I blinked, then blinked some more. “What? How?” I paused. “I’ve never been able to get that attic door open!”
The thought of someone living in my attic was preposterous.
Totally and utterly preposterous.
I narrowed my eyes on the man across the small alleyway where the Thanksgiving Bazaar was taking place and saw Zee pinch the back of his neck with two fingers and looked rather pissed off at what it was that he was hearing.
“Is that why we’re here?” I asked carefully.
“No. Maybe. A little bit.” My mother paused, looking helplessly at Carrie.
She was a shit liar, and always had been.
Then again, so was I.
“Mommy,” I said.
She looked away.
“Mom.”
Nothing.
“Momma.”
Her shoulder twitched.
“Mommmmmmmmy.”
My mother dropped her head.
“Mother.”
Still fucking nothing.
“Don’t make me cause a scene, woman!” I called out.
My mother looked at me over her shoulder. “I’m not telling you. Daddy said that he would beat my butt if I told.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Daddy wouldn’t hurt you and you know it,” I told her. “The worst he’ll ever do is tell you that you can only have twelve trees in the house and not thirteen.”
My mother snickered. “That’s true.”
“Tell me,” I ordered.
She sighed. “Walk over there and listen to whatever your man is saying.” She paused. “He offered to let me put up the Christmas tree this weekend if I got you here and kept you here. Please.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re a Christmas hussy.”
Her grin was unrepentant.
“I’ll go buy your cookie. You go around the back of that building and come up from the other side,” she ordered, pointing her long finger in the direction of the building that Zee was standing next to.
I did as she ordered, slipping in through the open doors of Sally’s Saloon and going out the back door that led to the patio that they did live concerts at during the summer.
I paused at the bar that separated the alley from the back deck and listened carefully, not liking what I was hearing.
“…can’t do that. She’s going to figure it out. I would love to take her to my house, but it’s not something we’re going to keep secret for long. She’s not dumb,” Zee was saying.
No, no I wasn’t dumb.
And he was right. I’d want to go home—at least to gather some clothes.
“Yes.” He growled. “What kinds of cameras? Remote? They require camera cards? Good.” He sighed. “She agreed to stay until Sunday, but come Sunday evening, she wants to have her ass back in Bear Bottom.”
That was true. I did.
Actually, I’d rather it be back in Bear Bottom by tonight, but I was sure that was due to the fact that I’d seen Raine just a few minutes ago buying a shirt that I’d been admiring enough to buy one for myself not five minutes before. Now I would have to throw the damn thing away.
And dammit! I really liked it, too.
It was a cute little vest that was red and black plaid on the outside, and a soft faux fur on the inside, and would definitely be able to keep me warm.
But then she’d held it up to her chest and swished around so the woman she was standing next to her could see the movement, causing me to want to set my vest on fire.
“…need to go. I’ve left her alone too long. I’ve lost her.” Zee sighed. “Yes, she’s with our mothers. No, she’s not anywhere that she’s unsafe. Do you really think the four bikers you have watching over her, rather indiscreetly, would let anything happen to the club president’s son’s woman? No? What about the club’s vice president?” His laughter started anew as something else was said on the other end of the line.
“What are you doing here?”
I looked over my shoulder to see the very last person that I wanted to talk to standing there.
“I’m leaning against a table, enjoying the break,” I lied. “May I help you?”
I pretended like I didn’t know her, even though the scowl of hers would forever be burned upon my brain.
Then again, she’d put on quite a bit of weight over the years, and she had some frown lines from hell. She had deep bags under her eyes and a hard look on her face that definitely hadn’t been there when I’d first met her.
“You know exactly who I am,” Raine returned, her sneer taking on familiar lines on her face. “Where’s my ex-husband?”
I shrugged. “Around.”
I had no doubt that Zee could hear us. He was literally just around the corner. There was also no hiding Raine’s acidic tone.
Nor was she trying even a little bit to keep her tone to a semi-normal decibel.
“Why are y’all here?” she asked. “And why are y’all together? I thought that y’all hated each other.”
I shrugged. “Sometimes hate sex is the best kind of sex.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I always knew he had a thing for you. That’s why I decided to leave him, after all.”