“Let me drive you,” he said. It wasn’t a question; he didn’t mean it any other way. I knew Wyatt wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“Thank you,” I said. I wasn’t going to argue with him. Not here in Cherry’s Diner.
The whole town would be talking about it.
He grinned at Jess.
“She’s all yours. At least, until I need her for the dress fitting.”
“Dress fitting?” I asked.]
“What, do you think I’d bring my mom? No way. My sister might be my maid of honor, but you’re going to be a bridesmaid too, aren’t you?” she asked. She fluttered her eyes at me.
“Of course, I didn’t think you’d ask me. I’d been away so long.”
“Of course, I would. I wouldn’t want anyone else to be there beside me. Now go, but you make sure she comes back in one piece, Mister.” Jess winked at him.
“I swear the two of your have been scheming.”
“I think you know us better than that. We call it strategizing,” Jess said as I stood up. As soon as I was within a widths reach of Wyatt he put his hand on me and that little electric touch was riding up my entire body.
I couldn’t escape it. Couldn’t escape his touch. It was like he was everywhere all at once.
"Hi mom," I said as I walked into the little cottage. She was sitting on the couch with a different book in her hands. I swore she went through two or three romance novels a day.
And she never stopped going on about romance. For a widow who lost her husband, she was still so optimistic. She always said dad was the love of her life. My mother loved to love.
I cherished that about her.
"I brought a friend," I said as Wyatt came in after me.
"Oh right, so that date went well, did it?" she asked.
I'd refused to talk about it since it happened. Any of it. I wasn't going to share my love life with my mother.
"Sit down and have a little visit with me," she said as she patted the couch. Wyatt took a seat on the chair across the room, and I sat down next to her.
"You doing alright?" I asked.
"I'm doing okay," she said, "except-" she looked from me to Wyatt and back to me again. She was hiding something. My mother always liked to pretend everything was okay. She didn’t want to worry me. She did it with dad and she was doing it now.
"Except what?" I asked.I wasn’t going to let this stand.
"Maybe I should step out onto the porch?" Wyatt asked.
"No, honey. You can stay right here." My mom said. "It's just a little thing."
"What thing, momma?" I asked.
"They found something. A lump in my breast."
The floor might as well have disappeared from under me.
"What did they say?" I asked.
"They won't know until they do a biopsy, they are planning it for Wednesday," she said.
"Do you need me to be there? Can I take you?" I asked. She’d been through this before, but I was away at college. I was a kid. I didn't know the reality of cancer.
I didn't know what it could do to a family.
"No, no. Your Uncle Sam is going to take me," she said.
"Are you sure, we can be there for anything you need," Wyatt said. He looked just as concerned as I was.
It was sweet.
"I'm more than sure," she said as she smiled at us both. "I'm just glad to see you getting along."
I blushed. I'd say we were more than getting along.
"Told ya he was cute," my mom said as she grinned at us both.
"Mom!" I exclaimed, but Wyatt just laughed. “I’m still going to worry, you know.”
“I do, but in the mean time we can have a bit of a laugh, right?” she asked. “It would help keep my mind off of it.”
I could only imagine what she was going through.
"You have the entire town against you, you know," he said.
"I know, team Wyatt."
Even I was team Wyatt. I just wasn't willing to admit it yet.
I walked into my house to find the door open and the light on. My damn father didn't know when to keep his nose out of it. I sighed and threw my mail down.
"Do you want a cup of coffee?" I asked, not even bothering to look at him in the living room. I knew his damn boots when I saw them. At least he had the courtesy to take them off.
"Black," he said.
"Coming right up."
I'd spent half the day going over the quarterly report, and I was tired of work. I didn't want to think about it and I sure as hell didn't want to think about it now.
"Are you sure you aren't trying to find a way to move in with me, Dad? You've been hanging around for quite a while," I said as I grabbed him a cup and flipped the switch on my coffee maker.