An hour or so later I was feeling happy. Comfortable, at home. I had already gotten to know Amy, Rosie and Gwen well enough and the more I knew the more I liked. I didn’t at all feel like the boring old mom hanging out with the young glamorous beauties. I felt like I was with old friends.
Lexie also got on with them naturally, which didn’t surprise me. She was a polite and sociable kid, who pretty much got along with everyone. She spent most of her time hanging with Lily, a pretty girl who was closest to her age, although she looked about twenty. Lily was also fielding scary stares from Asher, whom I had met before. He was yet another hottie in the club; no visible tattoos but seriously visible muscles. He had actually dragged her away moments earlier and Lexie had grinned at the retreating couple. She was currently chasing a very enthusiastic Belle around the yard, along with a couple of other kids who had taken a shine to her. I smiled as she gathered the toddler up in the air, twirling her around. She seemed oblivious to the glances she got every now and then. One she wasn’t oblivious to was Killian, whose eyes hadn’t left her the moment he arrived. He didn’t seem to be approaching her just yet, merely watching. And, like I had predicted, sending withering glares at the couple of men whose gaze lingered on Lexie a moment too long. I was impressed. How a teenage kid could send menacing looks to hard bikers twice his age and pull it off was anyone’s guess, but he did it.
“You’ve done really well with her, Mia,” Amy said, nodding her head at Lexie.
“You really have,” Gwen agreed from across the table we were sitting at. “I hope that I can do such a great job with Belle. I can’t believe you did it all on your own,” she said, eyes wide. “I was a nervous wreck the first year of Belle’s life. You saved my life that day with the teething thing.” She gave me a warm look of gratitude. “I don’t know how I would have survived without Cade.” Her eyes focused on someone behind me.
I knew it would be Cade, considering he routinely stared at her in the hour I had been here. He’d come over twice to check on her, rub her belly and chat to me. I ignored the green-eyed monster who had reared its head when I saw that, not to mention the interactions between Brock and Amy.
“You’d have done it,” I told her with certainty, tearing my thoughts away from my own longing. I sipped my drink. It was my second and my last, considering I had to drive. “When you’ve got someone counting on you, someone who is your entire world, you find the strength,” I explained.
“Where’s her dad? If you don’t mind me asking,” Amy said softly.
For some reason, I didn’t. I had lied and skirted past every question people asked me about Lexie’s dad. Steve and Ava knew about him, but that was it. Even Lexie was in the dark about what a monster her father was. I glanced around the table at the women who I considered friends, who I trusted.
“He isn’t a good man,” I started quietly. “The worst, actually. I left when Lexie was a baby. You know what I said about surviving?” I asked Gwen.
She nodded, a sad understanding on her face.
“Well, I wouldn’t have been able to do that if I hadn’t left.”
I didn’t add if I hadn’t run. Hadn’t hidden. No matter how much I trusted these women, I couldn’t tell them the whole truth. For my safety. For Lexie’s.
Amy’s hand covered mine. She gave it a squeeze then released it.
“I think we need more drinks,” she declared to the table, winking at me.
“Yeah, ‘cause then we’d be able to settle in for watching young love unfold.” Rosie nodded behind me and all eyes moved in that direction.
I followed her gaze. Killian had dispersed all of the kids and was talking to Lexie. He had his hand at her wrist and his face was close to hers.
“Lexie had a boyfriend before?” Rosie asked, her eyes not moving.
“Nope,” I replied, my eyes not moving either. “They are officially joined at the hip. I think I need to call his parents and let them know their son does still exist, he’s just been sucked into a black hole of adolescent love,” I joked. He had spent all his time at our place over the last couple of weeks.
Lexie had her eyes downcast and Killian’s other hand went to her chin, directing it so her face lifted to his.
A silence settled over the table and I looked to see all of the women’s faces grim. “Kill doesn’t exactly have parents, Mia,” Rosie explained softly.
Well, excuse me while I extract my giant, cork-clad foot from my mouth.