“Too long,” Mom lamented.
Teagan chuckled. “You can blame Ducky for that. She has no time for me anymore.”
“Oh, right. Let’s blame her. I like it.”
They both bust out into girlish laughter, and I grinned. Jesus, these two. My two favorite people were so similar it was scary.
“I hear you’re shifting focus,” Mom said.
Teagan nodded. “I loved tinkering on the bikes and Cash said there’s a project bike we can work on. He and Booker said they can show me some things. Dad’s excited too, although, he’s trying not to show it as much. I think he likes the idea of us working on stuff together.”
“Ooh, is it the one in auto bay three?” Gloria asked.
“Yeah,” I confirmed.
“Oh, that’s such a cool bike,” she said.
I nodded. “It will be.”
“Maybe I can help too,” Gloria said.
“Did you want to be a mechanic, Gloria?” Mom asked.
“Well, um, I don’t know. Maybe.”
“I think this will be a good project for Teagan to start with,” I said. “Ease her into something easy.”
“This really is so brave, Teagan,” Mom said, focusing on her. “I’m so freaking proud of you.”
Teagan blushed and I could tell Mom had just gotten to her ooey gooey center. “Thanks, Dani.”
“We should head out,” I said, and Mom gave Teagan one last hug, then we headed out to her car.
I insisted on driving, which she didn’t fight me on because my dad had trained her well, and we pulled up to the busy diner and luckily didn’t have to wait long for a table.
“Okay,” Mom started, once she opened her menu. “So, Teagan.”
“Teagan, what?”
She reached over and put her hand on my menu, tugging it down, and I met her eyes. “You’re in love with each other.”
“Dad told you.”
“Dad didn’t tell me shit.” She raised an eyebrow. “I’ve watched that girl fall for you for at least two years, maybe more. You took a little more convincing because I raised you right. But you’re here now and you’re fighting something. Is it Chelsea or Eric?”
“Jesus,” I hissed quietly. “You know about Eric?”
“Baby, I know about everything regarding you kids.”
“It was mostly Chelsea, but it was also Eric.”
“Does Teagan know?”
“She does now. She knew about Eric too. Had some hero worship thing going on.” I frowned. “Still does I think. She shouldn’t.”
“Sweetheart, you stopped a predator,” Mom said, setting her menu aside. “I absolutely think she should have a little hero worship.”
I reached over and squeezed her hand. “Thanks.”
