“I think I’d run off with the biker who set my thighs on fire,” Nevada said. She smiled. “Assuming you mean setting them on fire the good way and not with a match.”
“Well, of course. I’m not interested in dating a pyromaniac.” Denise shook her head. “It’s very complicated at my age. You girls don’t understand. You’re still very young. The rules aren’t the same for you.”
“Are you saying you were sexually attracted to him and you’re afraid to act on it?” Dakota asked, oddly terrified of the answer. She told herself that they were all adults here, and her mother was as much a sexual being as the rest of them. But it was still strange to be having this conversation with a parent.
“No. I was speaking theoretically.” Denise picked up her coffee. “There wasn’t any chemistry. We kissed.” She shuddered delicately. “Maybe I’m too old to have a man’s tongue in my mouth.”
Dakota did her best not to flinch. Nevada stiffened and Montana shrieked, then covered her ears with her hands.
“I can’t,” Montana said. “I know it’s not mature, but I just can’t have you talking about this. It’s icky.” She dropped her hands. “Not icky exactly, but just too much information.”
Hannah clapped her hands and laughed at her aunt’s antics.
“At least you’re amused,” Dakota told her little girl, then kissed the top of her head. She turned her attention to her mother. “While I’m willing to be more mature about this than my sister, I will admit that it’s strange to talk about you having a sex life. But as a trained professional, I will listen.”
Denise laughed. “You girls are ridiculous. I’m talking about French kissing. It’s not like I described twenty minutes of intercourse.”
Montana covered her ears again and started humming. Nevada looked like she was ready to bolt.
“It’s probably best you didn’t have sex on the first date,” Dakota said, hoping she sounded calm and reasonable. She was completely with her sisters. Anywhere but here. Parental sex discussions should be illegal. “It’s been a long time for you. You were married to Dad for all those years and now you’ve been a widow for a decade. Starting the dating game slowly makes the most sense.”
“That’s what I thought,” her mother said primly. “The kissing was really just an experiment. I wondered what it would be like with another man. It wasn’t that great.”
Montana dropped her hands again. “Maybe it wasn’t the kissing, maybe it was the guy. Chemistry matters. There has to be that spark.”
“Maybe he was a nice enough man,” their mother said. “But there was no spark. I’m not going out with him again. I want to say I’m never going out again but it would be silly to make that decision based on a single date. I’ll think about it.”
She turned to Dakota. “And while we’re on the subject about thinking about things—have you told Finn about being pregnant?”
“Is Finn pregnant, too?” Montana asked, grinning.
“I’m ignoring you,” her mother said. “Eat your breakfast.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Montana reached for her fork.
The other two looked at Dakota. She shifted on her feet. “I haven’t told him, exactly.”
Her mother’s expression turned disapproving. “This is not information you keep to yourself. Finn has the right to know he’s going to be a father.”
“I know, and I’m going to tell him. Soon.” She drew in a breath. “Every time I think about telling him, I get a knot in my stomach. He’s still here. He doesn’t have to be here, but he is. Everything is settled with his brothers and he hasn’t said when he’s leaving. Which makes me think I might be the reason he’s staying.”
“You’re afraid if you tell him about the baby, he’ll run,” Nevada said gently.
“Yes,” Dakota whispered, knowing it was cowardly and still the truth. “I love him. I want him to stay. Having him go would break my heart.”
“Then tell him that,” Montana suggested. “Knowing how you feel could change his mind. And you don’t know that he won’t be happy about the baby. He might surprise you.”
Dakota would like to believe that, but she wasn’t holding her breath. As for telling Finn that she loved him…
“I don’t want him to see my feelings as a trap,” she admitted. “I don’t want him to think I’m telling him I love him to get him to stay. I’m not sure I can tell him those two things together. But if I tell him I love him and then tell him about the baby, it’s still a trap. If I tell him about the baby, I probably won’t get a chance to tell him that I love him. I don’t know how to fix this.”