“Great, you’re here,” Kirsty said to Betty before rounding the counter to give Lake a kiss.
“This is my chair,” Betty said. It’d been her chair for years. Ever since she’d owned the town’s only underwear shop. She’d commanded an empire from that chair. “Where else would I be?”
“I thought you’d joined the Domino Boys. I thought you were playing dominoes at the pub.” Kirsty leaned into Lake, her long red hair curling about her face and around the scars on her neck—a reminder of the car accident, years earlier, that had ended her modeling career.
“I did.” Betty tugged at her hairnet to straighten it before reaching for her tea. “But they were boring. All they talk about is their ailments. If I wanted to listen to that crap, I’d hang out at the doctor’s surgery. What happened to real men? The ones who’d lose a limb, grit their teeth and get on with it? Like our new London boss. Callum lost his legs, but do you hear him whine about it? No. Whereas other men whine like two-year-olds when they stub their bloody toes. I blame the estrogen. They’ve added it to the water. Now men cry at the least wee thing, and then they grow boobs.” She eyed Lake’s chest thoughtfully. “You look okay, but I’d keep an eye on it.”
“You’re talking rubbish again. Nobody’s added estrogen to the water,” Kirsty said before shaking her head and turning to Lake. “I need to talk to you. In private.”
“Don’t worry,” Betty said. “You can talk here. My lips are sealed.”
They both looked at her like there were soap bubbles coming out of her mouth.
Kirsty’s lips thinned. “We’re not talking about
our private business in front of you, so you can get that thought right out of your head.”
“Why not? I know everything anyway.” Honestly, she was beginning to think Kirsty was losing IQ points as she got older. Betty remembered her as being much smarter as a child. Hell, back then she’d at least had the good sense to run when she saw Betty coming.
Kirsty looked up at Lake. “Let’s go upstairs to your office.”
He ran a hand down his wife’s hair, and his face softened. “Okay.”
“Look,” Betty said. “If this is about you not being able to have bairns, I already know.”
Kirsty gasped, and Lake’s face hardened.
“What?” Betty held up her hands. “Was it a secret? I don’t see what all the fuss is about. So you can’t have babies. Neither could I, and everything turned out fine for me.”
“Betty,” Lake rumbled in the tone he used to intimidate the minions.
She snorted her amusement. It was sweet when he thought that would work on her. She dug into her handbag and brought out some papers she’d printed off from her new computer.
“Back in my day,” she said, “we didn’t have the interweb. Now you can get anything on there. Even kids. I had a look for you and circled the ones I like.” She thrust out an arm, papers in hand, shaking it when nobody took them.
With a tight frown, Lake leaned over the counter and took the papers. He smoothed them out in front of him while Kirsty continued to gape at her.
“How do you know about the…the…” The color drained from her face.
“About the injuries from the accident meaning you can’t have babies?” Betty tapped her nose. “I have my sources. That’s why Lake should hire me as a trainee.”
“But…but…” Kirsty looked up at Lake as she turned even whiter.
“Don’t faint,” Lake ordered, like that would stop it happening. He reached behind him, pulled up a stool, and lifted Kirsty onto it. “Astrid? Water!”
A couple of seconds later, the new receptionist scurried through with a bottle of water, took one look at their faces, and ran away again.
“No backbone,” Betty said in disgust.
“How do you know about Kirsty’s situation?” Lake’s deadly tone would have made anyone else pee their pants. Not Betty. Mainly it just made her beam with pride.
“That doesn’t matter.” She waved a dismissive hand. “The point is, you two need to stop feeling sorry for yourselves and give me some grandkids. I’m not getting any younger, and I want to pass on my knowledge before I kick the bucket.”
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Kirsty said.
“Drama queen,” Betty muttered as she wriggled her way out of her chair and stomped over to the counter. She spread out the papers. “I saw on the interweb that you can get babies from all over the world. That actress, Angela Jolly, has one from every continent. You can pick them out with your shopping, and they deliver them. I’m not sure how much they cost. The web people were a bit offended when I asked and wondered if I was an undercover cop or something.” She beamed at them. “Must be the security training paying off. Anyway, I’m sure you make enough money to afford a couple.” She pulled another piece of paper toward her. “This place will even let you put in an order, and they’ll get you exactly what you want.”
Kirsty groaned and put her head between her knees.