“Oh, um … thank you,” I say, feeling a genuine kindness in her words. “I hope it’s all good things.”
Sara laughs. “Honestly, any young woman who has the ability to draw in my son the way you have is a celestial wonder to me. You’ve achieved the impossible.”
My cheeks flush with the compliment, and thankfully Sara continues, releasing me from the social requirement to respond. “Listen, I know you’re in your senior year, so I’m sure your afternoon is already busy with homework and whatnot, but we were wondering if you could spare a few moments to sit down with us? I consider myself to be quite the baker and have just taken chocolate muffins out of the oven.”
“Oh,” I say in surprise, glancing between the two to find Addison’s stare focused heavily on the ground. Despite her not saying a word, I can tell she doesn’t want this. But I’m backed into a corner, and I’m not about to refuse an invitation from Tanner’s mother. Besides, something tells me they’re not inviting me over for a slumber party. There’s a purposeful reason behind this, and my curiosity is piqued. “That’s not a problem at all. Give me two seconds to put these books down and I’ll be right over.”
Addison lifts her gaze and gives me a tight smile as though she’s trying to be strong, but that’s not needed with me. “Cool,” she finally says before stepping closer to her mother as if needing her comfort. “We’ll wait.”
Nerves rattle me as I dart off toward Channing’s home and slip inside, not wanting to hold them up. I drop my books down on the bottom step before glancing toward my phone. I hate going into things unprepared like this, especially something so important as meeting Tanner’s family. The need to call him burns in my chest, but he’s in training and won’t be able to take my call. I’m going in blind and judging by the look in Addison’s eyes and Tanner’s mood today, something is warning me that the two are connected.
Slipping my phone into my pocket, I hurry back outside to where Sara and Addison wait, and I don’t miss Sara’s encouraging smile. “Right this way, love,” she says, waving me toward her home.
A million things flow through my mind. Are these Morgan women secret serial killers? Am I about to walk into a trap? Hell, maybe Tanner’s been keeping something from them and they think they can get it out of me. Shit. What have I gotten myself into?
Sara welcomes me into her home, and I wait for Addison to pass before following her in. They lead the way to the kitchen and offer me a seat at the island counter. Addison sits as well, leaving a space between us as Sara makes her way around the other side of the kitchen. “Can I get you a dr—” she starts, cutting herself off as she turns back to glance at me. She laughs as she takes in my expression. “Oh, honey. You look as though you’re about to be interrogated. Please don’t be nervous. We have absolutely no ill intentions, simply want to have a chat so that we can all be on the same page.”
“Okay,” I say nervously, her words doing absolutely nothing to ease the anxiety building within me.
Sara takes a plate out of a drawer before placing one of her freshly baked muffins onto it. She slides it across the counter to me before going about the same for Addison. “Dig in,” she says. “They won’t stay fresh forever.”
Out of sheer manners, I pick at the top of the muffin before placing a bite-sized piece into my mouth. I have to give it to her, the woman bakes one hell of a good muffin. “This is the best muffin I’ve ever tasted.”
Sara smiles wide. “Thank you. It was always my dream to open a bakery, but then I met Trenton and those dreams shifted toward marriage and babies. However, now that my babies are all grown up, I’m starting to wonder more and more about that little bakery.”
“If the rest of your things are this good, I’ll be the very first one in line,” I promise her.
“Thank you, Brielle. That is very kind of you,” she says as Addison sits silently beside me, looking as though she’d rather be anywhere but here, and as if realizing this, Sara moves this strange little meeting along. “Listen, Tanner is one of the most precious people in my life. He’s my firstborn, the child who made me a mother. I know him better than I know myself, which is how I can tell that this relationship with you is so much more than just a fling. My son is in love with you, Brielle, and while it fills my heart with joy to see him this way, it also makes me very nervous.”