Page 97 of The Meeting
“I brought us dessert because I think you deserve it.”
She laughed and wiped at her eyes, not realizing that the tears were already streaming down her face.
She took the plate from Derek to find apple pie sitting on it.
Gross.
“You don’t like apple pie, huh?”
“Can’t say that I’m a fan.”
He laughed and took the plate from her to set on the little end table sitting near him and then shoveled a bite into his mouth.
“Honestly? I think my papa hates it too.”
Kailynn looked over at him. “Seriously? Why does your mom make it if he hates it?”
“She doesn’t know.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “How does she not know?”
Derek set his fork down and looked over at her. “Without speaking ill of my mama, she’s not the most perceptive person in the world.”
Kailynn laughed. She had certainly picked up on that. If Jane had been, she probably wouldn’t have kept bringing Allison up around Kailynn. She knew she had a decent poker face, but with as many times as they had brought Allison up, she knew there was no way she was still hiding her feelings.
They swung on the porch swing in silence for a few minutes, looking at the stars. The stars seemed much brighter out here than they did in California. She wasn’t in a large city that would dull them, but it amazed her at the difference a lack of lights could make.
“So how long have you been dating John?” Kailynn asked quietly.
Derek’s head swung toward her.
“Now, unlike my mama, you are perceptive.” He sighed. “It’s been about four months. How did you figure it out?”
She shrugged. “He almost called you babe in the barn, you two are together a lot despite him being an employee, the way you two look at each other, and when I asked if you had a girlfriend you said, ‘more or less’.”
He laughed. “Does Chase know?”
“Not that I know of.” Kailynn looked over at Derek. “I won’t tell him. That’s your news to share.”
“Thank you.”
The front door swung open and Chase walked out, scrubbing a hand down his face before running it through his hair.
“You two can come back inside now.”
“Are you sure? Seemed to be getting pretty heated in there,” Derek said.
Chase sighed, loudly. “Tell me about it. But it’s resolved enough for now for us to at least get through dinner.”
Dread filled Kailynn’s chest. All she wanted to do was go back to Derek’s house and crawl into bed. The last thing she wanted to do was sit at that table in awkward silence with Chase’s family. But she couldn’t exactly tell him she wanted to leave. They were in Montana to see his family. She couldn’t take that time away from him.
“Maybe you two should just head back to my house and enjoy a quiet dinner there,” Derek said, as if reading her mind.
Kailynn threw him an appreciative look.
Chase shook his head. “You told me your cabinets are bare. Let’s just eat the food mama made, and then we can take off. She’ll behave. She promised.”
“Okay,” Kailynn said.
