Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Naomi walked into Broken Hearts Brewing with her girls Regan, Taylor, and Beck, along with Faith and her daughter Deborah.
“Oh, can we get books or what about some of those mini bookshelves?” Regan asked.
Before Naomi could answer, Rachel, one of the managers of the place, answered. “Of course you can. We have a promotional budget each month, and as new-found family members, you can get whatever you want.”
“Well, within reason. Not everything you want,” Naomi said.
“I have to disagree. Locks called and said if what the girls wanted was over the promotional budget, to add it to his monthly bill,” Rachel countered, grinning.
Naomi wasn’t sure what to say. Seeing people she’d barely gotten to know treat her girls better than their father or grandfather ever had brought tears to her eyes, but she didn’t want to have to explain it to the girls. She needed to pull herself together.
“Oh, do you have The Hunger Games? Mom said we’re old enough to read the books and watch the movies,” Beck asked. All three girls loved books, but Beck was the quiet one who would rather read a book than go do something. For her to speak up meant she felt comfortable.
“We have the first one, and I can get the others ordered pretty quickly and have them here. I also have Ally Carter’s Gallagher Girls first in the series that you might like,” Rachel suggested.
“I’ll take that one,” Regan claimed.
“What about a book on baking? I want to figure out how to make my own recipes for cookies. Locks said I could use the kitchen whenever I wanted,” Taylor said.
Naomi bit her lip to keep from screaming. She’d started teaching Taylor to bake, but Jared had thrown a fit the last three times they’d been in the kitchen because he didn’t like having it messy. Douche would still eat the cookies they made, though.
“I do, but you can also ask Regina to have you over. She makes cinnamon rolls and all sorts of other things. She’s always looking for help if you want to learn,” Rachel nudged.
“Can I? Can I, Mom?” Taylor asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
“Of course, we’ll talk to her today, but let’s still get you a book too,” Naomi said.
She walked around, checking out the mini bookcases and all the gift ideas.
Hearing Taylor’s longing in her voice to bake had Naomi hoping Scoop and Sarah digging into her father and ex-husband found something that she could use to make them both pay.
She’d never considered herself someone who would consider revenge, but after getting away from Jared, she understood that she’d only been surviving with him.
Here, in Bluff Creek, she and the girls could thrive.
She listened to the girls consider what they wanted. Even though they’d basically been given carte blanche, they were still choosing items that they would use, not grabbing everything they could.
“Hey, Rachel, where did Morgan go?” Gunner called from the kitchen.
“Oh, he had something tonight, so I let him go early,” Rachel responded as a large group of customers walked in.
Gunner walked out of the kitchen. “I have the lunch order for the tattoo shop to deliver and a huge amount of food to keep making. I needed him to take the lunch delivery before he left.”
She needed to face Stone at some point, and this was the perfect opportunity.
“I can take it if it’s okay for the girls to stay here shopping,” Naomi offered.
“They’re more than welcome to stay, and your lunch is on me if you do this. Thank you,” Gunner said, heading back to the kitchen and returning with a box filled with wrapped sandwiches, bags of chips, and cookies.
“I put extra in here because someone else always drops by. Once again, thank you,” Gunner added, handing her the box.
“No problem,” she said. “Girls, I’m running an errand. Mind whatever Faith, Rachel, and Gunner tell you,” she instructed as she walked out the door.
She could do this. Stone had been so nice, and his note had said he’d be happy to tattoo her. She had a legitimate reason to drop by, and she was delivering their lunch. Then why did she feel as if her heart was going to jump out of her chest and the heat in her face was noticeable?
She walked across the street, her jeans feeling strange after wearing dresses for so long, but it had been her choice to wear jeans because no one told her what to wear anymore.
But they did feel a little scratchy between her thighs.
Maybe she needed to buy new jeans. This pair was an older one she’d only worn once before Jared had thrown a fit.
She pushed open the door, balancing the large box against her chest as she walked in. Stone was in the lobby of the shop and hurried to help her. His fingers brushed hers as he took the box out of her hands.
“Gunner rope you into helping?” Stone asked.
“I offered,” she said, staring at Stone before taking a deep breath. “I wanted to talk to you about a tattoo,” she said.
He nodded. “Let me put this in the break room, and we can talk. I have a little bit before my next appointment.”
She followed him through the lobby, past the open tattoo booths. Frankie and Emerson waved to her as she walked by. Emerson was working on a man’s leg, and Frankie was sitting with a woman, perusing a book. Roam was cleaning his equipment but stood up when he saw the box.
“Is that lunch? I’m starving,” he said, following them into the breakroom, which had a couple square tables with chairs around them. A large refrigerator was against the wall beside cabinets housing a microwave, dishwasher, and a sink. Stone put the items on the table.
“If you all need privacy, you can use the office or one of the rooms upstairs,” Roam offered.
She wondered if Sprite had shared what she heard. Naomi had told them she wanted it shared with the men, but she hadn’t realized they’d be so casual discussing what had happened to her.
“We have a little time. I thought Naomi and I would walk to the park. We can talk on the way,” Stone said.
“Gotcha. It’s nice to see you, Naomi,” Roam called out, waving as they walked out.