Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
Sly couldn’t believe that Lana was sitting in a booth at Big Mama’s Cafe. Not the fact that she was eating there—everyone did—but because she was here now, on the day Dani expected him for lunch.
As usual, the place was packed with the Saturday crowd. There were no empty tables, and no sign of Big Mama. But then, she often took weekends off, handing the reins to Dani.
Naomi, the weekend hostess, smiled and tossed her head seductively. “Hey, Sly,” she drawled with a sexy smile. She was a flirt, but it was all harmless fun. “Dani said you’d be coming in. I just freshened my makeup, and I sure am glad I did.”
He gave her a grin. “With or without makeup, you’re beautiful to me, Naomi. Add my name to the list for a table in Dani’s area, will you?”
“You know it, sugar, but it could be a while.”
“No problem. I’m not in a hurry.”
Sly greeted a couple of ranchers he was friendly with, then, hardly aware of what he was doing, wandered over to Lana’s booth. She was sitting with a skinny girl with rock-band hair. Sly pegged her to be about fifteen or sixteen.
“Hey,” he said.
Lana glanced up at him. In a dress sprinkled with little hearts and feminine lace on the cuffs of her short sleeves, she looked innocent and sweet. Also confused. “Hello, Sly. What are you doing here?”
“This is where my sister works. I came to see her and grab lunch.”
Dani bustled right over. “Hi, big brother.” She tugged him down and kissed his cheek. “We’re a little short on tables right now. But hey, if Lana doesn’t mind, maybe you can join her and her friend.”
Lana’s expression turned puzzled. “What makes you think your brother and I know each other?”
“The looks on your faces. But also, because the last time I saw him, he mentioned you.”
Sly was going to kill his sister.
A telltale flush crept up Lana’s face. “You didn’t say anything earlier, Dani.”
“I wasn’t sure I should. In case my brother forgot to mention it, he enjoyed his evening with you.”
“You said you weren’t dating anyone.” The teenage girl widened her eyes dramatically. “I don’t mind if he sits down with us. There’s plenty of room next to Lana.”
Lana gave the girl a what-are-you-up-to look before she sighed. “Okay, until a table opens up.” She scooted toward the far end of the bench, leaving a good foot-and-?a-half of space for him.
“You want coffee while you’re waiting for your burger, Sly? I just made a fresh pot.”
“Sounds good.”
“Be right back.” Dani hurried off.
A frown tugged Lana’s mouth.
“I only told her that you and I danced,” Sly explained.
The teenage girl was staring at him. “You and Lana danced? I wish I could have seen that.” She said it as if she couldn’t believe people their age did that kind of thing.
“I don’t believe we’ve met.” He extended his hand. “I’m Sly.”
“Cool name. I’m Sophie.”
“Nice to meet you. Are you Lana’s little sister?”
The girl looked at him like he was crazy. “No,” she said with a smirk. “Lana and I just met today.”
Interesting. “Then you must be interviewing for a job at her daycare.”
“Not that, either.” Sophie smoothed her T-shirt over her rounded belly. “I’m pregnant and I’m thinking I might pick Lana to adopt my baby.”
Lana seemed to catch her breath.
She wanted to adopt a baby? Sly realized his mouth was hanging open and quickly shut it. “Is that right.”
The girl wore a speculative expression. “I changed my mind about leaving,” she said. “I might stay a while longer. But I need to use the restroom. Excuse me.” She slid out of the booth and hurried away.
“This is awkward,” he said in the silence that fell between him and Lana.
“The part about me wanting to adopt, or about me not hearing from you since you stopped at the daycare?” Her eyes flashed with anger. “Or do you mean because you’re suing my cousin?”
She and Tim Carpenter were related? Sly muttered a choice oath and put his head in his hands. With a look of alarm, Dani approached, quickly filled his cup and left.
“First of all, until this minute I wasn’t aware you and Tim Carpenter were related,” he said. “I didn’t even know your last name until I read it in the paper.”
