His mother regarded her with shock. “You wouldn’t dare!”
Jeanette’s eyes blazed with righteous indignation. “Try me,” she said, not backing down an inch.
His mother blinked rapidly, then turned on her heel. “Tom, suddenly I’m not at all hungry. We should go.”
“I’ll be right there, Mother.” He met Jeanette’s gaze. She was looking just a little shaken. “Did you really have to do that?” he asked mildly.
She winced. “What? Stand up for myself? Yes, I believe I did. It was something I should have done four years ago when the unfortunate incident happened.”
He shook his head, then gave her a quick kiss. “Just so you know, you were formidable. I’ll call you later.”
And then he left to try to make amends with his mother, not on Jeanette’s behalf, but on his own. He probably should have jumped to her defense, but he’d been so taken aback and, yes, impressed by Jeanette’s tirade, he hadn’t been able to interrupt. The woman was amazing...and just a little scary!
* * *
Outside, he found his mother in the passenger seat of her car, all but quivering with outrage. “How well do you know that little trollop?” she inquired.
“Careful, Mother,” he warned as he slid behind the wheel. “Jeanette is a friend.”
His mother looked horrified. “Well, I forbid it!” she declared.
Tom laughed. “I’m a little old for you to be deciding who my playmates should be.”
“I’m telling you that woman is a menace. I don’t care what she says, I’m calling her boss to report her.”
Tom’s expression sobered at once. “No, Mother, you’re not doing that.”
“I most certainly am. I believe I’ll call the licensing board or whatever it is that regulates that business, as well.”
“You do that, and you and I are done,” he told her quietly.
She looked startled for an instant, then her gaze narrowed. “Why do you mind? You should be grateful that I’m taking care of the matter before she stirs up bad publicity for one of your businesses here in town. Unless this woman means more to you than you’ve admitted.”
“Let’s leave my friendship with Jeanette out of this,” he said. “Don’t you think that you trying to get her fired will stir up bad publicity? Come on, Mother, that’s exactly what you want. You’re hoping to publicly humiliate her, even though you were the one at fault.”
She touched a hand to her cheek. “If you’d only seen what she did to me,” she said, her expression miserable. “My face was covered with these huge red blotches. And I had to attend a major event that night wearing so much makeup I’m surprised my face didn’t crack.”
“You could have stayed home,” Tom suggested. “You’ve had hives before when you’ve tried a new skin lotion that contained whatever ingredient it is you’re allergic to. Jeanette was absolutely right about that. You should have told her about your allergy.”
His mother regarded him with dismay. “Why are you taking her side against your own mother?” she asked, then gasped. “She’s the one, isn’t she? She’s the woman you’re interested in.”
Tom debated giving an evasive answer, but what would be the point? They might as well have this out here and now. “Yes, she is. And I would consider it a personal favor if you would drop this whole ridiculous matter. You were more at fault than she was, and you know it.”
“Thomas Winston McDonald, don’t you even consider getting involved with that woman!” she commanded. “Aside from my issues with her, she is beneath you. She does facials, for heaven’s sake. You need to find a woman who’s your social equal, not some little trollop who’s probably a high-school dropout.”
Tom regarded her with pity. “I warned you, Mother,” he said quietly, opening the door and exiting the car. “We’re done here.”
“Thomas, get back in this car,” she demanded.
He closed the door and walked away. He knew this wouldn’t be the end of it. By nightfall, his father would know all about his ill-advised choice of female companionship and then things would really get out of control. On days like this, he wished they’d just write him off and stay the hell out of his life.
* * *
When Jeanette returned to the kitchen to pick up Maddie’s order, she felt sick to her stomach. She had never in her life talked to anyone the way she had to Mrs. McDonald. On one hand, she was exhilarated to have finally spoken up to a woman who was little better than a bully. On the other, that woman was the mother of a man she was attracted to.
She wove through the chaos in the kitchen, found a stool and sat down out of the way. Sighing, she grabbed one of the huge iced red-hat sugar cookies Erik had made for the group’s dessert and bit into it.
“Don’t let Erik catch you with that,” Dana Sue murmured, pausing next to her, several boxes of baked goods for the spa in her arms. She set them down. “Are you okay? You look a little flushed.”
“I told off Tom’s mother,” she admitted.
“Oh boy,” Dana Sue said, regarding her with sympathy. “How’d that go?”
“Let’s just say I don’t think she and I will ever be bosom buddies,” Jeanette said wryly.
“How about Tom? Whose side did he take?”
“I think he was too stunned to say much, but he didn’t seem mad at me.” She grinned, despite her mood. “To tell you the truth, I think he was on my side. He said he’d call me later.”
“Good for him,” Dana Sue said. “Some men have trouble choosing a woman they like over their own mother.”
“Been there, done that,” Jeanette told her. “Tom gets real points with me for not jumping immediately to her defense and for keeping an open
