"Let me take you to Waffle House for supper."
"I thought you had to go?"
He glanced at his watch and wrestled with the need to make sure Lori didn't leave, but also to divert his mother. No choice really. He had to keep his mother out of the apartment. If Lori was still inside, she would be embarrassed if not horrified, to see them. The hospital trip to visit Magda already promised to be difficult enough without tossing this into the mix. "I can always spare an hour for my favorite mom."
"What a sweet boy." She reached for her keys. "I'll just lock my car."
"No! Uh, we should take both cars so I can leave straight for the hospital."
"And your book?"
He went blank. Just like a kid caught sneaking into the house, he couldn't concoct a single excuse. All he could do was stare out over the parking lot for ideas, not that the yellow cab pulling up offered much in the way of inspiration.
The taxi inched along, closer and closer. Horror knifed through Gray. That cab couldn't be going to—
"Mom, never mind." He shut his mother's door.
"You're right. Let's go together. I'll drive. Come on."
"Oh, okay."
The cab stopped in front of Gray's apartment. Surprise held him motionless for three precious seconds. Lori really intended to walk out on him a second time. Did he even warrant a note from her this go-round? Or did she just plan to slip away without a word again?
Useless anger chugged through him. He resisted the urge to charge over to the cab and confront her. Like that would accomplish anything productive with his mom as an audience.
He all but towed his mother to the Explorer. The driver honked his horn. Gray's mother glanced back over her shoulder just as Lori's gorgeous khaki-clad legs stepped through the apartment door. The afternoon sun caught her full in the face as she clutched the shorts and T-shirt to her breasts.
His butt was officially toast. There wasn't a chance his mom would let Lori get in that taxi without pumping her for information first. He couldn't have been more busted if Lori had strolled out the door wearing his boxers.
Chapter 6
Lori's feet grew roots in the sidewalk outside Gray's apartment. She couldn't move. Gray stalked toward her cab with his jaw set.
So much for her great escape. At least she could face him in clean clothes and underwear this time. She clutched the shorts and T-shirt closer to her chest like armor.
She forced her feet to trudge forward and plastered on a smile, weak at best. "Hi."
He ignored her and tapped on the driver's window. The window rolled down as Gray pulled out his wallet. He passed a twenty inside. "Thanks for coming out, but she doesn't need a ride now."
"I don't?" Lori said, more than a little miffed at his high-handedness and more than a little unsettled by his closeness.
"Sorry I'm late." He gripped her elbow and stepped away from the car.
But he was only a few minutes late, and they both knew it. He had to realize she'd called for the ride at least an hour ago. Why the pretense that she hadn't been running like a coward?
Her answer strolled over in neat heels and a tidy sun-dress. Gray's mother.
Lori clutched the incriminating clothes closer to her chest. "Hello, Angela."
Undisguised curiosity glinted from Angela Clark's eyes as she closed the last few feet between them. Her gray-blond hair, short and smoothly styled, glinted in the sunlight. Her yellow cotton dress glided cleanly across her figure, a few pounds past slim but well preserved for a mother of three adult children.
Her hair, the dress, her smile all made Lori think of sunshine. Angela Clark radiated energy.
The older woman clasped Lori's hands in hers, staring for five assessing seconds before she said, "It's good to see you again."
Air escaped Lori's lungs in a relieved sigh. Thank goodness Angela didn't plan to chew her out for dumping her precious baby boy. "You, too, Angela."
"Grayson, quit scowling and take us inside where it's cool."