“You look like you just robbed a bank,” Wynona said.
Meredith offered a weak smile.“How was your day at the spa?”
“More relaxing than yours, I reckon.”
She picked up the dog and passed by Wynona, unable to meet her eyes.She couldn’t confide in the other woman about her plans, because Wynona might tell Wade.So, Meredith went straight to her bedroom and packed her bags.
She had to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Wade noted hismother’s Subaru in the driveway, and no other vehicles.
He grabbed the bouquet from the passenger seat and headed inside the kitchen, where he found both his mother and Meredith.Wynona was putting rainbow sprinkles on a white cake.Meredith stood in the hallway, half in shadow.It was an odd parallel to their first meeting.Although she didn’t have the shotgun in her hands, she was in the same spot, wearing the same expression of unease.
He realized he hadn’t expected her to be here, and tender emotions flooded him.He was overwhelmed with relief to see her.
“Are those for me or her?”his mother asked.
Wade had almost forgotten about the flowers.He glanced down at them, feeling stupid.Why hadn’t he brought two bouquets?He’d wanted to impress Meredith with his chivalrous behavior.They’d shared the hottest, most meaningful sex of his life.The least he could do was show some appreciation.
“They’re for the house,” he said, and set the bouquet near the sink.Wynona made a scoffing noise and rummaged in the lower cabinet for a vase.Meredith didn’t seem to mind.She stepped out of the shadows, her cheeks pink.
Wade couldn’t take his eyes off her.She was wearing one of her typical outfits, work jeans and a striped blouse.Her hair was pulled back into a loose braid.Stray tendrils framed her beautiful face.She smiled at him as she came forward.
“Sit,” Wynona said to both of them.“Have some cake.”
Meredith sat at the table, and Wade took the chair across from her.Wynona arranged the flowers in the vase and served them all slices of cake.It was sweet but not cloying.He watched Meredith lick a dab of frosting from her lips.
“Do you remember Billy’s tenth birthday?”Wynona asked.
Wade moved his gaze to his mother.“At the pool?”
Wynona turned to Meredith.“We went to a public swimming pool in San Antonio.Biggest pool in three counties.Billy had been begging me to take him, and it was about a hundred degrees that day.”
“I drove,” Wade said.
“That was the last time we celebrated his birthday together,” Wynona said to Wade.“Until now.”
“Until now.”
His mother pasted on a bright smile.“We had a good time, didn’t we?Billy was doing cannonballs off the diving board, and you’d just been accepted into UT.I never thought a kid of mine would go to a fancy college.”
Wade felt his neck heat with embarrassment.“It wasn’t fancy.”
“He had a 4.0 GPA,” Wynona said to Meredith.“And a football scholarship.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Meredith said.
“Billy got into trouble, as usual,” Wynona said.“I was taking a nap, and all of a sudden he was the center of attention.”
“What happened?”Meredith asked.
Wynona gestured for Wade to tell the story.She probably couldn’t remember the details due to the bottle of vodka she’d polished off that afternoon.
Wade thought back to the day in San Antonio.It had been a pleasant excursion, though not without drama.“My mom had befriended this very large, very hairy gentleman.He was sitting in the lounge chair next to her.They were drinking spiked orange juice and enjoying the sunshine.”
“I was wearing my favorite bikini,” Wynona said with a sigh.“Electric blue.”
