Page 28 of Stone
“Of course not. Beck and I saved it for you,” Stone reassured her.
He had a strange look in his eyes. She wasn’t sure what it was. Once she sat down, he patted her knee.
“Let me know if you need anything,” Stone said softly, his low voice private and comforting.
Hmm, she’d guess that look was Stone being protective. He didn’t seem to appreciate how her sisters had acted. Neither did she. She was thirty-nine, almost forty, and for the first time in her life, she was making decisions for herself and her girls. Now, if her sisters wanted to talk trash about Jared, she’d be happy to join in, but they weren’t going to be questioning her regarding Stone.
She’d been enjoying lunch, listening to her girls chat with all their new friends. She and Stone had talked, but he was discussing something with Dex, who was on the other side of him. She stared at her plate, not believing she’d eaten so much. She was pleasantly full and thinking about how great it was that they’d come to Bluff Creek. Her girls were blossoming.
“Naomi, it’s time to head out,” Tori ordered, standing up with her plate.
She loved Tori, especially the sacrifices she’d made so Naomi could attend college, but Naomi wasn’t a child.
“You know, I think I’ll let you all spend some time together. Maybe I’ll stay for the cookie baking lesson,” she countered.
“It’s a sister get-together,” AJ insisted.
“We have questions,” Lilah added.
Naomi stared at her sisters, wondering why they were so adamant about meeting. If they’d involved her in the planning, then she might have been more willing, but they’d irritated her.
“Oh, well, why don’t you go ahead and ask them now?” Naomi challenged.
Snickering from Winnie and Jesse had Tori frowning.
“I, well, um, we wanted privacy,” AJ stuttered.
“Why do you need privacy?” Taylor asked.
“Yeah, Aunt AJ, why can’t you just ask Mom now?” Regan pressed.
Naomi didn’t fill the silence or bail her sisters out. If they wanted to know about anything, they could have asked. Instead, they’d made plans and then informed her what was happening. Screw that.
“Because we want to ask your mom some questions,” Chloe said.
“Aunt Chloe, Mom’s been smiling more than I’ve ever seen her smile. Dad isn’t hurting her, and we like it here. Papa Locks said even though he’s our great uncle, we could call him the same thing the other kids do. I love it here, and so do my sisters,” Regan defended.
“Well, Regan, sometimes adults need to discuss if someone is making the right decision for their life,” AJ explained.
“Did you have this discussion with Aunt Chloe before she started her secret business, or are you singling out our mom?” Taylor asked.
Naomi kept quiet because it seemed her girls had something to say. Since Jared had a stranglehold on who could talk, Naomi was thrilled her girls felt comfortable enough to challenge their aunts.
“What secret business?” Tori demanded.
“We’re not singling out your mom,” AJ protested weakly.
Naomi waited to see if Chloe would say anything, but the deer-in-headlights look she was sporting had Naomi smiling.
Stone leaned close. “I have council after lunch. It usually lasts an hour or under. Do you want to go for a motorcycle ride, or we could take the girls to the park in town?”
She turned toward him and nodded. “Either sounds good.”
“It seems we have a lot more to talk about than I thought,” Tori mused.
“I’ll be willing to talk with you here at the compound while Stone has council. I have plans after that. But it will be all of us asking and answering questions. If you think this will be an inquisition of me, then you can think again. I have decided that no one, and I mean no one, will tell me what to do anymore. If you can agree to that, I’m in,” Naomi vowed.
All her sisters nodded.
