Say It Again (First Wives, #5)(67)

“We were planning on staying in town for a couple of days. Thought I’d take you and Dad out for dinner or something.”

Marjorie turned to see Sasha’s coat in AJ’s arms. “Let me help you with that.”

AJ waved her off. “I got it, point out the closet.”

“It’s in the hall.” She motioned back to where they’d just walked through. “I hope you’ll stay here. We have room.”

AJ walked away with the coats.

Sasha jumped in, all smiles. “We booked a hotel. I told AJ it was rude to show up unannounced, but he thought a surprise was a good idea.”

AJ’s mother had a genuinely kind smile. There was a strong family resemblance between Amelia and her mother. Similar height, same eyes . . . full-figured curves.

“Hopefully you can teach him a few manners that I somehow failed to,” Marjorie said with a bashful grin.

“Oh, he’s incredibly polite. You didn’t fail, trust me.” Sasha sat on the edge of the sofa, hands in her lap.

She seemed to like that.

AJ walked back into the room. “My ears were ringing.”

Sasha patted the space beside her. “That’s because we were talking about you.”

“What’s this about a hotel? We have plenty of room.”

She jumped in before AJ could contradict her statement. “I told your mother that you suggested it but that I thought it was rude to show up expecting a bed.”

Marjorie scowled. “It’s never rude for my son to stay with us. But I appreciate your thought.”

“Maybe next time.” Sasha leaned her head on AJ’s shoulder. “I hope we didn’t interrupt anything.”

“Nothing that can’t be moved to next week. I can’t believe you’re here. I’d call Alex, but he doesn’t have his cell phone on while he’s on the golf course.”

AJ leaned back on the couch, pulled Sasha with him. “It’s okay. We don’t have to run off.”

“Have you had breakfast?”

Sasha nodded. “We ate.”

“But I could use some coffee,” AJ said.

She nudged his ribs with her elbow. “Honey, that’s rude.”

He smiled down at her. “It’s my mom, it’s not rude.”

Marjorie turned to leave. “Not rude at all. I’ll start a pot.”





Chapter Twenty-Four



Claire was working on five hours of sleep. She’d stayed up while Cooper downloaded the last of Sasha’s files. They had a full day planned, but it was starting with breakfast with Lilly. The girl was too stinkin’ cute, even when she squeezed her eyes while dropping a stink bomb.

“Are you going to have more kids?” Claire asked Trina while she spooned another mouthful of mush into Lilly’s face.

“I’d be pregnant right now if Wade had his way. I just lost the baby weight and want to give Lilly more time with just the two of us.” Trina sat across the table, drinking coffee and watching.

“I want a big family.” The conclusion had come to her the moment she fell in love with Lilly. “Lots of kids who all have each other to go to when things are hard.”

Trina considered her over the brim of her cup. “I hope it happens for you. Just try and remember that sometimes family are the people you invite into your life, not just those born to you.”

“You mean like you and Sasha?”

She nodded. “I’m blessed with people like Sasha. Several others that I know I can count on, day or night.”

Claire spooned another scoop into Lilly’s greedy mouth. She made open and closed lip motions and giggled around the food. “Growing up in a boarding school doesn’t give you a lot of outside friendships.”

“Weren’t you close to anyone there?”

“Yeah. One of my roommates. But it isn’t like I can reach out to her from here, even if I wasn’t hiding.” She’d thought about Jax more than once since leaving Richter. All she left was a note saying she’d contact her after graduation. Jax wasn’t the kind of student Creepazoid recruited. Claire took comfort in that.

“You have a whole new set of friends now. You’ve spiked the protective bone in Neil, and I know AJ and Sasha aren’t going to let you down.”

Claire wiped slobber off of Lilly’s face. “What about you, Lilly . . . are you gonna be around, too?”

“She’s going to need an older cousin to teach her all about boys.”

“I’m going to have to date before I can do that.” Dating consisted of making out in dark corners of Richter with the intention of getting naked. For Claire, there weren’t any naked worthy guys her age. The college age boys weren’t interested in her.

“I didn’t even consider that.”

Claire hadn’t either . . . until she sat next to Cooper and teased him about his lack of language skills. The man was waaay too hot for his own boots.

“Hmmm, I know that look,” Trina hummed.

Heavy footfalls came from the hallway. Jeb walked in the room, a large box in his hands. “This was just delivered,” he said, setting it on the table.

Trina looked over the box before attempting to pierce the tape holding it together with her fingernail.