“That’s understandable, but you’re still suing my cousin.”
Her stony expression made him hurry to explain.
“Trust me, it wasn’t my first choice. Tim didn’t leave me any other option.
” Wanting to get to other things before Sophie returned to the table, Sly added, “I’ll tell you about that later.
FYI, I wanted to ask for your number before I left you in our hotel room, but we agreed we wouldn’t contact each other again. ”
“Then why did you come to my daycare?”
“I wanted to see you.”
“For exactly one reason.” Lana glanced around and lowered her voice. “You wanted a repeat of what happened that night.”
“True,” Sly admitted, “but it wasn’t just about sex. I’m not interested in getting serious or anything, but I would like to get to know you.”
“Oh, really? Then why didn’t you ask me for my number when you stopped by TLD or at least act like you were interested in me as a person? You never asked me a single question about myself.”
Sly fiddled with his cup. “You didn’t ask me any, either.”
“I was letting you take the lead!” People were starting to stare, and she lowered her voice. “Forget it.”
“Uh, can I have your number now?” Talk about sounding lame.
“It’s a little late for that, Sly. Besides, you haven’t explained why you filed a lawsuit against my cousin. You’re the only rancher with that name.”
“There’s a simple—”
“I have to leave after all,” Sophie said as she returned to the booth. “While I was in the bathroom, my mom called. She wants me to get home and finish my chores before I leave for work.”
Lana nodded, then nudged Sly out of the booth and stood up. “I enjoyed meeting you, Sophie. I hope we’ll get together again soon.”
“Can I let you know?”
“Sure. I’ll walk you out.”
“You stay here with Sly.” The girl’s smile was meant for the two of them.
Sly squelched the urge to roll his eyes. “Nice meeting you.” He sat down in Sophie’s place so that he would be across from Lana.
“You, too, Sly. Hey, next time Lana and I get together, you should join us.”
Sly glanced at Lana, but her attention stayed on the teen.
It was obvious how badly she wanted things to work out between them.
“If I’m not too busy at the ranch,” he said.
“I knew you were a rancher!” Sophie turned to Lana. “Thanks for brunch. It was really good.”
“Anytime.” Lana bit her lip. “Would you mind if I gave you a hug?”
“I guess.”
Feeling like he was watching something that was none of his business, Sly stared as she embraced the girl.
When she pulled away, her gaze dropped to Sophie’s belly. “You take care of that baby, okay?”
“I will.”
Her eyes stayed on Sophie until the door closed behind her.
Angry at Sly for suing her cousin and unhappy at how badly the meeting with Sophie had gone, Lana was ready to leave. “I have a lot to do today,” she said, signaling Dani to bring the check. “Enjoy your lunch.”
“Stay a little longer and tell me about this baby you want to adopt.”
She didn’t mind talking about that, but after Sophie’s bombshell that she was also meeting with a couple interested in adopting her baby, Lana felt unusually emotional and vulnerable.
Right now, she wasn’t ready to share anything.
But she wouldn’t mind some answers from Sly.
“I’ll stay if you explain about the lawsuit,” she said.
“Any minute now, my sister will bring me my burger, and I don’t want to ruin my appetite talking about that. I’ll give you the details later.” Resting his arms on the table, he leaned toward her. “So, you want to adopt a baby.”
By his long, searching look he seemed genuinely interested. Lana wanted to explain. If she kept it short and simple, she wouldn’t cry. “That’s right,” she said. “I’m unable to have children myself.”
“So you said before. You didn’t mention wanting to adopt, though.”
“Because we agreed to steer clear of serious conversation.” Also, they’d been too busy to talk much. “Anyway, now you know.”
“If you’re sure you want kids, adopting makes sense.”
“I’m sure. I’ve always wanted to be a mom.”
Sly nodded, but she was curious about the way he’d said if you’re sure you want kids. “You don’t want to have children?” she asked.
