Page 26 of Honey Bee Library
I forced a smile. “It’s perfect.”
His expression turned to one of relief and he nodded. “Good.”
“Morning,” a soft feminine voice—that was certainlynotJasper—had me turning to see who had spoken. A beautiful blonde woman in a tailored pencil skirt and a dark blue satin top was standing in the doorway of the kitchen. She smiled when her gaze met mine before she stepped forward and extended her hand. “You must be Willow.”
“I am,” I whispered as I shook her hand.
“I’m Maddie. It’s nice to meet you.”
Her hand was warm and soft. Everything about this woman exuded kindness. But for some reason, my entire body wanted to reject her. I fought the urge to pull my hand back and run away.
And then I realized why. There had been no indication in any of my interactions with Cole that he was dating anyone. He always came to the diner alone and left alone. But this woman was here with Cole,andshe’d stayed the night. While Jasper and I were here.
Was this his girlfriend or…was she a booty call? Acid rose up in my throat, and I swallowed to push it down. She didn’t look like a booty call. In fact, she seemed sweet. I hated that I was suspicious of this woman, but what else was I supposed to think?
She was at the house before the sun had even started to peek over the horizon, which left me with only one conclusion: she was part of Cole’s life.
Sometimes two plus two equaled four, even if I didn’t want it to.
My mind was swirling with questions as Maddie dropped her hand and turned to talk to Cole. They were standing shoulder to shoulder as he got a mug down and filled it for her. I noticed he didn’t ask her what she took in her coffee—he just knew.
Their voices were hushed, but in all honesty, I wasn’t interested in listening to what they were saying. I didn’t need to hear them speak sweet nothings to each other.
Maddie was here for Cole, and the last thing I needed was to be jealous. Cole wasn’t mine.
“Mommy?”
Jasper’s voice snapped me out of my spiral. I straightened and moved in the direction of his voice. He was standing in the hallway, looking around.
“Right here, bubba,” I said as I picked him up.
He wiggled against my grasp, but I held tight. I needed him. I needed to focus on my son. This was who mattered in my life, not Cole. The physical input of holding my son helped bring me back down to earth.
“Are you hungry?” I asked as I carried him to the kitchen table, where Cole and Maddie joined us.
Cole was carrying my coffee mug and his, while Maddie held hers between her two hands.
“This looks amazing,” Maddie said as she pulled out the chair at the head of the table.
“Willow made it.” Cole hadn’t moved. He was standing next to the table, his gaze trained on me like he was waiting for something.
“Where do you want to sit, bubba?” I asked Jasper as I kept my focus on his adorable little face.
“There.” He pointed to a barstool.
“You don’t want to sit at the table?”
He shook his head and wiggled once more. My arms were on fire now—I rarely picked him up anymore—so I set him down on his feet. He made his way over to the barstool and pulled it back.
“He can sit there,” Cole said as he set the mugs of coffee down and moved to pick up one of the plates.
“I’ve got it,” I said as I hurried to gather Jasper’s place setting.
I didn’t need Cole’s help. I could take care of my son on my own. The last thing I needed was to trust another man. I knew it was irrational for me to react this way to finding out Cole was dating some other woman. For some ridiculous reason, I felt like he’d betrayed me, and I hated that feeling. It made me vulnerable.
When I was vulnerable, I broke. And I was tired of being broken.
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