Forrest looked at Audrey. “So how about coffee and dessert?” he asked.

“Coffee yes. Dessert? I don’t think I can eat a whole slice of pie.” Audrey shook her head. She still couldn’t believe she had eaten all of her T-bone steak, but it was so good and she was hungrier than she had realized.

Forrest grinned. He looked up at their waitress. “Two coffees. A slice of chocolate cream pie, and a slice of buttermilk chess pie.”

“I’ll bring that to you in just a few minutes.” The young girl walked back to the counter.

Audrey rolled her eyes. “I told you I don’t think I can eat a whole slice.”

Forrest shrugged his shoulders. “No problem. You can take bite off of both and whatever you don’t eat, I will.”

“Have you ever eaten buttermilk chess pie?”

He shook his head.

“You might not like it,” she warned him.

‘Or I might love it.” He winked at her.

“Fair enough.” Audrey laughed. Throughout dinner, he had made sure she had everything she wanted. Instead of sitting across from her like the men on the few dates she had gone on, he sat next to her. She liked it.

“Here you go.” The waitress set down the plates with the slices of pie, and then two coffee cups which she quickly filled. “I’ll be right back with cream for your coffee.”

As soon as she dropped off the cream, Audrey fixed her coffee the way she liked it. she noticed Forrest was watching her but neither she nor he said anything. She picked up one of the forks and took a bite of the buttermilk chess pie. “That is so good.” She pushed the plate toward Forrest. “See what you think.”

She watched him pick up his fork and take a bit. No emotion showed on his face while he chewed and swallowed. Figuring he didn’t like it, she started to pull the plate back in front of her.

“Hey, leave that alone. You can have the chocolate cream. I want that.” Forrest tried pulling the plate back to him.

“You like it?” asked Audrey.

“I have no idea why I haven’t tried it before now. It’s really good.”

“Most people don’t like buttermilk, so when it comes to buttermilk chess pie, they assume it’s going to taste exactly like buttermilk,” she said.

“I think you’re right about avoiding it because of that assumption. You’re right about buttermilk, I don’t like it, but I like this.” He took another bite.

A shadow fell across the table. Both Audrey and Forrest looked up. Audrey bit her bottom lip to keep from cursing out loud.

“Shouldn’t you be home with that child you’re raising instead of throwing yourself on that man? Do you not have any sense of decency?”

Audrey felt the tension building in her body. “Forrest, these are my parents, Olivia and Edmund Thomas. Olivia, Edmund, this is Forrest Durant.”

“Durant. You’re not the same Durant who runs the auto repair shop at the edge of town?” asked Edmund.

Forrest couldn’t get up because they were blocking the way out of the booth. He held out his hand to Edmund. “It’s actually a restoration and customization shop. My brothers and I own it.”

Edmund ignored Forrest’s hand and turned his attention to Audrey. “How dare you call us by our names. We are your parents. You will respect us in that role.”

Audrey stared at the man and woman stand. “You made it very clear when I refused to give up Seth that I was no longer your daughter. I believe that means you are no longer my parents, and therefore I don’t have to respect you in that role. You can’t have it both ways.”

“Defiant as ever.” The older woman wrinkled her nose as if she had smelled something bad. “You should have listened to us, because it’s obvious you can’t control that child. He’s too wild. Skipping school, starting fights, a complete lack of respect for anyone in authority. He needs a strong disciplinarian to control him and that is not you. In fact, you need someone with a strong hand to guide and discipline you.”

“Your mother is correct. You are not a disciplinarian and you are not a fit parent. You need a strong guiding hand.” Edmund’s gray eyes narrowed.

Audrey’s face contorted with anger. “I don’t know who you’ve been talking to but I have a pretty good idea. Like you, he doesn’t like Seth either, so anything he says I wouldn’t believe. How I raise Seth is my business. As for that other rubbish, the last time I checked, I was a grown woman who can actually think for myself. I suggest you leave.”

“Maybe I should report you for being unfit. Once the state removes that child from your care, maybe you will come to your senses.”

Forrest growled causing Olivia and Edmund Thomas to jump. “You will to leave Audrey and Seth alone before I call the sheriff and report your threats and harassment.”

“Do you have any idea who I am?” Edmund looked down his nose at Forrest.

Forrest pushed his way out of the booth and stood up. He towered over Audrey’s parents. “Do you know who I am?”

“Why should I? I don’t associate with commoners who repair cars for a living.”

Forrest’s eyes narrowed. “I am Audrey’s fiancé and I don’t take kindly to you threatening her or Seth.”

“Is there something wrong?” Sheriff Todd Anderson suddenly appeared next to Forrest.

“These people are harassing and threatening Audrey and Seth,” said Forrest.

“We are her parents. We have a right to speak to our daughter anyway we deem is necessary.” Edmund pulled himself to his full height, but he was still several inches shorter than the sheriff or Forrest.

Sheriff Anderson turned to Audrey. “Are they threatening you?”

“Yes,” she said. “And they disrupted my date with my fiancé.”

“This is absurd. She is our daughter.” Olivia’s hand flew up to her chest.

“Sheriff Anderson.” Audrey waited for him to acknowledge her.

“Miss Thomas,” said the sheriff.

“They disowned me when I became Seth’s guardian because I refused to turn him over to the state as an orphan. Now, they interrupted our dinner and threatened to call the state and have Seth taken from me because according to them, I am an unfit mother to my nephew.” Audrey’s voice quivered as she spoke in a low voice.

The sheriff looked at Olivia and Edmund. “I think you need to leave before I arrest you for disturbing the peace.”

“But we…”

“Now!” Sheriff Anderson glared at Edmund Thomas.

Edmund put his hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Come Olivia.” They turned and left the diner.

Sheriff Anderson watched them until they left. Once they were gone, he turned to Audrey. “Are you okay?”

Audrey nodded. She grabbed Forrest’s hand. “I need to get out of here.”

Forrest felt her hand tremble in his. “Do you want to go home?”

She nodded. “Please.”

“Let me make sure they’ve left so they don’t try to stop you from leaving,” said Sheriff Anderson. He tipped his hat to Audrey and left the diner.

Forrest sat down next to Audrey. “Are you okay?”

“Yes…No.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m embarrassed and I’m extremely angry.”

“You have nothing to be embarrassed about. What happened is all on them.” Forrest put his arm around her shoulders. “You have every right to be angry. They had no right to say what they did. You’re doing a great job raising Seth, and you’ve done it by yourself.”

She nodded but didn’t say anything.

“Look at me.”

Audrey slowly looked up at Forrest.

“You have done a fantastic job, but you’re no longer alone. You have me, and I’m not going anywhere,” said Forrest. “Do you want to stay and finish dessert or do you want to go home?” he asked.

As she looked at her mate, she realized she loved him. In the human world, the idea of loving someone so fast was considered crazy even unacceptable, but she was no longer in that world. She was in the shifter world and the rules were different. “I want to go home.”