Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

Kati

It was after five in the evening and I was still contemplating dying of mortification.

"How the hell am I supposed to hire the company now after I practically flashed my lady bits at one of their employees?" I hissed.

It was a slight exaggeration considering the shirt came down to my mid-thigh.

"I thought you said Easton was a complete gentleman when you came back out fully clothed." Lyla dropped her chin into her hands and looked at me expectantly.

I glanced across the table to make sure Lucien's headphones were still in place. I was pretty confident if he had heard what I said, he would've responded. I lowered my voice anyway because we were out for dinner at The Crazy Fox and I didn't need anyone hearing our conversation.

"He was, but that doesn't mean things weren't awkward."

"Was it only awkward for you because you found him attractive and he acted like nothing happened?"

Somedays it sucked having a best friend who understood me so well. That was exactly why it had been so awkward. I had found the man sexy as hell. He was rugged with his scruffy beard speckled with silver and those eyes. I thought my eyes were a piercing green but they were dull compared to the green in Easton's. I wanted to spend every night staring into those eyes as I fell asleep and wanted them to be the first thing I saw every morning.

It was crazy. They were crazy thoughts to be having about a man I only met for a hot minute.

"I hate you."

Lyla merely laughed. "No, you don't."

"What can I get for you ladies and young man?"

I did a double take at the eighty-year-old woman with her hand on her hip and no apron in sight. "Since when do you wait tables?"

"I've got a better question for you. So what's this I hear you opened the door for a sexy man in just a skimpy shirt?" Bee, the owner of the diner, asked. I quickly looked at Lucien but he was engrossed with his phone and not paying us a lick of attention. "Oh don't worry. That boy is too occupied with his game to give this old biddy any attention. And it's the only time I'll let him get away with such nonsense."

I didn't know what to say to any of that. Normally I wouldn't allow phones at the dinner table either, but I hadn't wanted my son to hear me whine to Lyla again about my humiliating day. I couldn't manage to stop thinking about it.

"Wait?" I whipped my head to Bee. "Who told you I opened my door to a man today?"

The one major downside of living in a small town was that everyone was all up in everyone else's business. Growing up, I couldn't get away with anything because by the time I got home, the Willow Creek ladies had started the phone tree and called my mother.

That's when it hit me. "Ms. Daisy." The name was like a curse on my tongue. I loved my old neighbor, but damn was she nosy.

"Of course it was Ms. Daisy. You know darn well her parlor faces your front door and she's got nothing better to do during the day than watch the street."

I did know this. I'd known it my entire life, unfortunately. Nothing got past Ms. Daisy. Except whoever was trashing my mailbox in the middle of the night, it would seem.

"And just how many people did Ms. Daisy tell?"

I knew I wouldn't like the answer even before Bee scrunched up her face to think about it.

"Well, let's see. I know she called Shirley over at Until the End of Time. Shirley's always talking to Tim and Barney. And I'm sure Edela was called by someone. Not to mention Valerie and Dr. Norman."

I dropped my head to the table with a loud thunk, not the least bit concerned with who heard me at this point. "So basically everyone on Main Street knows, and therefore, probably the whole town." The words were muffled against the table but I was pretty sure the old bitty, as she liked to call herself, still heard what I had to say. She only pretended to be hard of hearing when it suited her.

"Cheer up, dear. There will be another scandal in a few days and your hussy ways will be a thing of the past."

My hussy ways? I looked up at the diner owner appalled. "You sure know how to make a woman feel better about herself, Bee."

"I know." Bee smiled. "Now what can I get for you?"

I ordered a water and the club special for myself as well as Lucien. Thankfully my son wasn't a picky eater and would put whatever I set in front of him in his mouth. Lyla ordered her typical salad, which Bee scoffed at before walking away. It was always the same. Bee complained that Lyla ate like a bird and Lyla purposely ordered the salad just to screw with the old woman. It was basically their love language.

"Are you going to hire the security company or what?" Lyla pierced me with a glare.

I groaned. "I don't know. I don't really have any other options at this point. The fancy security system alone would be worth it."

