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“Two points.” She had to acknowledge his baseball reference, it was only sporting.
“Hey, you two. Any chance I can include any of this in the piece?”
Oh crap. Jenna swung around. A woman in a tailored wool coat grinned at them with an expression that said she’d just stumbled onto an even juicier story than she’d expected.
Seven
Billy took charge, mostly because the way Jenna’s jaw dropped open, she wasn’t going to be saying anything. “Absolutely not. Are you L. Delaney?”
“Lacey Delaney, that’s right.” The reporter stuck out her hand. His quick impression was mid-thirties, brunette, all smiles. “Billy and Jenna Cooper, I presume.”
“Jenna Scarlett,” he corrected her. “We’re divorced. But you know that.”
“Jenna Cooper is fine.” Jenna finally spoke. “I kept my married name for our children, but I use Jenna Scarlett professionally.”
“To take advantage of the connection to your father?”
Jenna flushed, and Billy realized they were really going to have to watch their step with this reporter. She was sharp behind that beaming smile.
“No, that’s not the reason. In my field, no one knows who my father is. I’m surprised you do. You must be a good researcher.” Jenna aimed a sunny smile at Lacey Delaney.
The reporter smiled back. “I am, which is why I know that he’s gaining a solid reputation in gallery circles. No huge sales at this point, but he’s on a good trajectory. Perhaps I could talk to him—”
Billy intervened again, before Jenna shifted gears and went feral. Her father was her sore spot. When it came to him, she was both fiercely protective and often mortified. “Let’s get inside before we turn into snowmen. Snow-people,” he corrected quickly. You never knew what a reporter might jump on. “Where are you coming in from, Lacey?”
“New York,” she answered as they all headed for the entrance of the Loon Feather. The bistro was Lake Bittersweet’s most expensive restaurant—meaning mid-range in any reasonably sized city. Its biggest selling point was its location on a rise with sweeping views of the lake. It also had an expansive bar that, once upon a time, Billy would have taken full advantage of.
“Billy! You’re back!” The young hostess hurried toward them, her face alight with excitement. Uh oh. He’d had a brief fling with Cassidy two years after the divorce—the first and only time he’d gotten involved with anyone in Lake Bittersweet.
He shot her a warning glance, but it was too late. Lacey, with her sharp eyes, had already taken note.
“Hey Cass. Jenna and I are doing an interview with this fine reporter here. We need the best table you got.”
“Of course.” She got the message right away and led them toward a table in the corner, with views in two directions, the lake and the forest. The snow was falling hard now, patches of white collecting on the ground.
He noticed that Cassidy didn’t look at Jenna for more than a quick second. During their short time together—maybe a week?—she’d asked him probably twenty times if he and Jenna were going to get back together.
Jenna herself showed no reaction to Cassidy; maybe she didn’t know about their fling. He’d never said anything, and it had been so short. Blink and it was over. He knew she’d had her moments too, though he very much did not want details.
“Mets or Yankees?” Jenna asked Lacey, deploying the smile Billy used to call her “toothpaste” smile.
“Oh, I’m not much of a baseball fan at all. This is a personality profile. I work for a women’s magazine. We delve into relationships, cultural trends, celebrity couples, that sort of thing.” She pulled out a pair of reading glasses to examine the menu.
Not a baseball fan…crap. That meant his biggest weapon was completely neutralized.
Jenna’s smile didn’t falter. “That sounds so fascinating. What an exciting job. You must get to travel all over, not just to tiny towns in rural Minnesota.”
Lacey put the menu down and peered over the tops of her glasses with sharp green eyes. “Did I catch a hint of wistfulness, Jenna? Have you traveled much?”
“Sure, I take the boys to Twins Stadium often in the summer. That’s a keystone of our co-parenting.”
“How about outside Minnesota?”
She shook her head “no,” biting her lip in a sign that she was embarrassed. Billy was starting to regret that he’d put her in this position. Japan, he reminded himself. Big contract.
“You’ve never been outside of Minnesota?” Lacey pressed the issue. “Even when the Twins made the conference finals last year?”
“We planned to come, but my youngest boy sprained his ankle and we had to cancel.” She held up a hand to stop any follow-up questions. “Besides, I’m holding out for the World Series. Got that, Billy?”
