“Oh, is that how it is?”
The twinkle in Shelby’s eyes made Roxxy bite her lip to keep from groaning. They were as close as mother and daughter could be. Growing up, Roxxy had always shared everything with her. From her first crush, her first kiss, to even the crap Korey had pulled on her.
“You’ve never returned home from an assignment with such a pep in your step.”
Did she want to tell her about Myles yet?
That would mean spilling the beans that she’d had a one-night stand with him—twice.
What would she think?
“Okay, okay, okay.” Roxxy faced her. She would only tell her the PG version of the story just to get her off her back. “You have to promise not to say a word to Dad.”
“I knew it!” Shelby jumped in place with a large smile on her face.
Roxxy rolled her eyes. Looking at her mom was like peering into a mirror that revealed what she’d look like in thirty years.
“I can keep a secret from your father.”
“Calm down, geesh.” Roxxy snagged a kitchen towel and dried her hands. “If you must know, I met someone.”
“A man. I knew it.” Her mother paused, her brown eyes growing wide. “Was he handsome?”
“Yes,” Roxxy sighed, thinking of Myles’s devilish good looks. She couldn’t fight the silly grin from spreading now. Just thinking of Myles had her feeling all giddy inside. “He’s tall, muscular, bald head.”
“I’m liking what I’m hearing so far.”
“Mom!” Roxxy burst out laughing at her mom’s response.
“I may be your mother, but I’m still a woman.” Shelby shrugged.
Jesus, help me. Roxxy closed her eyes, not wanting to go down the train of thought of Shelby being a ‘woman’.
“Too much information,” she muttered, turning back to the sink. She dove her hands in the warm soapy water in search of the next plate. After she’d finished cleaning the dishes she would take Sunshine for a run. Whenever she was gone too many days in a row, her faithful mare knew. Roxxy would have to go groveling for forgiveness. A nice bag of apples always seemed to do the trick. Sunshine would be eating out of her hands in no time and all would be forgiven.
“Hush, girl. Now finish telling me about Mr. Tall and Muscular. What’s his name?”
“Myles Burton. He’s on the SWAT team. Former Army—”
“Any good in bed?”
“Mom!” she exclaimed. She faced Shelby in shock. If she had pearls around her neck, she’d be clutching them now. She stood unable to form any words.
“Now don’t go looking at me like that. You got here somehow, and it was not immaculate conception.” Her mother pushed Roxxy out of the way. She gripped the dishrag from the water and wrung it. She let the water out and hummed like it was any other day they’d cleaned the kitchen together.
“For all I care to know I was delivered by a big white stork.” Roxxy threw her hands up in the air and stepped away from her. There was no way she was thinking of her parents having sexual relations to conceive her.
The stork came, dropped off baby Roxxy Lynn, and that was how it had gone down.
“You still haven’t answered my question, but I already got my answer. It’s written all over your face.” Shelby wiped down the countertops and shook her hand in the air at Roxxy.
“I’m done with this conversation.” Roxxy chuckled. She moved back to the sink and ran the water to rinse out the final suds. They had cleaned the kitchen countless amounts of times tougher, and working beside her mother was second nature.
“I just hope he treats you better than Korey,” Shelby muttered.
Roxxy paused at what she was doing. When it came to Korey and Myles, there was no comparing them. Myles didn’t have a dishonest bone in his body. Korey, on the other hand, she didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him. She glanced out the window and stared off onto the lands that surrounded the house. The Sutton farm was full of lush greenery. It was where she’d grown up and it would always be a part of her. “In the small amount of time I’ve known him, he’s practically wiped Korey from my memory.”
“Sounds like he’s a good man then,” Shelby replied quietly.
Roxxy turned and met her mom’s wise gaze. “He is.”
“I can’t wait to meet him.”
Roxxy shut off the water and glanced around the kitchen. She hadn’t realized how much time had passed. The kitchen practically glowed. Now she would go for a ride. She couldn’t wait. The feel of having her horse beneath her and the wind blowing through her hair was one of her favorite outdoor activities.
“We’re going to take it a day at a time. You know, test the waters out.”
“That’s smart.”
“Yeah. I just don’t want to be hurt again the way Korey did me.” She grew silent thinking of all the hateful things Korey had said to her. As if she’d driven him to cheat on her. He hadn’t been a man and taken responsibility for his actions—no, according to him, it was her fault.
“Listen, baby.” She took Roxxy by her hands and entwined their fingers together.
Roxxy stared up at her and felt as if she were a teenager again. Shelby had a knack for calming Roxxy down.
“The man upstairs didn’t mean for you to end up with Korey. That was divine intervention to show you the type of man Korey truly is.”
Roxxy blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. Leave it up to her mother to go deep.