"You could let me handle it." Lucien's statement startled me.

I squinted at him when I realized he still wore his earbuds. "How long have you been listening to us?"

"Long enough to know that you ordered me the special of the day and that you answered the door for some stranger in nothing but a shirt."

So this was what mortification felt like. "And you didn't think to clue us in that you were listening?"

"I was curious if you finally found someone after all these years,” he answered bluntly. “We all know it's been a while since a man has gone anywhere near you. Pretty sure they say a healthy sex life is normal. I don't think they meant with the vibrator you hide in your dresser."

I was wrong. This was what mortification felt like.

"You're fourteen years old. You shouldn't know anything about a healthy sex life! And how the hell do you know what's in my dresser?"

There was no way this was my life right now. Having a sex talk with my son in the middle of a diner that everyone and their brother frequented couldn't possibly be happening. Not to mention him knowing about my stupid vibrator.

"I never said I was having one, although plenty of my friends have started, and isn't that where every woman hides their vibrator?"

Oh God. We were going to talk about this right now. Not the vibrator, I couldn't handle that, but apparently we were talking about everything else.

"I think you just took ten years off your mother's life," Lyla snickered.

"More like twenty," I clarified. "And I'm glad to know you don’t have a sex life. Maybe wait a few more years. Teen pregnancy is no joke, so I hope these so-called friends of yours are being sure to use protection. And that goes for you as well. You better wrap it up when you decide to start having sex."

I knew most of Lucien's friends and I couldn't imagine any of them having sex. I'd known them all since they were babies. When had they grown up so much?

"Don't worry, my own sperm donor made sure I learned that lesson. I won't be knocking up any girl until I'm ready to be a father."

I wanted to bang my head against the table for the second time in a matter of minutes. I never lied to Lucien about who his father was or how I got pregnant. I wanted him to be armed with the truth so he could face any problems head-on. But the downside of a small town was no one knew how to keep their mouths shut for long.

"Just because a pregnancy isn't planned doesn't mean the child isn't loved."

It was the same thing I told him often. I never wanted my son to think I regretted having him.

"I know, Mom." Lucien rolled his eyes. "You tell me that all the time but we also wouldn't be in this position if it weren't for me. The gang only wants me because of Alejandro. If I didn't share his DNA, you wouldn't have to deal with the subtle threats."

I hated how right he was, but I couldn't help reminding him that it changed nothing.

"The day you were born was one of the best days of my life. Don't ever think I would change that."

"Aunt Lyla, tell her."

My best friend held her hands up. "Sorry, kiddo. I'm with your mother on this one. I've never seen your mama so happy as the day you were born. It doesn't matter how you were conceived, having you in our lives only makes things better. No amount of damage to a mailbox will ever change that."

Lucien rolled his eyes again.

"Thank you," I mouthed to her.

It sucked that my son thought otherwise.

A few minutes later, one of the busboys brought our food out. I was ashamed to admit I couldn't remember the kid's name. He was quiet except when interacting with customers to ask if they needed anything. I made a mental note to ask Bee his name when she came back to the table later.

We were halfway through the meal, I thought maybe we would get through dinner without any more incidents.

I was wrong.

Way wrong.

And that was evident when Ms. Dixie, my other neighbor, strolled in the door. The woman looked around, and the moment she recognized me, her little old legs hoofed their way in my direction. I knew even before she got to the table that I was in trouble.

"Young lady," she started in immediately. "Didn't your mother teach you to never answer the door naked? Don't answer that." She waved me off before I could say anything. "I know for a fact she did, and yet you were hollering the town down in nothing but some underwear."

"I was in an oversized t-shirt actually." My voice betrayed me when it squeaked.

Ms. Dixie wasn't known for being quiet, and right that very moment, everyone inside the diner had stopped eating and were looking our way. If the entire town didn't know before, they would by the end of the evening.

"That's not how you greet a potential suitor, my dear. You have to make them work to see the goods."

I could feel how hot my face was. I was ten seconds away from begging the universe to open up a hole and swallow me up. I was pretty sure things couldn't possibly get any worse than they were.

And then the door to the diner opened up again.