Page 44 of Obsessed Fox

"Only," she laughed.

Our food was delivered and we ate in silence. I never thought about our age difference until today. Maisie always seemed wise beyond her years and it was no secret I wasn't the most mature one of my friends. I didn't have to be when I had people like Nolen and Aaron in my life who took everything seriously. They more than made up for my goofing off.

Now that she brought it up, I couldn't stop thinking about it. We were halfway done with our waffles when I finally asked, "Does me being forty-nine bother you?"

Maisie set her fork down and crossed her arms on the table. Giving me her full attention when she answered. "Honestly? No. I mean, I knew you were older than me but I never stopped tothink about how many years older. A person could be fifty years older, and as long as we have a connection, I'm fine with it."

"I hope you mean a friend because there's no way in hell I'm letting you date someone fifty years older than you, or anyone other than me, for that matter."

She scoffed at my answer but went back to eating her breakfast.

After I paid the bill and said goodbye to Bee, I dropped Maisie off at the bakery with a kiss and a promise to come pick her up when it closed. She had the nerve to make some offhanded comment about being able to get to my house on her own but I quickly dismissed it. I wouldn't be letting her move around the town alone now that her brother knew where she was.

I waited until she was safely inside the bakery before shoving my hands in my pockets and whistling as I walked the short distance to work.

"Good morning." I smiled at Annalee as soon as I walked through the front door.

"I bet it is." She smirked back at me. "Rumor on the street is you publicly claimed our girl for the whole town to see."

I stopped at her desk and plopped my ass on the edge. "Rumor on the street, huh? Who you getting your information from?"

"Oh, please. We all know Bee can't keep her mouth closed. If the old woman knew how to use a computer, I'm sure she would've blasted a post about it for the town to see!"

I laughed at the image of Bee using a computer. That poor woman needed help writing her letter the first time she sent it out to the fans of the town. How she managed to rope someone new into doing it each month was beyond me. Elizabella and Bee sure had a way of getting what they wanted.

"So is that who blabbed?"

I didn't care one way or another; I wanted everyone to know. I was just curious how it got to Annalee so quickly.

"Of course. She called me immediately to ask what I knew. I told her my lips were sealed."

I didn't believe that for a second. Annalee fit right in with the gossip queens. She might not blab to everyone but she would for sure be calling Kati to talk about the development.

"I'm sure you did. Tell Kati I said hi since I know that's who you're calling next."

I ignored her protests and headed into the back, where I found Nolen at his usual spot at the table. His head was down as he feverishly typed away on his computer. I often wondered what he was so engrossed in when the rest of us weren't that busy.

"Got a minute for me?" I took the seat next to him.

"Sure." He stopped typing to look up at me. "I'm surprised it took you this long to find me. I expected to hear from you last night."

"I needed to take care of Maisie last night."

He nodded like he understood. "How's she doing?"

"Seeing her brother again after so long really shook her up. She misses him. Their childhood wasn't all sunshine and roses, so they only had each other."

"Why did he show up after all this time?"

"To reiterate that we need to stop looking into him."

Nolen looked shocked. "How the hell does he know that? Our servers are secure and I don't leave a trail."

I shrugged my shoulder. "Beats me, but for the time being, I say we pause looking into what he's doing now. I don't want to put Maisie at risk. I would like you to look into his life before Atlas died though. Some of the things he said got me thinking."

"Anything you would like to share with the class?"

I shook my head. "Not yet. I want to see what you find first."

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