Coyote (Hawks MC Next Generation #1) - Lila Rose Page 0,49
dropped in with her and tried to pay for the food I gave her, but I refused it. We had a good bartering system going, and the jams she made were always delicious.
Making my way out the front, I grabbed the other box and made my way around the counter. Denise was already at the table talking to them and no doubt giving Mrs Brickston her coffee.
The table quieted when I approached. “Here you go, Mrs Brickston.” I placed the boxes in her cart and pulled the top over it. “Now, did you want to stay longer, and I can walk you home after the lunch rush, or would you prefer to head out now?” She lived down the street and I liked to make sure she got home safely.
She smiled up at me. “I’ll just finish my coffee and we can get going, Channa.”
I nodded. “No problem.”
“If you like, Mrs Brickston, we could walk you home. We’re leaving shortly,” Zara offered.
“That would be lovely. Then Channa can get ready for the rush.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. After all, she’d only just met them. Then again, she probably felt as comfortable as I did around them.
“Positive, dear.”
“All right.” I mouthed, “Thank you,” to Zara, and then said, “I’d better check everything is sorted for lunch then. It was nice seeing you, Mrs Brickston.”
“You too, Channa.”
“And it was great to see you again, Clary. And meet you, Julian and Zara. I hope you’ll stop by again.”
“We will, pumpkin,” Julian said. Clary nodded with a smile.
“Have a good day,” Zara said.
“You also,” I called over my shoulder as I got back to work.
Chapter Thirteen
Coyote
Even as I pulled up out the front of Channa’s house with a damn flutter to my gut, I couldn’t get the phone call I had with Mum out of my head. There was just something about it that seemed suspicious.
I’d been sitting in my office going over some paperwork when Mum’s name had flashed over the phone.
“Hey, Mum, what’s happenin’?” I’d asked.
“Oh, nothing much, Cody. I wanted to know if you could come to dinner tonight?”
First of all, she usually texted me about dinners. Her calling about it had me puzzled.
“Can’t, Mum. I’ve got plans.”
“Really? What type of plans?” Secondly, her voice had taken on a different, higher tone when she’d asked that.
“Just seeing a friend for dinner.”
“Oh, that sounds nice. What will you be eating?”
Usually she wouldn’t ask something so specific. “Pizza. Why all the questions, Mum?”
“No reason,” she’d said, a little too quickly.
“Okay,” I’d drawn out. “Was there somethin’ else you needed?”
“Nope.” The p had popped from her lips. “But how has life been?”
My brows dipped. “Good. Busy with work. Drake texted me the other day tellin’ me about gettin’ into a fight at school. You know it wasn’t his fault. He didn’t start it.”
“I know. It’s all been sorted. You Marcus boys are always defending people in the right way. His poor friend, though.”
She’d spoken the truth. I would’ve done the same because I felt bad for Drake’s mate. My brother had saved him from a group of idiots bashing the shit out of him because he was gay. They’d said they’d caught him looking at their junk in the toilets. Drake knew it was a bunch of bullshit and took matters into his own hands when he’d seen the way his mate was injured.
I hadn’t thought that shit still happened nowadays, but then again, there were stupid fucks in the world.
I’d shifted the conversation. “Okay, so this call isn’t about Drake. Has Ruby done somethin’? Maya?”
“No, I was just checking in with my boy. God, can’t a mother do that?”
“Yeah, Mum. Course you can.”
“Good. Now, I better go. Have a good night, Cody.”
“Will do.”
While I’d known I’d have a good night since I was seeing Channa, there was something about that call that put me on alert. I’d have to go and visit Mum to see if I could get a better reading off her.
Grabbing the pizza boxes, I climbed out of the car and found Channa already on the front porch waiting with a sweet smile. Fuck me, just the sight of her had my heart feeling thicker and beating a bit harder. She wasn’t in her pyjamas tonight, unfortunately. Actually, it was probably good she wasn’t. Instead, she wore jeans and a tee, and I noticed when I got close, her feet were bare.
“Hey, angel.” I grinned. Leaning in, I kissed her pinking cheeks.