“Nope. Don’t get me wrong, I like them, as long as they belong to someone else.”
“You mean you don’t want any right now,” she corrected. “My best friend, Kate—you met her that night at the Bitter & Sweet—feels the same way. She says she’ll be ready when she’s thirty-five.”
“That’s how old I am now, and I mean never. I’d make a lousy father.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Trust me, I raised my younger brother, and I know what I’m talking about. Me having a kid would be irresponsible.”
“I’d call raising your brother the opposite of that.” Lana was beyond curious now. “Do you mind my asking what happened?”
“It’s no secret. I was eleven when my mom died.
Two years later, my father followed her.
The child protection people managed to find an uncle who agreed to take in Seth and me.
Let’s just say our uncle didn’t want us around.
That’s how I ended up raising Seth.” Sly shrugged. “That didn’t turn out so great.”
“What do you mean?”
“For starters, he did a few stupid things that got attention from the law. Uncle George had a problem controlling his temper, so I stepped in—or tried.” Sly let out a self-derisive laugh.
“No matter what I said or what I did, I couldn’t get Seth to straighten up or take responsibility for the trouble he caused.
Not even moving back to Prosperity helped. Then he dropped out of high school.”
That sounded like a tough situation. Lana bit her lip. “Where is Seth now?”
“I have no idea. When he was seventeen, he split. A few weeks later, he sent a postcard to let Dani and me know he was okay. He hasn’t been in touch since.” Sly glanced down at his empty coffee cup, then spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness. “Now you know what a great job I did.”
Lana pictured a very young Sly struggling to raise his brother when he was so young himself. “You were under very challenging conditions, Sly. You were an orphan and a child yourself. Under those circumstances, no one would do well.”
He seemed unconvinced. “Because of the situation, I grew up fast. At fourteen, I was more mature than most eighteen-year-olds. I should’ve done a better job. Instead, I screwed up my brother and also blew any chance of a tight relationship with him.”
Lana thought he was too hard on himself and felt terrible for him and his brother. “I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago. I’m over it now. But I won’t ever screw up a kid that way again.”
“Isn’t Dani your sister? She seems to have turned out well.”
“No thanks to me. Our uncle didn’t want any girls around, so Dani went into foster care. She was lucky enough to get Big Mama as her foster mom. A couple of years later, Big Mama adopted her. So yeah, I’m all for adoption.”
Dani slid Sly’s burger and a soda in front of him.
“Here’s your burger, Sly. Are you telling Lana about my adoption?
” After waiting for his nod, she went on.
“I’m so lucky to have Big Mama as my mom, even if we are both hardheaded.
” She flashed a truly happy grin. “How about a piece of coconut cream pie, Lana?”
As hungry as she was now, and as tempted as she was to order the pie, she didn’t plan on sitting here long enough to eat it. “No, thanks. I’m leaving in a few minutes. We’re talking about adoption because I’m planning to adopt.”
“Is that why you were buying that pregnant teen brunch? I wondered. How exciting!”
“Cross your fingers. Sophie has a meeting with a married couple who also want her baby, and I’m worried she’ll choose them.”
“Because they’re a couple and you’re single?” When Lana nodded, Dani scoffed. “Big Mama was a single mom, and she did a super job raising me. Wish I had more time to talk, but as you can see, we’re slammed. Sly will give you my number. Call me, and let’s get together.”
“That’d be great.” Dani smiled and left. “I really like your sister,” Lana said.
“She’s good people.” Sly took a bite of his burger.
His food smelled great. He caught her staring at his potato chips, which were homemade and out of this world. “Have one.”
“I couldn’t,” Lana said. But she took one anyway. “I really should leave.”
“I haven’t had a chance to explain about the lawsuit. I get that you’re upset about it, but I’d like to give you my side.”
She wanted to hear it, and Big Mama’s chips were impossible to resist. As was Sly. And so she stayed.