Page 11 of Forever Mine

"Jane, it's nice to see you."

Using the name I had overheard at the restaurant seemed to startle and confuse Madelyn, but she recovered quickly.

"Liam, what are you doing here?"

I didn't quite know what to say, so I grabbed Oscar and shoved him forward. "I'm playing games with the kid."

Oscar shot me a traitorous look.

"Oscar, how do you know this man?" she asked him.

"We met at that restaurant we stopped at the other day, and then ran into him here. Papi said I could play with him."

Smart kid. Throw the old man under the bus, but Maddie wasn't taking the bait.

With hands on her hips, she turned back to me. I shivered at the clear display of mom eyes and my wolf cowered under the stare of our mate.

"Coincidence?" she questioned.

"Actually, yeah, it was." Though I didn't confess that it was, but only because I was stalking her.

"Mommy?" Oscar interjected, taking the heat off me momentarily. "How do you know Liam?" His tone was accusatory and she sighed. Her shoulders started to sag.

"Liam and I grew up together. He has a twin sister, Lily." She smiled fondly as she said it. "We were best friends from about the time I was your age."

I caught a silent exchange between Jacob and the woman as Oscar's questions began flying from his mouth.

Maddie held up a hand and squeezed her eyes tightly, like she was counting to ten. "Oscar, why don't you go with Papi and Mimi, and let Liam and me talk for a bit?”

"But Mom, he's starving. He skipped breakfast. We should at least feed him first."

I suddenly felt like a stray dog the kid was trying to ease in before asking to keep.

"I'm pretty hungry too, Janie. Why don't we grab some lunch? Let the shock of seeing an old friend sink in before talking," Jacob suggested.

"Fine," she said, like she knew she wasn't going to win that battle anyway.

"Would you like to join us for lunch, Liam?" The older woman with her asked.

I smiled brightly. "I'd love to."

"Oh good. By the way, I'm Annie, and It's so nice to meet an old friend of Jane's."

I smiled arrogantly at Maddie. "Jane and I go way back."

She glared when I emphasized the name Jane, and shoved me forward. Annie faltered a little and somehow I knew that this Jane didn't make personal contact much. I fought back a grin, taking it as a sign of her wolf recognizing me, too.

As we were heading down the stairs near the sea lions, Oscar grabbed my hand and pulled me aside, tugging me down to his level. He cupped his hand near my ear and whispered. I think he may have spit a little in there, too. "Did you do something to make Mommy mad?"

"No."

"Did she do something?"

"No," I assured him.

"Okay, ?cause warning, that is not her happy face"

I tried not to laugh. "Thanks for the heads-up."

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