AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I can’t decide what subgenre to choose for my next read. Historical or romantic suspense?” She made a show of glancing at her watch. “I’ll think about it and come back later. Asa’s going to be waiting for us, and you know how annoyed he gets when he’s hungry.”
She headed for the front of the store, assuming her sister would follow, then waved to Remi, the bookstore’s owner, on her way out.
The door hadn’t quite clicked shut when Bea yanked on Esme’s arm. “You had sex with him.”
She sounded as shocked as an on-the-shelf maiden sister in a historical romance.
Esme tried to look affronted. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Who’s the one living in fantasyland now?”
She picked up her pace as they approached the diner. If she could get inside, maybe the restaurant would act as a home base. Surely Bea wouldn’t discuss something as sensitive as this topic in front of their brother.
Both her siblings had mile-wide protective streaks when it came to Esme, but Asa tended to tease her mercilessly on anything involving real-life romance.
“You slept with Ryder Hayes,” Bea insisted.
Esme rarely came close to losing her temper, and she understood the origin of the concern she heard in her sister’s voice. But she had no regrets, none that she was willing to hold up to the light of day and truly examine.
She was a grown woman despite being the youngest in her immediate family. Bea and Asa sometimes treated her like the shy, introverted girl she’d once been, but Esme was more than that now. She’d thought she found love with Seth—or at least the family she’d always wanted.
She’d endured heartbreak, betrayal and the terror of wondering how she would support herself and her son as a single mother. On top of that, she’d moved to a new town and made friends, connected with the great-aunt and -uncle she’d never known and then managed to find a way through the unthinkable situation of discovering the child she’d given birth to had been switched for another without her knowledge.
Guilt that she hadn’t realized the mistake still knocked around her heart like an unwanted houseguest who had overstayed their welcome.
But despite everything, she kept going, and if this new development in her relationship with Ryder made her happy, she didn’t see that it was anyone’s business other than theirs.
“For the record, there was very little sleeping involved.” She entered the diner and didn’t bother to hold open the door for Bea. “And that’s all I’m going to say on the matter.”
Asa waved from the booth he always chose in the back of the restaurant. The establishment was already standing-room only, and she knew it would get even more crowded once the late sleepers wandered in. The scent of coffee, bacon and thick maple syrup made her stomach growl. Several people she’d met around town—either during her frequent trips to GreatStore or at one of the local parks or trails—said hello.
She liked that Chatelaine was coming to feel like home and didn’t want to think about how she’d manage if and when she and Ryder returned to their platonic partnership. She told herself he’d be out of her system by then, but who was she kidding?
“Where are my two favorite babies this morning?” Asa gestured to the high chairs he’d pulled up to the table. “I thought Ryder and the double pack of trouble were joining us.”
Esme slid into a chair across from her brother. “That was the plan, but Noah was fussy this morning, so Ryder decided to stay home with them.”
Bea took the seat next to Asa and grabbed the carafe of coffee the waitress had left on the table. Although Esme wouldn’t have thought it possible to pour coffee aggressively, that was exactly how she would have described her sister’s actions.
“I think it’s more probable to assume Ryder didn’t want us to read his body language the way I so easily could with our baby sister.”
Asa put down the menu and studied Esme. “What body language?”
“She slept with him,” Bea whispered through clenched teeth.
A throat cleared, and Esme turned, her face on fire, to see a waitress standing beside the table, order pad in hand.
“Sorry,” Bea muttered, and then each of them gave their order, although Esme seriously considered storming out of the diner and having a bowl of cereal back at home.
But the proverbial cat was out of the bag, and if she didn’t have this conversation with her siblings now, she’d be stuck having it later.
The waitress placed a hand on her shoulder before walking away. “Don’t let anyone slut shame you, girl,” she advised.
Esme nodded, then covered her mouth when a laugh threatened to escape. Asa looked just as amused, while Bea’s cheeks were nearly as red as her hair.
“You heard the woman.” Asa nudged their older sister with his elbow. “Don’t shame her.”
“I wasn’t,” Bea insisted. She leaned forward, palms flat on the table. “I just don’t want to see you hurt, Es. It’s clear you like Ryder, but with his family’s reputation, you need to be careful.”
“What makes you think I’m not?”
