Page 64 of Shaken

“Kingston?” I ask, seeing a new mean side to my sister-in-law and liking it. What the hell is wrong with me?

“Dandelions,” I tell her and somehow manage not to smirk. “But seriously, Maddie. It’s not like I can call the florist and order a bouquet of weeds.”

“Why are men so dense?” she asks no one in particular. “You’re a billionaire, Sawyer. Order the weeds.”

She’s not wrong. I pull out my phone and find the number for the florist. Once I tell them money is no object and I want dandelions delivered to her office, they only ask me for the address and confirm they’ll be there before the end of business today.

“Hey, Maddie?”

“Yeah...” She smiles.

“You’re my favorite sister-in-law.” I kiss the top of her head and get out of there so I can head to Kingdom for the night.

Dandelions.

* * *

Wren

“Care to tell me who sent you the weeds?” my mother asks when she stops by my office before leaving for the day.

“They’re not weeds,” I argue.

And they’re not. They’re dandelions. And they’re absolutely perfect to me.

Mom tries to take the card out of the arrangement, but I grab it first and put it in my pocket. “Wren,” she reprimands. “Are you hiding a man from your mother?”

“As opposed to hiding other things?” I question, and she backs away.

“We’re sorry, Wren. Your father and I should never have kept that from you. And honey, I promise it wasn’t done with any malicious forethought. We were just so overwhelmed by everything we were dealing with... I guess it got lost in the chaos.”

“Please don’t lie to me again.” When she opens her mouth to correct me, I cut her off. “Intentional or unintentional. Just don’t, Mom.”

Mom smiles and blows one of the dandelions. “Are you hiding a woman? Because you know your father and I don’t care who you love. We just want you to be happy. You know I experimented in college—”

“Stop, Mom. I’ll tell you if there’s ever a man or woman in my life you need to know about.”Good lord.

“But the weeds...”

“Can you let me figure out what I’m doing before you give me the third degree?”

“Okay, sweetie.” She takes a step back. “Any chance this has something to do with your newfound interest in Sawyer Kingston?”

“Mom,” I scold, and she smiles.

“But thereissomeone. I knew it.” She vibrates with excitement, and I want to scream. “Be smart, dear. We know where babies come from, and I’d like you to be married before that happens.” Then she thinks about that for a moment. “Though I guess if they’re from a woman, we wouldn’t have to worry about babies, now would we?”

“Go home, Mother. I have to get to the hospital.” I push away from my desk and start filling my bag.

Mom’s shoulders slump a little, but she hides it well. “Fine. Do you want to stop by this weekend?”

“I’m on-call all weekend,” I remind her.

“Fine,” she gives in. “We’ll talk Monday.”

I agree, and she leaves. This is difficult for me. I love my mother and appreciate everything she’s done for me. But I feel so damn blindsided by her, I can’t help but be angry. At least for now. She’s got to at least give me a few days to wrap my head around it. Right?

Great. Now I’m carrying on complete internal conversations with myself.

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