Enjoying the Chase (51 page)

I looked at her hesitantly, not knowing
what to say. “Your house is beautiful. It
’
s a great day for a beach party,” I said.

Oh God, I
’
m talking about the weather!
I
immediately wanted to slap myself on the forehead. Great day for a beach party?
I might have well just said, ‘
W
ell, this is awkward
’
.

Dawn didn
’
t seem to think it was a stupid thing to say; she smiled and nodded
enthusiastically. “It
’
s a
beautiful day. I can
’
t wait for
you to meet everyone. This party is going to be great!”

“How many people are coming?” I asked,
wanting to keep the conversation going so it didn
’
t lapse into an uncomfortable silence. Though, I had the distinct
impression that there would be no silences with this woman around, she seemed
to talk more than I did when I got on one of my rambles.

She pursed her lips, seeming to be thinking
about it, and I took my opportunity to study her. She was extremely pretty in
the understated, ‘I-don
’
t-need-to-dress-up-too-much-or-put-on-too-much-make-up
’
kind of way. Her personality seemed to burst
from every pore, making her seem even more cute and adorable. I could see a lot
of Nate in this woman, the way he seemed to be able to make people laugh or
smile or feel comfortable. He looked like his dad, but he had his mom
’
s ability to light up a room – just minus the
crazy.

“I think maybe about forty in total,” she
answered. “My brother and sister are coming with their children. One of my
uncles is coming too, but he won
’
t
stay long, just long enough to eat all of our food and then he
’
ll leave. Some neighbours are coming for a
couple of drinks too. Hannah has some friends coming from school, I think.”

I inwardly winced. Nate had said this was a
small affair, not forty of his friends and family.

“Anyway, tell me more about you,
sweetheart. What about DJ, he
’
s
with his dad today?” Dawn questioned, looking at me like a curious puppy.

“Yeah, he
’
s there for the weekend. Right now he
’
s probably visiting his Nanna Juliet and making cupcakes,”
I laughed.

She seemed to make a little whimper noise
as she mouthed the word ‘Nanna
’
.
“That
’
s sweet. Does he see his dad
a lot?” she asked,
still
seeming
to be musing over what I
’
d said about Josh
’
s
mom.

I shrugged. “When he can. Josh works a lot,
so…” I trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

“Do you get on alright with Josh?”

I took a big breath, not really wanting to
lie to this woman. For some reason, I trusted her and didn
’
t mind admitting my disastrous relationship to her. “In front of DJ
we get on great, but behind closed doors, not so much. I think there
’
s still a lot of ill feelings there to be
honest,” I admitted.

“On your part?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, even after three years our
relationship is still a little raw.”

She patted my hand that was resting on the
counter. “Well, if you ever need to talk to someone about it then you just know
that I
’
m here for you. I
’
m here to listen to all my girls, and I never
judge,” she stated, smiling kindly.

All my girls
… Wow,
there she goes with the accepting me thing again.

I smiled back gratefully. This woman had
sucked me right in. I defied any person to have one conversation with Dawn
Peters and not fall in love with her. “Thanks, Dawn, that
’
s sweet.”

She smiled. “Now, onto DJ,” she stated,
looking at me expectantly.

I
looked at her
uncomfortably, and waited for her to continue and tell me what she wanted to
know.

“Nate said he
’
s four?” she questioned. I nodded in response. “And what kind of
thing is he into?”

“Anything Disney. Or building stuff, Lego,
bricks, cars, anything like that. He
’
s a typical boy in that respect; he likes climbing trees and making
a mess
.
Him and Nate seem pretty well suited,” I joked.

Dawn laughed. “He sounds so adorable, just
like Nate when he was a kid, always building something with his father. Nate
used to like Disney too,” she replied, nodding enthusiastically.

“Oh yeah? I bet he liked
Peter Pan
.” I could just see a young Nate
idolising Peter Pan because he never had to grow up.

Dawn shook her head. “No, not
Peter Pan
. He absolutely adored
The
Little Mermaid
. He used to watch that movie over and over again, never got
tired of it.”

I burst into a fit of giggles thinking of
little Nate watching that movie over and over. I
’
d have to buy it for him now as a joke. “He
’
s going to love you for telling me that, he always tries to be so
macho.”

She smiled and waved her hand dismissively.
“I can handle him, he
’
s a pussy
cat,” she stated confidently, making me laugh a little harder. “So, what does
DJ look like? Do you have a picture of him?” she asked.

I nodded and pulled out the photo from my
purse, holding it out to her. She squealed when she looked at it, her hand
shooting up to cover her mouth.

“Oh, he
’
s so perfect! Look at the eyes and the little button nose! Oh,
Rosie, he
’
s so precious! I can
’
t wait to meet him. Can I meet him? Will you
bring him here one day? Maybe he could stay the night, and you and Nate could
go out or something? I
’
m always up
for babysitting, anytime you want, you just say the word and I
’
m there!”

