“Because.”
“That’s not a reason.”
“Okay.” She raised a hand toward him. “You’re thirty and I’m thirty-eight.”
“So.”
“So I have a young son.” She dropped her hand. “I can’t just . . . just can’t go around . . . with you.”
“Because I’m thirty?”
She’d already lived so much down. “People will talk.” And it was nice walking into a room and not hearing whispers behind her back.
“So what?”
If he could say that, then people had never talked about him. “They’ll say I’m a cougar, and that you must want someone to take care of you.”
“Bullshit.” He moved across the kitchen and grabbed his coat. “You’re not old enough to be a cougar.” He shoved his arms into the sleeves. “I have my own house and car and money. I don’t need a woman to take care of me. I can take care of myself and anyone else in my life.” He stormed across the kitchen but paused in the doorway long enough to say, “I tried to do the right thing today, but the next time I get my hands on you, we’re not going to stop.” She heard him walk through the living room and open the front door. Then, “Hello Mrs. Brooks.”
Crap! Her mom.
“Deputy Matthews?” Lily raised a hand to her throat as her mouth fell open. Please God, just let her mom walk inside without stopping to ramble. “How’s your cat?” Obviously God wasn’t listening to Lily Darlington. Probably punishing her for putting her hands on the young neighbor.
“Pinky’s good. Thanks for asking.”
“Marylyle Jeffers had a black cat like yours. She had diabetes and had to have her foot cut off.” No wonder Lily acted a bit imprudent sometimes. Her mother was one taco short of a combo plate. “Leg too.”
“Oh I’m sorry—”
“Then she caught the pleurisy and died. Not saying it was her cat, but she did have horrible luck. Even before she was struck with—”
“Momma, you’re letting out the bought air,” Lily interrupted and stuck her head into the living room. She couldn’t look at Tucker and pinned her gaze squarely on her mother’s pile of gray hair. She was sure she was a bright red and didn’t know what was more embarrassing—what she’d done with Tucker or her mother’s inane rambling. “Thank you again for carrying in my groceries, Deputy Matthews.”
“You’re welcome. See you two ladies around.”
Louella Brooks stared at the closed door, then turned her gaze to her youngest daughter. “Well.”
That one word packed a wealth of meaning. Lily ducked back into the kitchen, looked at the two coffee mugs, and raised the Everything’s Bigger In Texas mug to her mouth. She managed to hammer back half. It burned her tongue and throat and she set it back down as her mother entered the room.
“He certainly is a nice-looking boy.”
Lily swallowed past her scalded taste buds and throat. She reached for her pink Deeann’s Duds mug and turned with a slight smile on her face. “Nice too. He carried in my groceries.”
A scowl settled into the wrinkles on her mother’s face. “You’re a single woman, Lily. You have to be careful who you let in your house.”
“He’s a deputy. What do you think he’s going to do? Kill me?” Touch me? Kiss me? Drive me as crazy as everyone says I am?
“I wasn’t talking about your physical safety.”
Lily knew that. “He just carried in my groceries and had a half a cup of coffee.” With her free hand, she pointed to the mug on the counter. “Then he left.” And thank God too. If he hadn’t stopped when he had, her mother would have used her key and strolled inside. The mere thought of her mother walking in on her and Tucker was too horrible to contemplate.
“Single gals can’t be too careful when it comes to their reputations. Just the other day, the cable repairman was in Doreen Jaworski’s house for three hours.” She gave Lily a knowing look. “Cable repairs don’t take three hours.”
“Ma, Doreen is in her seventies.”
“Exactly. She always did wear her clothes kind of sudden. Or course that was before she married Lynn Jaworski . . . which just goes to show, people’s memories are longer than pulled taffy.”
Lily closed her eyes and blew into her coffee.
“Her daughter Dorlynn didn’t fall far from that tree. She—”
Lily didn’t bother to stop her mother. Louella was going to talk until she ran out of words, which could take a while. Since her mother’s retirement from the Wild Coyote Diner, the rambling had gotten worse. Nothing to do for it but block out her mother’s voice and retreat into her own head. Unfortunately, her head was filled with Tucker. He’d said he wanted a relationship, but he didn’t know her. Didn’t know her past and what everyone said about her. At least not yet. He’d no doubt change his mind once she heard about the Ronnie incident of ’04.
Lily took a sip of coffee and winced as it hit her scalded tongue. But her past wasn’t the biggest reason any sort of relationship was impossible. She was busy. She didn’t have time. She couldn’t get involved with him.
He was thirty. She hadn’t even known what she’d wanted at thirty.
He might not have a problem with the age difference, but she did. People would call her a cougar. That crazy cougar, Lily Darlington. If it was just about her, she might risk it. Might show the world her middle finger. But it wasn’t just her. She’d gone to school with a momma who wasn’t wound too tight. Kids could be really cruel, and she couldn’t do that to Pip.
CHAPTER FIVE
The rows of track lighting in Lily Belle’s Salon and Day Spa sparkled like gold fire in the sequins of the owner’s dress. The long-sleeved dress covered Lily from collar bone to mid-thigh, and might have been considered modest if not for the fact that it clung to the curves of her body. A body she kept thin and toned through a busy life, Rodney Yee, and the Pilates Power Gym in one of the spa’s back rooms. She not only cut hair, she was the owner and face of her business, and it was important that she reflect a positive, healthy image.
Lily’s blond hair was pulled into a loose, sexy bun on the left side of her head, and she stood in the middle of the spa, chatting and sipping her first glass of champagne of the night. The party was officially over in half an hour and she was looking forward to slipping her feet out of the sparkly gold pumps. The spa had given away over ten thousand dollars in products and services and signed up a lot of clients for spa packages. Given the expense of the party and giveaways, Lily figured she’d broken even, which was fine with her. Her goal had been to bring in new clients, make them happy so they’d return. And with each return visit, happy clients generally wanted to try the newest facial or latest filler.
“I need to get going,” her sister, Daisy, said as she moved toward Lily. She wove her arms through her tan trench coat and pulled her blond hair from beneath the collar. Daisy was six months pregnant and a red maternity dress hugged her belly. Daisy was older, but Lily was taller. There were other little differences between the two, but they looked enough alike that there was no denying they were sisters.
“I’ll walk you out.”
“No need.”
“I want to.” Lily set her glass on a table and moved through the spa toward the front. “I’m so glad you came tonight.”
“I didn’t win a darn thing, though.”
Lily smiled and opened the door. “Don’t worry about it. I know the owner and I’ll hook you up.”
“Good, ’cause once this baby is born, I need some color in my hair and Botox in my forehead.”
Lily folded her arms across her chest and huddled against the chill of the night. “I’ve been trying to talk mom into getting Dysport because she doesn’t want ‘poison’ in her face.”
Daisy laughed. “How did it go with Ronnie yesterday?”
Lily shrugged as the two moved across the parking lot. Their heels tapping against the pavement as they walked to Daisy’s new van. “Ronnie was an hour late, of course. But he did make it.”
