Rowan smiled. “Yeah, but it’ll get easier with practice, right?”
Blake nodded, though she was on the verge of lying. She’d done okay in school but hadn’t gone past high school. She’d been too busy being an asshole with her ex to go to college and make something of her life, as her parents had put it. Soon, Rowan would be passing her in terms of knowledge since school these days seemed so much tougher.
Maybe they’d get a tutor for Blake and Rowan if it came to that.
“I gotta go,” Rowan said as she kissed Blake’s cheek. “Don’t want to miss the bus.”
Blake hugged her daughter hard and kissed the top of her head. “Okay, baby.”
“I’m not a baby, Mom.” With that epic eye roll, Blake was pretty sure the teenage years were coming early, and they were going to suck.
By the time she saw Rowan off to the bus and got herself ready for work, her shoulders ached, and she still couldn’t get Graham off her mind. She hated that she’d let herself get too close. And now, she had to go work with Graham’s future sister-in-law because Blake hadn’t been smart when she should have been.
She’d grown up making bad decision after bad decision, and she’d thought she’d moved past that once she became a mother. Apparently, she hadn’t. At all.
“There you are,” Maya said as soon as Blake walked in the door. “It’s about time you showed up.”
Blake raised a brow as the door closed behind her. “Uh, excuse me? I’m like twenty minutes early. What crawled up your butt?”
Maya waved her question away and pointed at the computer. “Autumn is working with Griffin today, and she’s the only one that can use the computer of doom.”
Blake snorted. It was a point of contention at the shop that neither Montgomery could work the computer schedule for long periods of time. The fact that both Austin and Maya were freaking brilliant and could practically code any other computer just made it funnier. Blake was pretty sure the damn thing was possessed and should have been taken out and beaten a-la The Office style, but neither Maya nor Austin would let the damn machine win. Or rather, Maya wouldn’t let the ‘piece of shit technology that was too big for its bytes and britches’ think it could beat a Montgomery. The fact that it was, unfortunately, a piece of artificial intelligence, and therefore, had done nothing at all, was not lost on them. They just chose to ignore that bit.
Autumn, Griffin’s fiancée, could work the damn thing without incident and organized their lives for them. Of course, since Autumn also assisted Griffin with his job as a novelist, Maya had to share.
And Maya hated to share.
Unless it was Jake and Border and sharing between the three of them, but Blake didn’t really want to think about that.
“I don’t know if I will be any help,” Blake said slowly. “It doesn’t always work for me, and you know it. You should just get a computer that works.”
Maya narrowed her eyes. “We will not cow to technology.”
“For the love of all that is holy, do not get her started,” Derek said as he walked into the building from the side door that connected the shop to Taboo, the café next door.
Maya whirled. “Why? Are you afraid of what I’ll say?”
Derek just shook his head and handed her a mug. “Not even going there. And before you hurt me, this is decaf, but yummy according to Hailey next door.”
Maya took the mug in both hands and inhaled while Blake did her best not to laugh. Maya on a good day was a bit crazy, pregnant Maya was a whole other matter.
It was going to be a long few months.
“I’ll look at the computer,” Derek said as he handed Blake a mug for herself. “Just make sure Maya doesn’t kill anyone.”
Blake laughed. “That might be a harder job than the computer of doom.”
“I heard that!” Maya yelled from the office.
Derek snorted but went to work, and Blake just smiled over her mug of hazelnut and whipped cream goodness. Though she’d been worried about becoming friends with those she worked with, she couldn’t help but feel the connections she’d been missing for too long. She could laugh at silly things like computers and coffee and not feel like she was out of the loop. Her life might still be a bit crazy and secretive, but Maya knew about Rowan and hadn’t freaked out. She was pretty sure Maya had told Jake and Border about Rowan, but she hadn’t expected Maya to keep that kind of secret from her men.
Soon, others would know about her daughter, and Blake would just have to deal with that.
As long as her circle kept Rowan safe, it would be okay.
That meant Blake might have to explain a few more things, like why she was so worried about Rowan’s safety. Graham might not have wanted to hear her out, but the others would need to know so they understood why Blake did the things she did.