My breath catches. “What?”
“That’s what he said.”
“No, he didn’t.”
“He did.”
I shake my head, heat crawling up my neck. “He must’ve meant something else. Or maybe your husband misheard.”
She gives me a look that saysI know exactly what I heard, sweetheart.
“He said it like he meant it,” she continues. “And trust me, the Captain isn’t exactly a chatterbox. The man does not waste words.”
No.
He definitely doesn’t.
“Dependable,” she repeats, savoring the word. “Sounds like he’s offering.”
My pulse skitters. “He was probably joking.”
“Did he sound like he was joking?”
I picture Saxon’s face—carved, stern, smoldering. The man doesn’t even know what a joke is.
“No,” I admit.
Melissa squeezes my arm. “Well. Maybe he’s thinking about you.”
“He is not thinking about me.”
Melissa opens her mouth—but before she can respond, a PTA mom rushes by, overhearing exactly the wrong part of the conversation.
“Thinking about Briar? Who’s thinking about Briar?”
My blood chills. “No, no, no?—”
But it’s too late.
Three more PTA moms swarm like glitter-covered bees.
“Who’s thinking about Briar?”
“Did you say someone dependable?”
“Who—”
Melissa mutters, “Oh no,” under her breath.
The question ricochets from one mom to another, each adding details that never existed.
“Briar needs someone dependable.”
“Captain Cole said that!”
“He said she needs a man like him.”
“A man like him for what?”
