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“Well, thanks for the ride! Talk to you tomorrow!” I went to make a swift exit from the car, but she jabbed a button and— “I can’t believe you just child-locked me in your car.”
She grinned manically. “Oh no, Kali. If you think you’re getting away with this without talking to me about Brantley Cooper, you can think again, child.”
“I’m twenty-six.”
“And? You’re still a spotty thirteen-year-old who hates me in my mind sometimes.”
“I never hated you. You know that.”
“I know.” She curved her lips. “But it still works as a guilt-trip, doesn’t it?”
I groaned. “Fine, come in, have coffee, question me all you like.”
“And you’ll answer every one,” she clarified.
“Fine!” I rattled the car handle. “Let me go.”
Laughing, she turned off the child lock and got out with me. “God, he’s handsome, isn’t it?”
“Mom!” I laughed as I pulled my keys out of my purse.
“Well, he is!”
“Oh my god.” I blushed as I unlocked the door. Why was I blushing? Ugh, I needed a do-over for today.
Mom snorted and followed me inside. “He is very handsome, Kali. Just admit it.”
“All right, fine. He’s hot as fuck. There. Are you happy now, Mom?”
“Ecstatic.”
I turned on the coffee machine and ignored her laughter. I sighed. Sometimes having a mom-figure who was almost closer to a best friend wasn’t a good thing.
“Now, tell me more about him. And by more, I mean everything. Is he available? Single? His kids? Their mom?”
“Would you like me to Google his penis size while I’m here?”
“If it would help you, feel free.”
I pulled off my shoes. “Well,” I said, putting them to the side. “Yes, he’s single. Yes, he’s available. His kids are hilarious—four-year-old twins. Their mom died of cancer two and a half years ago.”
“Oh, dear,” she said softly. “How terrible.”
I nodded in agreement. “He said Rock Bay was a fresh start for him and the kids. He literally left everything behind to come here. No family, no nothing.”
“Why Rock Bay?”
I shrugged. “I guess he got a transfer with his work. He’s been doing some stuff the past couple days I’ve been there, and he said his boss was trying to get him to go into the office. They seem pretty flexible with him.”
“Are the twins going to Summer, then?”
“Of course, they are. Where else would they go?”
“Good point. Now, back to him being single…”
“Mom.”
She sighed and propped her chin up on her hand. “I know, I know. I’m messing with you. He’s a client and that’s not exactly an ideal situation for any woman to step into, is it?”
I looked down and fidgeted with my bracelet. “You did it.”
She held up a finger. “Honey, that was different in a million ways. One, you were thirteen. Two, it had been a lot longer than two years. Three, there was only one of you.”
“Would it have made a difference if I had a brother or sister?”
She got up and crossed the kitchen to me. She touched her hands to my face with all the warmth of a woman who deserved to be a mother. The gentleness of her touch made me meet her eyes.
“Kali, never.” Her gaze never wavered. “I adore your father—all his idiocies and all. And I love you, honey. It never would have mattered to me.” She kissed my forehead then stepped back, lowering her hands with a smile. “If you need to talk, call me. Okay?”
I nodded.
“Turn off that machine. The last thing you need is to spend your Sunday half-dead because you drank coffee way too late.” She blew me a kiss as she left. “Talk to you soon, honey.”
“Bye, Mom. Love you.”
“Love you, too!”
The door clicked behind her.
I let out a deep breath, locked it, and went up to bed.
She was right.
I needed to sleep.
If only to stop thinking about the hot, single dad who had somehow invaded my thoughts to the point of crazy.
***
Brantley: I need to ask a favor.
I frowned at my phone.
Me: …?
Brantley: Ellie has it in her head that she wants wallpaper. She’s demanding we go to the home store to look at it.
Me: I thought she wanted pink and purple.
Brantley: She does… plus wallpaper. She won’t let me talk her out of it.
Me: Are you at home?
Brantley: No.
Me: You’re at the store, aren’t you?
Brantley: Yeah.
I rubbed my hand across my forehead. I needed to go anyway to get the paint, but there was nothing worse than going to Harvey’s Home on a weekend. Mostly because that’s when everyone and their damn mother went.
Nobody went at nine a.m. on a Monday.
I sighed and hit reply.
Me: Be there in 20.
***
Thirty minutes later, I pulled up in the parking lot of Harvey’s. As I’d suspected it would be, it was packed. I was barely able to get out of my truck without dooring the car next to me.
In my defense, the line was there for a reason, and it wasn’t for their fucking tire to go on.
