Page 9 of Her Billionaire's Baby Secret

“I know that. But it still messes with my head.”

“Don’t let it. That kind of worry doesn’t help anything.” Chase took another bite of his bread.

Their server came out with their salads and set the plates down in front of them.

Kane poured the peppercorn ranch dressing over his leafy greens before taking his fork and stabbing the lettuce. “I’m more worried about my grandmother.”

“How’s she doing?” Chase asked.

“Not well. I’m thinking about staying behind after the funeral to give her some additional support. She’s really been struggling with my grandpa’s death.”

“That’s tough. Let me know if I can do anything.”

“I will. Are you planning on going to the funeral?” Kane stabbed at his salad and took a bite.

“Lauren and I will be there.”

“I have a feeling it’s going to be packed,” Kane said.

“I can see that. Your grandfather was a well-loved man in Maple Creek. Wasn’t he the mayor at one time? We were pretty young, but I seem to remember that.”

“He was the mayor. You have a good memory.” Kane wiped his mouth. “How’s Lauren doing?”

“She’s starting to get tired of being pregnant. It’s getting to the point that the fun is wearing off as her back’s been hurting more.”

Kane thought about Orchid’s back hurting. He would have been the most devoted husband, concerned about her every ache and pain. But she’d killed whatever love was left between them when she’d decided to cheat repeatedly. He was done. She’d robbed him of the chance to be excited expectant father. Their marriage had been dead long before he’d even suspected that she’d been cheating. He’d noticed that she’d become distant. He’d been caught up in his work. He knew he’d done his part to contribute to the death of their marriage.

They finished their salads just as their server brought out their main entrees. Kane cut into his roasted chicken and took a bite. It was just as flavorful and moist as he’d remembered it being. “This is fantastic,” he said.

“The meatloaf is really good too. It tastes homemade.”

“My grandma makes a killer meatloaf.” Kane sawed off another bite of chicken and put it in his mouth.

“Hey, what are you two doing here?” a voice to his left asked. Kane looked up to see Carrington standing next to their booth. Sariah stood behind her.

“Just grabbing some food,” Chase said.

The hostess waited with menus for the two girls at the table near them.

“Do you two want to join us?” Kane offered. “We have room here for you.”

“Sure.” Carrington smiled at him. She took the seat next to Chase, and Sariah sat next to Kane. She was close enough that he could smell her perfume, a fresh crisp scent that suited her and brought back memories of kissing her in the backseat of his car in high school. He couldn’t believe she was still wearing the same perfume after all these years.

He didn’t know what he was thinking, inviting them to sit with Chase and him. The words had just slipped out of his mouth. He should have known better than to let Sariah sit so close. She still affected him, even after all these years. It wasn’t something he could control.

“Have you guys heard about the new mall they want to build?” Carrington asked after they’d ordered.

“We were actually just talking about that,” Kane said.

“I can’t believe they want to build a mall here,” Sariah said. “If we want to go shopping, we can drive to Roanoke. There’s perfectly good options there.”

“Think of all the traffic it would bring here,” Carrington said.

“There has to be something we can do to stop them,” Sariah said.

“There’s a city council meeting about it next week,” Chase said.

“I think I’m going to it,” Sariah said.

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