Chuckling, he gave up. “I guess it’s time to feed you again.”
She smiled and shrugged. “Apparently.”
They were in the kitchen, foraging through the fridge, when the first bars of “Mama Knows” filled the air. “Is that your cell phone?” he asked.
Lana straightened and turned away from the fridge. She was wearing one of his clean T-shirts. It almost swallowed her up. He liked that.
“Yep. It’s my mother—the last person I want to talk to. It’s almost ten-thirty. She’s usually in bed by now.” She shot Sly a panicked look. “What if something’s happened?”
“Maybe you should answer it.”
“Talk to my mom immediately after you and I had sex?”
“She won’t know that. This might be a good time to mention me,” he suggested.
He saw right away she wasn’t ready for that conversation. “Tell her some other time, then. I haven’t checked my phone since I left here before your doctor’s appointment. I’ll do that while you talk to her.”
Before Lana answered the phone, she sat down at the kitchen table. Sly was standing at the counter, listening to his messages. Shirtless and barefoot, with the top button of his jeans undone, he looked like a walking ad for sex appeal—except for the stunned expression on his face. She was so curious about that, she almost ignored her chirping phone.
She answered just as Sly disconnected and joined her at the table.
“Hi, Mom,” she said, rolling her eyes at him. “You’re calling so late. Is everything okay?”
“Yes, fine.”
“That’s a relief.” Lana let out a sigh. “I’m sort of busy right now. Can I call you back in the morning?”
“Let me guess—you’re online, visiting that adoption site again, hoping to find a pregnant girl who wants her baby to go to a single mother.”
If that wasn’t the beginning of a lecture... Good thing she’d never mentioned Sophie. She was anxious to get her mother off the phone. “No internet for me tonight. This is something completely different.” She smiled at Sly.
His solemn expression puzzled her.
“Well, it must be important,” her mother said, sounding out of sorts. “In the past hour, I’ve called you twice. Both times I had to leave a message. I’m glad you finally decided you could spare a moment to talk to me.”
“Way to guilt-trip me, Mom. I, uh, left my phone in the kitchen, and didn’t hear it ring before.” She wasn’t lying—her phone had been in her purse, which she’d placed on the counter.“You’re usually asleep by now. Whatever you have to say must be important.”
“It is. Your father and I heard from Cousin Tim earlier and I have some interesting news. He’s decided to countersue Mr. Pettit.”
Lana’s jaw dropped. “Cousin Tim is countersuing Sly...er, Mr. Pettit?” she repeated for Sly’s benefit.
By his grim expression, he’d already heard. He pointed at his phone. Someone must’ve left him a message about it.
“That’s right,” her mother said. “It seems a few of his cows have turned up sick. One even died. He’s claiming Mr. Pettit poisoned them.”
Sly wouldn’t do that. Or would he? Of course not, Lana assured herself. Yet she distinctly remembered what he’d said that night at the Italian restaurant. He was tired of waiting for the lawsuit to settle and he wished he could do something to push it along.
Was this his way of righting the wrongs he believed her cousin had done?
Doubts crept in, unwanted but impossible to ignore. She met his gaze and suddenly felt sick.
In a blink, his eyes lost all warmth. The expression on his face shuttered and closed, almost as if he’d read her mind.
Without a word, he stood and spun away from her, his shoulders set and his spine stiff. And she realized that somehow, he’d sensed her suspicion.
He opened his back door, walked out and shut it behind him with a firm click.
Her mother was saying something about Cousin Tim, but Lana couldn’t focus. “I have to go.”
