Page 21 of Sycamore Circle

They were also making the best of a rainy day. Chloe was binge-watching old seasons of Stranger Things on the couch and painting her nails.

Since Joy was nursing a small cold, she was using the rain as an excuse to stay in her pajamas and make a big pot of soup.

If she felt up to it, she could also finish the two last paintings for her customer in Columbus, but she had a little bit of time before the gal was going to be expecting them.

“Mom, your phone’s buzzing.”

“I’ll get it.” Now all she had to do was figure out where it was. “Is it in the living room?”

“It’s in my hand. You left it on the couch. Hey, who’s Bo?”

Bo was texting? Doing her best to ignore the little burst of happiness that brought, Joy hurried over to the couch and practically snatched it out of her daughter’s hands. “You aren’t looking at my phone, are you?”

“Well, yeah, but I’m not reading your texts or anything. Who’s Bo?”

She looked at the screen. Bo had just sent a second text.

“Mom, you didn’t answer me. Who’s Bo? Is he one of your reading guys or something?”

Pulling her eyes away from her phone’s screen, she glanced at her daughter. Chloe’s attention was back on the television. It would be so easy to say that Bo was one of her tutoring clients. Then she wouldn’t have to worry about Chloe asking any more questions. But she couldn’t do it.

For some reason, it felt wrong to lie about Bo. “No. Bo is... he’s a friend.”

Her daughter looked back in her direction with interest. “What kind of friend?”

“He’s a friend who’s a man.” She instantly felt stupid.

Chloe pressed pause on the remote. “What are you talking about? Wait—is he like a boyfriend?” Her voice rose an octave. “Mom, are you dating him?”

“No, I am not. He’s just someone I met at Sacred Grounds.”

Chloe narrowed her eyes. “How long ago?”

She tried to act like she didn’t know exactly. “Maybe a week? Don’t read anything into this, Chloe.”

“What’s he like?”

Handsome. Southern. Sexy. “I don’t know. Nice?” Feeling even more awkward—and like a liar—Joy picked up her phone and punched in the security code. To her surprise, she had a third text from Bo and another from an unknown number.

Her thumb hovered over the screen as she debated which number to tap first. Was the other text from a telemarketer? Or, was the creepy person who’d texted her the other night texting again?

Or was it just another client?

Chloe was still studying her intently. “Mom, you’re acting weird. What’s going on?”

“Nothing, dear.” Pasting what she hoped was a very reassuring smile on her face, she added, “It’s nothing for you to be worried about.”

Chloe sat up straighter. “Why would I be worried about you texting a friend?”

Boy, she was making a mess of things. “You wouldn’t. Of course you wouldn’t. Don’t worry about it, all right?”

“Fine.” Chloe slumped back down on the couch and picked back up the remote.

Joy knew, however, that Chloe was anything but relaxed. She was likely stewing on this new information and trying to figure out how she felt about it. Her daughter was a thinker.

Glad for the reprieve, Joy sat down in her favorite comfy chair in the corner of the living room. After telling herself to stop acting so... so juvenile, she tapped Bo’s name.

Morning. How’s your day going?

---