Page 93 of Tangled Emotions

“His last name is the same as your family. Then he asked me to have a coffee or milkshake with him at the diner to talk man-to-man.” He chuckled. “Evie and Big E almost lost their minds.”

“He talks about you a lot.”

“He’s a great kid, Edie.” Frank kissed me as the server came over.

“I’m Alphonse and it will be my pleasure to serve you.”

“Jack and coke for both of us.” Frank spoke without taking his eyes off mine.

“Right away, sir.” He scurried off.

“Feel like telling me the story?”

I nodded and took a sip of water. “Let’s see, I’d been dating Greg since my sophomore year. And after graduation we had an oops.” I took a deep breath. “When I told him, it went over like a lead balloon. He had an offer to a college with a scholarship. And he most definitely didn’t want the baby.”

Frank reached over and held my hand. “Typical reaction for a teen boy.”

“It was.”

The server came back with our drinks, set them down, then pasted a smile on his face. “Are you ready to order?”

Frank gave him a look that sent him scurrying off.

“See the woman he’s with? That’s his wife. She came to me with an envelope of money to take care of the problem.”

Frank’s eyebrows went up. “That’s shitty.”

“Yeah. Especially when she came up pregnant a couple months later.”

“He cheated?”

I nodded. “Oh yeah. And Lori wanted me out of the way.”

“How many people know he’s Matt’s father?”

“Not many. Just close friends and family. I didn’t put his name on the birth certificate.”

Frank turned to look at the family of four before looking back at me. “His son is about the same age as Matt.”

I chuffed and nodded. “He is. And I haven’t told Matt he has two half-siblings, because Greg refuses to claim him.”

“What a douche.”

Nodding, I looked around the restaurant.

“Edith.” Frank softened his voice. “I already knew you were a mom. I saw Matt’s pictures in your home. There were toys around, a spelling test on the fridge. Baby, I knew. And it changes nothing.”

“I should’ve told you.”

“No.” He tipped my chin up and pressed a kiss to my lips. “You needed to be ready to share that part of you with me. I told you before. You’re worth waiting for, Edith.”

Reaching out, I grabbed him by the shirt, pulling him to me. “Gimme yo’ face.”

“It’s all yours, baby.”

I didn’t care who saw us kissing. My tongue pushed into his mouth and played with his. I felt his hand slide up under my dress and goose bumps broke out all over my skin.

“Got a question for you, sweetness.”