“Besides,” Thalia said cheerfully, “she got rescued by Hot Cop Rossi.”
Jane’s distressed frown stayed in place. “I still should have warned you. I’m so sorry.”
“Jane, it really is all right. He was very...”Professional?“Reassuring.”
“Is that all? Because when he came in this morning?” Thalia put her hand on her chest and mimed a thumping heart. “Major vibes. I thought he was going to order coffee to go and you on the side.”
Heat swept through Lauren. He’d already had her on her side. And on her back. And...
“Oh, wow, he did, didn’t he?” Thalia asked in an awed voice. “You and Chief Rossi? Seriously?”
“Thalia, that’s none of our business,” Jane said firmly.
“I think it’s great,” Thalia said. “I mean, you’re both single, healthy adults.”
“Which doesn’t make her private life a suitable topic of discussion for you. You’re sixteen.”
“Mom says adolescence is a modern invention of wealthy industrial societies, and that I’ve been a woman since menses,” Thalia said. “She feels I should be free to explore my natural sexual impulses before deciding if a monogamous heteronormative relationship would be personally fulfilling.”
“Bless her heart,” Jane said.
Which Lauren had learned could mean anything fromYou poor thingtoYour mama is an idiot. She bit down on a laugh. “Did she also talk to you about the importance of using protection while you’re, um, exploring?”
Thalia grinned, apparently unfazed by a relative stranger quizzing her on birth control. She was averyself-possessed sixteen. “No, that was my dad. He told me the frontal lobes of boys my age aren’t fully connected yet, and I shouldn’t waste my time on them.”
“And what do you think?” Lauren asked, falling into counselor-speak.
“I’m going to college—Chapel Hill—in another year. I don’t really want to get serious about anybody yet.”
“What about Josh Fletcher?” Jane asked.
Matt Fletcher’s son, Lauren thought. Meg’s nephew. Meg had mentioned the two were dating. Lauren had seen the teen around the Pirates’ Rest, a handsome boy with broad shoulders and big hands and a mop of tawny hair.
A cloud passed over Thalia’s round, sunny face. “He understands. We’re friends.”
“‘Friends’ is good,” Lauren said gently. And probably hard to pull off when you were sixteen years old and spending time with a boy who could have modeled for Michelangelo’sDavid.
“Yeah.” Thalia wiped her hands on her apron, looked at Jane. “Would it be okay if I took off now? Camille wants some Mommy-and-me time with Océane, and I told her I’d take Chloe to the pool.”
“That would be fine. Thalia works for a French family in one of the big houses on the beach,” Jane explained to Lauren.
“It’s notworkwork. I’m babysitting.”
“Still... Two jobs,” Lauren said.
Thalia shrugged. “More money for college. Anyway, I like kids. I’ve got four younger brothers and sisters.” She hesitated. “I can watch Aidan, too, if you want. Camille won’t mind. She wants Chloe to practice her English.”
“Oh, that’s sweet of you, both of you, honey, but Aidan’s got camp ’til five. Anyway, I’m taking him to the beach later.”
“Mommy-and-Aidan time,” Thalia said.
Jane smiled. “Something like that.”
Thalia left. Customers came in, three laughing, chatting women who settled at a table, a couple who took coffee and pastries outside, a family picking up a cake. Lauren pulled shots and watched as Jane expertly boxed a Chocolate Seduction with Bavarian cream for the young mother’s birthday.
Jane was a mother. How could she have missed this important piece of personal information? But Jane never talked about herself.
“So, Aidan is your son?” Lauren asked when the shop was quiet again.