I laughed uncomfortably.
“Umm… that
’
s really
nice of you.” I nodded, not really knowing how to answer any of those
questions. Maybe Nate would have seen the light by then and will have moved
onto someone more suited to him –
a glamour model perhaps.

She grinned and hugged the picture to her
chest. “Can I keep this?” she asked, looking at me pleadingly.

Keep my picture? “Er… sure?” I answered,
but it came out more of a question because I was just so lost. This woman
couldn
’
t possibly be as nice as
she was coming across, could she? This
had
to be an act, didn
’
t it?

She laughed excitedly, sticking the photo
onto her fridge with a magnet. “I can
’
t wait to show that off to the girls at the bowls club. There
’
s this one woman there, Margaret her name is,
well, she
’
s always bragging that
her daughter has a baby already. She
’
s rubbed my nose in it forever. Well now she can stick it in her
pipe and smoke it because my grandson is ten times cuter than hers!” she
exclaimed proudly, smiling down at the photo again.

Was she for real? There was me worrying
that they would hate the fact that I had a child from another relationship, and
she was planning on bragging to her friends at bowls? Life really was strange
sometimes.

She smiled warmly at me and looped her arm
through mine. “Want to help me with the food?”

“Sure thing,” I answered, still a little
bemused by this whole situation. There was not a chance that my parents would
give Nate an easy time like this when they met. My dad wasn
’
t exactly very trusting of guys after Josh, so
I knew he would probably rip Nate a new asshole before that meeting was over. I
was getting off pretty lightly here.

She piled a stack of French bread in front
of me and smiled apologetically. “I
’
ll slice, you spread?” she offered, looking at me hopefully.

“Sure, whatever you want,” I agreed,
picking up a knife and popping the lid off the butter that was sat on the
counter. Dawn grinned and pulled out a chopping board, slicing up the bread and
stacking them on another board for me to spread them. We made small talk for a
minute or so, but then her face turned a little more serious as she leant in
closer to me.

“Can I tell you something?” she asked
quietly.

“
Umm, sure.
”

She smiled, seeming a little hesitant and I
suddenly wondered if this was going to be something bad about Nate.

“I always thought that Nate was… you know,”
she whispered, nudging me with her elbow.

I raised one eyebrow at her, not having a
clue what she was going on about. “Nate was?” I prompted.

She looked around, checking we were on our
own before she leant in, looking at me awkwardly. “You know… gay.”

Gay? What the? She thought Nate was gay?
I burst into laughter. I was laughing so hard that my sides were
hurting. The idea of a player like Nate being gay was probably one of the funniest
things I had ever heard.

“Why… Why would you… think that?” I
stuttered around my giggles, covering my mouth as tears started to form in my
eyes.

She chewed on her lip and shrugged,
giggling along with me too. “
I don’
t know, he never showed any signs or anything. Well, I mean there
was
The Little Mermaid
thing, and he is a little vain and fusses with
his hair,” she said, winking at me.

I laughed harder. If Nate knew that his mom
was thinking that he would pitch a fit. His reaction would be priceless, no
doubt. Dawn shrugged, her face getting a little more serious. “It
’
s just that he
’
d never spoken about a girl before, I
’
ve never known him to have a girlfriend
. W
ell,
before you, of course,” she
added quickly
. “Evan always
said I was crazy, tried to assure me that Nate wasn
’
t that way inclined, but I just always thought…”

“Nate
’
s not gay,”
I confirmed, my voice
shaky
from all the
laughing
.

She sighed and nodded. “Thank goodness! I
mean, I
’
m not a homophobe or
anything, everyone
’
s entitled to
their own preferences, but I always wanted grandchildren and,” she sighed
again, “and he
’
s the only boy, so
he
’
s the only one that
’
s going to carry on the Peters name.”

I bus
ied
myself
buttering the bread, trying to stop my hysterics bubbling over again.  

“So, do you want more kids, sweetheart?”
Dawn asked, raising one eyebrow at me after we
’
d calmed down.

I didn
’
t even need to think about that answer.

“Yeah,” I admitted. “I love being a mom. It
’
s the best feeling in the world when you get a
hug from your child, or they smile at you. I
’
d definitely like more kids.”

Arms suddenly closed around my waist,
yanking me back into something hard. “And what if I don
’
t want any?” Nate chimed in, his breath blowing down my neck.

I smiled teasingly over my shoulder. “
Then I
’
d have to dump your
ass.”

He pursed his lips playfully. “Is it true
that when women get pregnant their boobs get bigger?” he asked, his gaze flicking
down to my chest.

I laughed and rolled my eyes. “Yes, Nate,”
I confirmed.

He pressed his chest against my back
tightly. “Then I want
lots
of kids,” he joked, his hand skimming up my
side heading towards my breasts. I squealed and pushed his hand away it reached
its desired destination.

Dawn clicked her tongue. “Huh, I was
definitely wrong,” she mused, turning back to the bread.

I burst into giggles, and Nate just looked
at me like I had lost the plot. I shook my head and kissed him lightly before
turning back to my chopping board.