When We Met (Fool's Gold #13)(51)

Had the request come from anyone else, Taryn would have told the woman to suck it up and get over it. That having a child would be an on-the-job training experience, as it had been for millions of women. But she knew Felicia was different. Taryn knew all about never quite fitting in. Felicia had experienced it because she was so intelligent. Taryn had been an outsider growing up because no one could be allowed to get close enough to guess the family secrets.

She lightly touched Felicia’s arm. “There’s going to be a mother-daughter tea. Angel just texted me about it.” She smiled. “He’s totally freaked, which is pretty fun. If you came to that, you can see the girls and how they are with their moms.”

Felicia nodded. “That would be wonderful and very informative. Thank you so much.” She paused. “I’d hug you, but I’m not sure our relationship has gotten to that level of intimacy and I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

Taryn laughed, then reached for the other woman. “Let’s be wild,” she said.

Felicia flung herself at Taryn and held on tight. When they’d both straightened, Felicia was wiping away tears.

“Hormones are very powerful. I find myself crying at the littlest things. It’s disconcerting. On the other hand, my sexual desire is significantly increased. Gideon says I’m exhausting him.” She smiled. “Which he adores.”

“You’re really weird,” Taryn said. “I like you, but you’re strange.”

“I know, but I’ve learned to live with it.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

ANGEL DISCOVERED THAT being a Grove Keeper took a whole lot more time than he had expected. It wasn’t the meetings with the girls that were the problem—it was how he was expected to attend biweekly Grove Keeper meetings. This time he’d dragged Taryn along. He’d said it was so he got all the details for the upcoming mother-daughter tea right, but the truth was he wanted the distraction of having her near him.

He liked being around her. Not just looking at her, but breathing the same air. He liked how she moved, how she spoke and how she laughed. Over the past few years, he’d discovered that he liked strong women with attitude. Marie had been like that, in her fiery Cajun way. She could cuss at him in languages he’d never heard.

Consuelo was tough, which was why he enjoyed rooming with her. She had simple rules, and if everybody followed them, life was smooth. If not, the offending party had a fifty-fifty chance of waking up with a scorpion in his bed.

Taryn was just as powerful, but on a completely different plane. She ran a multimillion-dollar business, kept former football players in line and then could spend an afternoon teaching seven-year-olds how to French-braid their hair.

As they walked into the conference room, he leaned close. “You ditched the power suit.”

“I wanted to fit in.”

He held in a grin. Her idea of fitting in was white capri pants with a black leaf design, a fitted short-sleeve white sweater and black wedge sandals with a bunch of straps. An outfit, he would guess, that cost more than the average car payment. Her handbag had a big bow on it and was made by somebody called Valentino. He didn’t know who Valentino was, but Angel would guess he or she had never come to Fool’s Gold.

They took their seats at the large table. Taryn leaned toward him. “The ladies like you.”

He glanced around at the other participants. They were mostly women, but that was to be expected. “There are a few dads who come to the meetings.”

“Yes, but you’re getting the special smiles.”

He flashed her a smile. “It’s the scar. Chicks dig scars.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Do they?”

Denise Hendrix walked to the front of the table, took her seat and called the meeting to order.

Each of the Keepers had to report on his or her grove. Angel waited until it was his turn, then stood and said the girls were doing well with their community service project. The puppies were responding well to the attention. He sat down as quickly as he could.

Taryn leaned close and patted his leg. “Well done,” she whispered.

When everyone had updated their grove status, Denise shuffled a few papers, then smiled broadly.

“I have some exciting news. As those of you who have been Grove Keepers before know, we try to arrange an all-grove campout. For logistical reasons we didn’t think we were going to be able to pull it together this year, but the campsite we like best has become available and I say we go for it.”

Several of the women cheered. Taryn’s mouth straightened.

“Camping?” she asked quietly. “As in sleeping outdoors on purpose?”

He chuckled. “Think of it as good practice for your Living Life at a Run weekend.”

“I’d rather not. You and I are planning to go hiking. Isn’t that enough?”

He grinned.

“I’ll be emailing each of you the particulars this afternoon,” Denise continued. “As we’ve done in the past, there will be a separate camping area for the parents who wish to stay close.” Her brown eyes found him. “Angel, this affects you particularly. You have the youngest grove. For many of the girls, this will be their first camping experiencing. Except for sleepovers, it may be their first night away from their family. That can create emotional reactions.”

His pleasure at the thought of a weekend camping out fizzled. “Emotional reactions?”