Page 63 of A Secret Chance
“Shhhh. Language, Charlotte. She can probably hear everything we’re saying.” Lauren jerked her head toward the living room where Tabitha had commandeered the TV.
“Fine, don’t be a flipping idiot. Now change.”
“No.”
Charlotte rushed over to Lauren and whispered in her ear. “He said he would wait for you and you’re terrified that he actually will. You’re trying to ruin any chance of being with him, aren’t you?”
“No,” Lauren said. She sat down on the bed and stared at the green sweater in her hands. “Maybe.”
“Go talk to him,” Charlotte sat down beside her. “If there’s a chance, even a remote one, that you two could be together in the future, don’t ruin it by being a bitch today.”
Lauren stood up and pulled her university sweatshirt off over her head, exposing her bare breasts and she reached for the bra on her bed. “Wait, try it without,” Charlotte said.
“You’re crazy.” Lauren shook her head and clipped on her most comfortable bra.
“That thing is hideous.” Charlotte’s lingerie collection easily cost her more than all of Lauren’s clothes put together, and probably her car too.
“It doesn’t matter because no one is going to see it.” Lauren put on the outfit and smoothed the green sweater with her hands. It felt as good as the first day she had worn it.
“Lauren, tell him today or tell him next week, but that is a good man and he deserves to know. Promise me that you won’t keep this secret from him.”
“I already decided that I was going to wait until after the hearing. I’m just not ready yet.” Lauren had laced up her boots and gotten into her warmest outdoor jacket and hat.
“I’ll stay here with Tabitha. You go and just talk to him. Get to know him with your clothes on.”
“Ha. Ha.” Lauren opened the door and slipped out onto the porch. Baxter looked up mid-scoop.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“It doesn’t look like it’s going to stop, I’d hate to see you get snowed in.” He tossed the snow onto the shoulder height snowbank.
Lauren strode down the stairs and took the shovel from his hand. “That’s not necessary.” She stuck the blade of the shovel in the snowbank. “But thank you.”
Her ass was still stinging from the box of tissues Charlotte had whipped at her. The power of the box with its pointy corners was shocking. “I can’t do a full tour as we talked about.”
“That’s fine,” Baxter said. “I just wanted to come and talk to you about what happened last night.”
“How about we go for a quick walk?” Lauren offered. She had felt bad keeping Baxter out in the cold but wasn’t ready to tell him about Tabitha, let alone do it while the two of them were in the same room together. The faster she could get him away from the house, and their daughter, the better.
“Sure,” he said. “Just a quick walk.”
***
THREE HOURS LATER,the two of them had walked down Main Street and Lauren had introduced him to all of the local small business owners.
“See, it’s these people who are going to suffer when you take business away from the downtown area. They survive on the business from the ski hill. If you take that opportunity away from them, all of those people, good people, will lose their livelihood.”
Baxter knew that his development was going to impact the town, but until then the Rapidians had been faceless and nameless. Merely, statistics on a piece of paper. Now, the idea of that sweet old lady Muriel losing her business because of him made his guts churn.
“I thought that this was supposed to be a quick walk.” He checked his watch.
“I hadn’t expected everyone to actually want to talk to you.”
“Really?” He clutched his chest like he had been hurt, then pumped his eyebrows twice. “You forgot to take into account that I’m charming as hell.”
Lauren laughed, her first real laugh of the day, and his chest swelled. “I’ll give you that, Mr. Caldwell. You certainly have a way with the... everyone.” It sounded like she was going to say ladies, but then corrected herself. They had managed to walk together for almost three hours without talking about what was going on between them.
“I could say the same thing about you.”
