Page 13 of Forged

“Hello, dear,” she said, meaning Nick. She settled Jordan in her arms but only smiled at him for a moment before going on with, “I do occasionally shop for groceries as well, you know.”

“Of course,” Nick said. He shifted around the end of the cart so that he could kiss his mum’s cheek. Macy squirmed and fussed like she wanted to go to Granny, but his mum mostly ignored her.

“Baxter, isn’t it?” she asked Bax.

“It’s good to see you again, Mrs. Turner,” Bax said, smiling as openly as he usually did.

“Did my son rope you into childcare?” she asked with the wry sense of humor she had.

Fortunately, Bax heard the question for what it was and laughed. “It just so happened that I needed a few things as well,” he said. “Nick, Jordan, and Macy graciously allowed me to tag along.”

“Well, as long as my son didn’t push you into anything you don’t want,” his mum answered.

Nick frowned slightly, no idea what she meant by that. “Bax has been a real help. The kids are restless this morning.”

“Well of course they are, dear,” his mum said, smiling at Jordan. “It’s a Saturday morning. Children are always restless on Saturday mornings. They should be at home with their toys and someone to mind them.”

Every muscle in Nick’s back went tense. “They don’t have to stay at home,” he argued. “Kids are portable, after all.”

“And they need stimulation,” Bax added, nodding at Nick.

Before he could think about it, Nick nodded back with a grateful half-smile.

His mum noted the exchange and pursed her lips as she studied the two of them. “Do you have children, Baxter?” she asked.

“Oh, no,” Bax answered with a laugh. “I’ve never been much of a family man.”

For some reason, those words hit Nick wrong. “You’re good with them, though,” he said.

Bax shrugged. “They’re good kids.”

“Are you married, Baxter?” Nick’s mum asked, like it was a deeper iteration of the question she’d just asked.

Nick was mortified, especially when Bax lost his smile and stood a little straighter, like he understood what the question really was.

“No,” Bax answered carefully. “I recently broke up with my boyfriend of three years.”

Nick’s mouth twitched at the clever way Bax told his mum what she really wanted to know.

“I’m terribly sorry,” she answered, then ignored him and turned to Nick. “Kate Danbury was asking about you the other day.”

“Oh?” Embarrassment even stronger than what he’d felt when the store employee told him off washed over Nick. “How is Kate?”

“She’s splendid,” his mum said, becoming animated for the first time in their conversation. “You know she and that Paul chap divorced last year.”

“I’d heard,” Nick muttered. He sent Bax a sideways look to make sure he wasn’t as uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was going as he was.

“Joann and I ran into her at the café,” his mum went on. “She was telling us all about how difficult the dating world is thesedays and how impossible it is to find a nice, stable, interesting man.”

“Um, I, er….”

“I told her all about your work at the arts center and that sculpture you’re building,” his mum went on with a surprise smile. “She found that very interesting.”

His mum had always been mystified by his interest in art. Her smile now wasn’t about anything he had or hadn’t accomplished, it was purely a signal that he was supposed to be interested in Kate Danbury.

He wasn’t interested in Kate Danbury or anyone else. He definitely wasn’t ready to date. Not when he could barely juggle his life the way it was.

Lucky for him, Macy burst into tears just then, saving him from having to answer.

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