Southpointe Circle, Saturday, August 21, 8:15 a.m.

Lori parked in front of Sherry’s house. Chet wouldn’t like that she had come here to confront his ex, but it was time they settled this thing between them—woman to woman. Sherry had a new husband. She had no right to begrudge Chet his own happiness. She certainly had no right to use Chester as a pawn.

Palms sweating and pulse thumping hard, Lori walked right up and pressed the doorbell.

She could hear voices inside and tiny feet running. Chester stuck his face to the sidelight and Lori smiled at him. He waved and did that little-boy shimmy he did when he was excited. He started shouting for his mom and then he disappeared.

Lori imagined Sherry was ordering him to his room, maybe off to the den with his stepfather.

Finally the door opened and Sherry looked from Lori to the street. “Where’s Chet?”

So much for hello. “He’s at work already. I’m headed that way myself. I thought if you had a moment we could talk. You know Chet’s birthday is tomorrow.”

Instantly going on the defensive, Sherry folded her arms over her robe-clad chest. “I know when his birthday is. Sundays are his day with Chester so there shouldn’t be an issue. What do you want to talk about? I thought you were embroiled in some big case.”

“We are.” Lori struggled to hang onto her patience. “I don’t have a lot of time, so if you have a moment…”

“You don’t look like you’re headed to work.” She surveyed Lori’s jeans, Magic City tee, and sneakers with something akin to disdain.

“It’s Saturday,” Lori defended. “We opted for casual day.”

“If you have something to say, we can talk out here.”

Lori stepped back as the woman joined her on the stoop. “That works.” What else could she say?

“What is it you want to talk about? If you’re annoyed about the other night, that’s tough. My son comes first. If he has a fever he’s not leaving the house.”

“I understand.” Lori wasn’t a mother, but the concept of keeping a sick child home was simply good common sense—if the child was actually sick. “That makes perfect sense. I would do the same thing.”

Sherry stared at her for a long, awkward moment. “Why are you here then?”

Lori had known the woman didn’t like her, but she hadn’t expected her to be so blatant about it. She’d actually seemed pretty nice the first few times they’d met. Had the idea that Lori and Chet were getting serious somehow started her thinking she’d made a mistake leaving him?

Well, Lori had news for her. Too late, baby.

“It feels like you and I are getting off on the wrong foot.” Lori had gone over what she intended to say a dozen times and somehow it still felt wrong and stupid. “I really want our friendship to work.” She prompted a smile she hoped passed for the real thing. “I’d like you to feel free to talk about anything related to Chester with me. I adore him but I am not trying to play the part of his mother. That belongs solely to you.”

There. She’d gotten it all out without screwing up or sounding pushy.

More of that awkward staring and no responding. What was this woman’s problem?

“I think Chester likes me and I’m very pleased about that,” Lori added. Was Sherry not going to say anything? “Is… that an issue for you?”

“Chester is my son. Why would how he feels about Chet’s newest girlfriend matter to me?”

Wow. Talk about cutting deep. Stay cool. No cat fighting allowed. “I think I’m a little more than just his newest girlfriend. We’re fully committed to each other and we’re planning our future together.”

“Great. Anything else you want to enlighten me about? I’d like to enjoy a quiet Saturday morning with my family.”

The woman was really trying hard to piss her off. “So we don’t have a problem? You’re not upset with Chester liking me or anything related to my relationship with Chet?”

“Look, Lori.” The icy tone in Sherry’s voice warned the claws were fully extended now. “I couldn’t care less where your relationship with Chet is going. Who he chooses to spend his time with is irrelevant to me. But Chester is our son. Chester may get a little attached to you but you’ll never be his mother. Why would I have a problem with a nonissue?”

Well, shit. “I told you I’m not trying to be his mother. I just want you not to feel threatened by the idea that he likes me.”

“Nothing about you threatens me.”

“Really? That’s not the way it looks from here.” Lori couldn’t help herself. She looked the woman up and down and let her own slender figure speak for itself. Sherry was a little short and frumpy—that was a place Lori would never have gone if the woman hadn’t pushed her there.

Sherry’s face reddened with her own fresh burst of anger. “So you and Chet are talking about your future, are you?”

“Yes, we are. We may buy a house later this year.” So there!

Sherry held up her left hand and wiggled her finger. “I don’t see a ring yet.”

“That’s only because I’ve been holding back,” Lori confessed with a big dramatic sigh. “But any reservations I had are behind me now. I’m absolutely ready for the next step. Kids, the white picket fence, the works.”

Maybe she’d overstated her confidence and readiness in a couple of areas, but what the hell.

“Kids?” Sherry echoed. “You and Chet want to have kids?”

“Chet loves Chester and he wants more children. We’ll be taking that step in time. Of course our children will never lessen Chester’s place in our lives. So don’t even try to throw that up. We would never hurt Chester.”

“I’m confident you won’t.” Sherry gloated as if she knew something Lori didn’t.

“What does that mean?”

“He hasn’t told you, has he?”

Lori’s composure started to slip. “Chet and I have no secrets.”

“Really? Did he tell you about the vasectomy he had after Chester was born? Sounds to me as if he might have kept that one tiny little detail from you.”

“What’re you talking about?” The woman was grasping at straws. Trying to make this about something Chet had done wrong rather than what she was doing.

Sherry made a scissoring motion with her fingers. “Snip, snip. A vasectomy. He’s shooting blanks. How does that play into your future plans for that white picket fence and kids?”

Lori did an about-face and walked as calmly as the waves of anger battering her would allow. She climbed into her Mustang and drove away.

This case was too important for her to be caught up in this kind of ridiculous pettiness.

Sherry had to be lying… Chet wouldn’t keep something like that from her.

Lori trusted him completely. She shared everything with him—her deepest, darkest secrets. He knew opening up like that had been really difficult for her.

He wouldn’t have kept secrets of his own.

Yet, on a level she was far from ready to acknowledge, she knew he had.