Wednesday's Word: Latte. An Excerpt from Small Town Secrets

 Welcome to Wednesdays where I share an excerpt from one of my books using the previous day's word from the New York Times' game. WORDLE. Yesterday's WORDLE was Latte.

READ THE FIRST THREE EPISODES FOR FREE HERE

We started kissing and once started, it was hard to stop—even after Caden’s phone buzzed with an incoming text. He eased away, leaving me breathless. Caden drew his phone from his pocket and stared at the screen.

“Piper sent pictures of the prints?” I asked.

“And, plot twist, your mom is at your house.”

“She is? Why?”

“She and Pastor—”

My phone rang and I pulled it from my pocket to see I had a call from Mom. I held it up for Caden to see. “Speak of the devil.”

I answered the phone. “Mom?”

“Sweetie!” The endearment came out in a rush. “Your friends are here.”

“I know. I asked them to come over.”

Mom cleared her throat. “Pastor Richardson suggested you change your locks, and I thought it was a good idea, too.”

It didn’t matter that I had also thought it a good idea, the thought of Mom and the pastor in my house without being invited annoyed me.

“We were going to surprise you,” Mom said.

“So, instead, you surprised my friends.”

Mom laughed, but it sounded forced. “We all surprised each other.” She paused. “Pastor Richardson is surprisingly handy. He worked for a general contractor building houses to support himself while he was in the seminary.”

“Mom,” I began. I wanted to tell her that going into my house without my permission wasn’t okay and changing the locks on my doors was a giant overstep—although, looking at Caden’s expression, I had a hard time vocalizing either of those thoughts. I remembered what he’d said about gratitude. “Huh, thanks.”

“Are you coming home soon?” Mom asked. “I brought over a roasted chicken and some vegetables and Lyle brought over a game.”

Lyle? A game?

Caden mouthed the words, that sounds great.

I frowned at him and shook my head.

He nodded in response.

I rolled my eyes and made him laugh. “Yeah, we’ll be there in a few minutes,” I said grudgingly.

“Oh good.” Mom sighed in relief. “There’s plenty of food and the game can have up to eight players. It’s hilarious. It’s about a cat, a goat, and cheese something.”

Mom was rambling, meaning that she was also nervous, meaning that she knew I would be mad about her coming into my house uninvited and installing new locks without my permission.

“See you soon,” she said in a rush before ending the call.

My anger and frustration built with every footstep leading back to the house, but all that disappeared when I caught sight of Piper and Kevin kissing beside their cars. The late afternoon sun cast skimmed the tops of the trees and cast long shadows across the yard. The sky was a mixture of pink and gold. Piper and Kevin’s silhouette looked like an advertisement for a dating site.

Behind me, Caden paused. I flashed him a quick glance over my shoulder. He put his pointy finger to his lips, beaconing me to silence. He took my hand and led me up the back porch.

Inside, the warm kitchen made my skin tingle from the sudden temperature change. We found Mom and Pastor Richardson sitting at the table with steaming lattes in front of them. The smell of chocolate chip cookies floated from the oven.

Mom must have read the curiosity in my face, because she said, “I brought over some frozen cookie dough. I didn’t think you’d mind.” She winked at me.

I wanted to stay mad at her. I wanted to tell her she’d overstepped her boundaries, but I also wanted to know what was going on with her and Pastor Richardson and I also wanted to eat the cookies.

Caden, as if he sensed my dilemma, squeezed my hand.

Mom gazed at me. “Did you find your father?”

When I didn’t answer right away, Caden spoke up. “No, but we think we found his trailer.”