Blossom Street Brides (Blossom Street #10)(41)
“I had one myself,” Annie returned without a hint of warmth. “Max is still here.”
“Annie, please,” Bethanne pleaded, her face falling.
“I thought we agreed to disagree,” Max inserted, looking pointedly in Annie’s direction. He didn’t want to drag Bethanne into the middle of their disagreement.
“Not anymore.” She returned her attention to her mother. “He said some ugly things to me, Mom.”
Frowning, Bethanne looked to Max for confirmation.
“I told her she needed to grow up,” he admitted. It was the truth.
“You chose him over me—”
“I chose Max over your father,” she corrected.
“Fine. Whatever. But I can’t accept it. Max changed the locks to keep me out of the house.”
Bethanne didn’t so much as blink. “I can see it didn’t do much good.”
“And you let him,” Annie cried, as if she was on the verge of tears.
“We changed the locks to keep Grant out, not you,” Bethanne continued. “He no longer lives here, Annie, and you had no business giving him the key to my home.”
“So fine, I’m locked out. That’s just great, because as long as Max is here, I won’t be. I’ll only come to the house when I can be assured Max isn’t anywhere around.”
“Annie, that’s ridiculous.”
“You made your choice,” she snapped. “Max was talking about Dad having to live with the consequences of his actions. That’s good, because now you’re going to have to live with your own consequences.”
Chapter Sixteen
Dressed for the Mariners game, Lauren brewed a cup of coffee while she waited for Rooster to arrive. Out of nowhere, she felt a bubble of laughter working its way up her throat. In that moment she realized this was what happiness felt like. It was this irrepressible urge to laugh, this sense of joy that she hadn’t experienced in … goodness, how long had it been? Too long, she decided; she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this inner sense of exhilaration.
She’d spent all of Saturday afternoon and evening with Rooster until two that morning. It seemed impossible that the hours had passed so quickly. They’d talked and laughed, gone to a movie and dinner, and then talked some more over coffee in an all-night diner. Even in the wee hours of the morning Lauren had been reluctant to return to her condo. He’d seen her up to her door and kissed her, and the moment had been magical. She’d felt the attraction to him right away—not the physical way she had with other men. This was deeper, stronger, different. She’d been drawn to him as a man, a person with intelligence. When she’d compiled that list of characteristics she wanted in a man it was as if she’d modeled the details after Rooster. It was early yet—they barely knew each other—but nevertheless, Lauren felt it would be very easy to fall in love with him. Unfortunately, their time together would be short.
The thought of Rooster riding with Max back to California in only a few hours left her feeling bereft. It seemed they were just getting to know each other. He didn’t want to leave any more than she wanted him to go, and seeing how late it already was, he extended his visit for an extra day. Right away they started making plans, and Rooster had suggested the Mariners game. She was up for anything and was certain whatever he had in mind would be fun.
Her doorbell chimed, and Lauren practically danced across the room to answer it. Rooster was early, which suited her just fine.
Only it wasn’t Rooster who was on the other side of the door. Instead, Todd Hampton greeted her with a huge floral bouquet. He flashed her one of his most charming smiles.
“I come in peace.” He stretched out his arm to hand her the flowers. “And to show you how sincere I am when I say I don’t want to lose you.”
Too shocked to respond, Lauren didn’t know what to say. Her mouth sagged open and her mind whirled with dismay, fearing Rooster would arrive and find her with Todd.
Lauren hadn’t seen or talked to her former boyfriend since that disastrous confrontation Friday evening at the restaurant. Because she didn’t know what else to do, she accepted the flowers.
“I wanted to apologize,” he said, looking contrite and sincere. “I know you’re upset, and I don’t blame you. I behaved like a jealous buffoon. I tried to phone several times, but you didn’t answer.”
“Todd, listen—”
“I’ve thought about what you said, and you’re right—”
“This isn’t a good time,” she said, her voice gaining strength. “I’m leaving in a few minutes.” She hated to be rude, but she really didn’t want Rooster to see Todd at her place, not when she’d just gotten matters straight with him after the last time. She took hold of Todd’s elbow and steered him back toward the open door.
He frowned. “You don’t have time to hear my apology?” He sounded hurt and confused. “I care about you, Lauren. Can’t we talk this out?”
“Not today.”
“Tomorrow, then?”
She preferred to avoid the question. “Thank you for the flowers, they’re lovely and very kind, but unnecessary.”
He relaxed, and that oh-so-easy smile of his effortlessly slid into place. It was the same one he used in front of the newsroom camera. “I knew that in time you’d be willing to put this behind us.”