was coming over for a sleepover.”
She deposited Hector on her living room couch where he immediately rolled onto his back, waiting for the adoration that would inevitably come. It was pathetic. This constant need of his for attention. Still. Nate had to begrudgingly admit, Hector was growing on him.
Lanie, the enabler, rewarded Hector by scratching him on the tummy. “Hey there, little guy,” his sister crooned, “Aunt Lanie is going to babysit you tonight so daddy can get laid.” She glanced at Nate. “That is what this is about, right, stud?”
“Get your mind out of the gutter. I’m going to help Lauren celebrate her birthday and I didn’t want to have to worry about going home to take care of Hector. That’s it.”
His sister looked him over. “Well, you look great. I like this look on you.”
“I’m wearing jeans,” he said.
“Yeah, but they’re regular jeans. Not those designer kind that Jessica had you wearing.” She inspected him with a critical eye. “Jeans, white oxford shirt with the sleeves rolled back, loafers, no socks. Clean and put together. Manly, but not pretentious. I approve.” She leaned forward and stuck her nose in his shirt collar. “You smell good, too. Poor girl doesn’t stand a chance.” She picked Hector off the couch and placed him on the ground. He and Lanie’s two dogs took off running for the kitchen.
“So, what are your big plans for tonight? Dinner? A movie? Sex in the back seat of your car?”
“I’m surprising Lauren with take out.”
“Surprising her?” Lanie stilled. “You mean she doesn’t know she has a date with you?”
“It’s not a date,” he said. “I wanted to take her out, but she has a booth at the Spring Into Summer festival next weekend so she’s staying late to organize the storeroom at her shop.”
“On her birthday?”
“She’s designed a line of retro maternity wear and she’s going to display some of her pieces at the booth, but she needs to get the whole thing together by Monday. So, to answer your question, yes, she’s working on her birthday.”
“She has no idea that you’re just…dropping by?”
“Correct.”
“Oh, babe, I think this is a bad idea.”
“Why?”
“What if she isn’t happy to see you? I mean, of course she’d be happy to see you! Who wouldn’t be? But what if she’s changed her mind and made other plans?”
“I texted her an hour ago and she said she’d be at the shop till late.”
Lanie gave him a look he’d seen before. It was the same look the patrons of The Harbor House had given him the night he proposed to Jessica. Poor unsuspecting sap.
“You think she lied to me.”
“Not intentionally. I like her. She seems like a nice person, but nobody works extra the night of their birthday. Not if they have som
ething better to do. She probably had other plans and just didn’t want to hurt your feelings, so she fudged around and came up with this work excuse.”
Nate had never caught Jessica in a direct lie. But she was the master of saying one thing and meaning something else entirely. Lauren, on the other hand, could be discreet in the way she worded things. He’d figured out early that it was simply her way of being polite. But as far as Nate knew, she’d never been dishonest with him.
“There’s only one way to find out,” he said.
Lanie sighed. “All right. But please don’t do anything rash. And remember, I’m here for you, bro.”
*~*~*
Nate parked his car in front of Can Buy Me Love. It was almost seven-thirty. Officially, the shop closed over an hour ago, but there were still lights on in the store. There was also a black pickup truck parked along the side of the shop. He recognized that truck. It belonged to Tom Donalan.
