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Uh-oh.He’d been spotted. “Hey, Mom. Actually, I need to get—”
“What’s the weather going to be like when we’re there?” she interrupted. “I’m seeing conflicting reports.”
“This time of year, the weather is always conflicting.” He waved at Lyric, who was now only a few paces away from his truck. “Plan for anything. Okay? I need to—”
“Do you think I should bring my winter coat?” She paused, clicking her tongue. “Or will my mid-weight be enough?”
“Uh, I really don’t know.” Lyric was standing outside his window. He held up a finger to tell her just a second, but then she apparently got impatient and traipsed around to the passenger’s side, climbing in next to him before he could hang up.
“Hey, what’re you doing here?” Lyric asked.
“Lyric?” There was some shuffling on the line. His mother had likely almost dropped the phone in her excitement. “Is that you, honey?”
The woman shot him an apologetic glance. “Yeah. Hey, Mrs. Hearst.”
“I thought you said you weren’t taking Lyric out tonight.” No matter how old he got, his mom still scolded him.
“We hadn’t made specific plans,” he told her.
“I just kind of showed up,” Lyric added.
“Well, I’m so glad you did.”
Here we go.
“I was asking Thatcher what to pack for our trip out there, and he was no help at all.”
Lyric looked like she was trying not to laugh. “Bring your winter coat. Always bring your winter coat in May.”
“Thank you, hon.”
“All right, Mom.” Thatch intended to end this call before it turned into an inquest to find out if they were dating. “We have to run. I’ll call you later. Love you.” He hung up.
“Sorry.” Lyric gave him a sheepish smile. “I didn’t realize you were talking to your mom.”
“It’s fine.” She was probably going to call Silas or Aiden right now to get the scoop anyway. So much for keeping his parents out of this.
“I wondered what you were doing sitting out here.” The woman’s hands were nervously knotting together in her lap. “You could come in and say hi, you know. You don’t have to stay in your truck.”
She’d wanted him to come in and say hi? “I was keeping watch.” Thatch clicked his seat back into place so he wasn’t reclining anymore. “To make sure some random person didn’t try to sneak into the studio again while you were teaching.”
“Awww.” Even in the dark, he could see her shining smile. “You’re doing a stakeout for me.”
“I guess you could call it that.” It was supposed to be a covert op, but he’d blown his cover. Not that he was complaining.
Lyric scanned the street. “So you haven’t seen anything yet?”
“No. Whoever it was probably won’t come back.” But he wasn’t willing to risk that knowing Luke Copeland might already be in the area.
The woman angled her body toward his. “You’re very chivalrous.”
“Old habits die hard, I guess. I’m used to keeping watch.” Even though he didn’t wear the uniform anymore, he still believed it was his job to protect everyone.
“I’m sure you had to sacrifice a lot doing what you did all those years,” Lyric said quietly. “I can’t figure out why some lucky woman hasn’t already snatched you up.”
He looked out at the dark street. Conversations like this were always a decision point. When a woman said something like that, most of the time he laughed it off or made a joke, but he wanted Lyric to know the truth. “I almost got married. Before I became a SEAL.”
“Really?” It was half word, half gasp. “I had no idea. What happened?”
