Chapter 5
I woke up to voices. Soft. Laughing. And something smelled… sweet?
Definitely not coffee.
Still half-asleep and fully in my boxers, I shuffled downstairs, not even thinking about clothes or people or reality.
Until I stepped into the kitchen.
And saw it.
Willa and Precious.
At my table. Side by side.
Eating what looked like an industrial-sized apple pie.
Willa didn’t miss a beat.
“Look who’s here. And look what she brought you.”
Precious froze, fork halfway to her mouth. Her eyes shot up to me, then flicked to Willa, then back down to the plate like it might swallow her whole.
“Hey,” she said, way too chirpy. “I, um… baked. Thought I’d drop by.”
Sure.
More like: drop in, drop clothes, drop standards.
She clearly hadn’t expected an audience. Definitely not one in the form of a smug blonde in my hoodie.
Willa took another bite of pie like she was on stage.
“It’s still warm, by the way. In case you were wondering.”
I just stood there. Boxers. Hair everywhere. No coffee. No defenses. Whatever this was, I wasn’t ready for it.
I poured the coffee grounds into the machine, trying to look like a man in control of his morning.
Spoiler: I wasn’t.
All I wanted was caffeine. And maybe five minutes without women eating pastry in my kitchen.
How the hell had I ended up with exactly two more women in this house than I’d planned for last night before heading to Rick’s?
I filled the water. Hit the button. Watched the miracle brown liquid start to drip like salvation.
“Guess y’all already did the whole name exchange thing.”
I didn’t even try to make it sound convincing. More like a question I wasn’t ready for the answer to.
Precious smiled tight, still standing by the pie.
“Yeah, Willa’s… shared a few things. I mean—I thought you weren’t doing engagements anymore. After Hope…”
Willa blinked. Then it hit her.
“The doctor?”
Half laugh, half accusation.
Cut clean.
Precious turned.
“You’ve already met?”
Willa took a sip of coffee and nodded.
“Seems like I’ve met most of his female acquaintances in the last twenty-four hours.”
That one stung.
But she wasn’t wrong.
Precious pushed back her chair, eyes narrowing.
“Don’t flatter yourself. The list’s longer than that.”
“Wait—what’s that supposed to mean?” I kept my tone easy. Didn’t move. Didn’t flinch. She’d leave. She always did. And yeah—she always came back.
“You know damn well what it means.”
Then she turned to Willa.
“If I were you, I’d rethink the whole wedding thing.”
Willa choked on her coffee, coughing between laughs.
“Noted.”
Precious grabbed her coat, flung it over her shoulder like a cape.
“You can keep the dish. No need to return it.”
“You mean… like a wedding gift?” I said, deadpan.
The door slammed behind her so hard the pie wobbled on the plate.
“Uh… that was intense.”
Willa raised an eyebrow.
“So. Hope, huh?”
Shit. Heat rose up my neck.
“Yeah. Might’ve left out a tiny detail.”
“A detail? And what about pie girl?”
“Okay. Two details. Maybe.”
She sipped her coffee, dead serious.
“And what about your daughter?”
I froze. For a second I genuinely wondered if I’d slipped on the piss-soaked bathroom floor earlier and gone into a coma. Or maybe a tsetse fly bit me in my sleep and I’d hallucinated all of this.
I ran through every name I could think of. Far as I knew, none of my exes had gifted me with a surprise offspring.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
She crossed her arms, all mock attitude—though honestly, I wouldn’t blame her. She shows up here and meets more of my exes than the number of idiots who bet against her at the bar.
“I don’t have a kid. And I can pretty much guarantee you won’t be running into any more of my exes today.”
“Pretty much?”
“I try to only make promises I can mostly keep.”
“So if not, I can sue you? Go straight to the sheriff?”
“Wouldn’t recommend the sheriff. But yes.”
“Why not?”
“Because Rufus… is, uh… Hope’s fiancé.”
She blinked.
“You mean Rufus? The one you hallucinated into existence at 3 a.m.?”
“Okay, well—I’m not perfect.”
I drained the rest of my coffee and tossed the mug in the sink.
“You wanna come with me to get McKenzie?”
She looked at me like I’d just switched languages. You could almost see the gears turning in that pretty little head of hers.
“She’s not my ex, don’t worry.”
“Honestly, whoever she is, it’ll be refreshing to meet someone you haven’t rolled around with.”
“Didn’t say I didn’t roll around with her… but more like… under. If you know what I mean.” I winked.
Damn, this girl was fun.
I reached for her, already dying to kiss that grumpy little face.
She shoved me off.
“What, I can’t even hug my future wife?”
“Hug McKenzie.”
She spun on her heel and disappeared into the bathroom.
I leaned back, grinning like an idiot.
“You’ve got fifteen minutes, sweetheart” I called after her.