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“I insist.”
This time Paige found the battle of wills playing out before her even more amusing, since David was now in the role of the child instead of the parent, and for a moment it seemed as if he was going to dig his heels in. However, he seemed to think better of it, and after setting down the peeler, he gave the women a mock salute and started to head out of the kitchen, only to stop at the doorway, turn back to get a beer from the fridge, a glass from a cupboard, and the platter with the cheese ball and crackers, before leaving again.
Once he was gone, Paige let out some of her amusement with a chuckle. “I can’t believe you just chased him out of his own kitchen like that. That was kind of impressive.”
“I had to,” Valerie said, without any remorse. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. I love him to the moon and back, but how are we supposed to have quality girl talk if he’s breathing down our necks?”
“Good point.”
“I’ve been waiting—and hoping—this day would come for over five years, and the last two months have just about killed me, so—”
“The last two months?”
“Yes. Ever since David told me about his ‘plan’, I’ve wanted to get in touch with you, but he asked me to wait. So, I did, but it hasn’t been easy.”
“He told you about his ‘plan’ two months ago?” Paige asked in shock, quickly doing the math and coming to the conclusion that David must’ve told Valerie not long after she found out David and Paige were ‘dating’ one another.
Valerie nodded, before frowning a little. “Are you upset he told me about it?”
“No,” Paige was quick to say because she wasn’t upset. She was more like … “Just very surprised that he did, is all.”
“Why?”
“Because the night you used your ‘mom sorcery’ on him—”
“My what?”
“Your ‘mom sorcery’. That’s what David called it, when he was trying to explain how you got him to tell you he was dating me, instead of admitting he’d just been outsmarted by you,” Paige explained.
Valerie grinned. “I did outsmart him that night.”
“Yeah, you did, which is what I told him. Anyway, after that, he promised me he’d deal with you—”
“Deal with me?”
Paige shared the details about the mini-meltdown she’d had over Valerie finding out about them—plus the possibility of her expectations arising—and how David had sworn he wouldn’t let his mom have any.
“Hmm.” Valerie frowned. “I wonder how he was planning on doing that?”
“Obviously by telling you about his plan to get back together with me,” Paige answered, deadpan, then added, “Not long after he told you we were dating.”
At that, they both shared a long laugh. Then, shaking her head, Valerie said, “I don’t know if this will make you want to kill him even more, but he actually told me about his plan the day after he told me you two were dating.”
Paige’s mouth fell open at that information. “The very next day? Oh, no, he didn’t.”
“Yes. When he came to pick up Jacob, after helping you with that wedding.”
Paige tilted her head. “Did you have to use any methods of enhanced interrogation on him, to get him to spill his guts? You know, other than your ‘mom sorcery’?”
“Well, I demanded to know what was really going on with you two in a really stern voice.” Valerie’s lips twitched with amusement. “Does that count?”
“Apparently to David it does, but I would’ve preferred that he’d been waterboarded.”
“Sorry. He’s never been a real tough nut to crack.”
“Clearly,” Paige murmured, before shifting the conversation a little. “So, why did he want you to wait to contact me?”
“He didn’t trust me not to reveal the plan to you in some way. When I told him I was a vault and I wouldn’t do that, he told me I wasn’t, and I needed to wait until the plan either worked—or didn’t—before contacting you. So, I promised him I’d wait.”
