Free An Accidental Mom by Loree Lough Page A

foam dish. Blue jeans clung to his muscular thighs, and he’d rolled back the cuffs of his white shirt, exposing brawny, slightly hairy forearms. He’d gotten a haircut; she knew because when he’d kissed her outside the O.R. that day, her fingers had played in the dark waves caressing the back of his neck….
    Stop it! Lily scolded herself. Remembering that moment, and how it left her weak-kneed and dizzy, accomplished nothing. Well, that wasn’t exactly true—memories of that sweet slice of time made her yearn for him all the more, because she’d so wanted to believe it meant as much to him as it had meant to her.
    “Hey, Snow White!” Georgia hollered from across the room.
    Smiling, Lily crossed the green-tiled floor of the church basement and grabbed a chair. “Nice to see you’re getting around without that wheeled contraption of yours,” she said, kissing the redhead’s cheek.
    “Couple more weeks of physical therapy,” she said, thumping the rubber-tipped end of her cane on the floor, “and I’ll be rid of this, too!”
    “I imagine you’re chompin’ at the bit to get back to work.”
    “Are you kidding? I’ve loved every minute away from that greasy spoon of mine.” She looked around, waved Lily closer. “I’ll let you in on a little secret, if you promise to keep it to yourself.”
    Nodding, Lily pulled an imaginary zipper shut across her mouth. “Mmmm’s the wrrrd,” she said through tight lips.
    One last scan of the room told Georgia no one else could hear. “Robert asked me to marry him,” she whispered.
    Lily’s eyes widened as she leaned back and gasped. “That’s wonderful news! Why do you want to keep it a secret?”
    “He hasn’t told his kids yet, and I haven’t had a chance to tell Max and Nate, either.”
    Lily frowned. “You don’t look very happy about it. Don’t tell me you said no.”
    Georgia made an are-you-kidding face and said, “Don’t be ridiculous! He’s a wonderful, loving man. I’d be crazy to let him slip through my fingers.”
    “Then, why the long face?”
    “I have another bit of news, and I’m not too sure Max is gonna like it.”
    Lily giggled nervously. “You’re not pregnant, are you?”
    Georgia laughed. “’Course not, you silly nut!” When the moment passed, she said, “I’m going to retire. Permanently. Robert, too. We’re going to take a world cruise for our honeymoon.”
    “Why would Max object to that? You’ve worked hard in that diner all your life.”
    “Because I want to hand the deed to that diner over to him. It’s been in the family for generations. I don’t want it going to strangers.”
    Lily thought about that. He’d pulled hundreds of shifts in the diner as a boy, and although she’d never heard him complain, exactly, if his expression and body language were any indicator, he hadn’t liked the work one bit.
    And he’d spent the past six years in the big city, no doubt working at a big fancy desk in an air-conditioned, mahogany-paneled office. Probably lived in a ritzy Chicago suburb, too, in a too-big-for-him house on a street with other snooty accountants.
    “What scheme are you two cooking up?”
    Lily lurched and Georgia gasped.
    “Oh!” Georgia exclaimed. “You just shaved ten years off my life, sneaking up on us that way!”
    Max chuckled. “I didn’t sneak. It’s just that you two were so deep in discussion, you didn’t hear me.” He raised an eyebrow. “So, what gives?”
    “None of your beeswax, boy,” Georgia said, chinin the air. “Honestly, how old does a mother have to be to get a little privacy?” She sniffed.
    Max held up his hands in mock surrender. “ Excuse me for interrupting. I only came over to deliver your plate.” He put the dish on the table, then handed her a paper napkin and plastic utensils.
    “Kids,” she said to Lily, “never get too old to lay a guilt trip on you.” Rolling her eyes, she sighed. “Sorry for snapping your head off, son.”
    “Yeah,” he said,