The Shifter Romances The Writer

She shuffled to the door, thankful the UPS man had a drop-and-run policy, and opened it to collect her goods.

A small woman with black hair and a bright, familiar smile stood there, holding a large covered dish. “Hello there.”

“Hi.” If this was one of her neighbors coming to welcome her to the neighborhood, she really hoped that was a cake under that dome. Cake would be perfect right now. And actually, so would a little company that wasn’t Delaney or Alex.

The woman lifted the dish. “I’m Carmen. I thought you might like some tres leches. Do you know what that is?”

Roxy almost smiled. Almost. “Oh yeah, I know what tres leches is.” Her back teeth ached with the thought of all that gooey sweetness, and her soul cried out for the indulgence. She opened the door a little wider. “Come on in. I’m Roxy.”

“Nice to meet you, Roxy.” The woman’s voice had a happy little lilt to it. “Are you sure I’m not interrupting something?”

Roxy glanced down at her pajamas. “No, I, uh…I work from home, so these are sort of my work clothes. I wasn’t in bed or anything.” Although she could have been.

“I see.” Carmen came in. “I understand you just moved in not too long ago?”

“That’s right.” Roxy closed the door and walked with her to the kitchen, which wasn’t too much of a wreck thanks to eating so much takeout. “Do you live on this street?”

Carmen’s smile faltered a tiny bit. “I live a little south of you. It’s very nice of you to invite me in and also unexpected. If I had known you were going to do that, I would have brought some coffee. But I suppose you have coffee. It’s just the thing with tres leches.”

“I have plenty of coffee. Just the stuff you make in the machine, though. The stuff from the cups. Hard to drink a whole pot when you live alone.”

Carmen nodded. “My son got me one of those fancy machines for my birthday last year. He’s such a good boy. I haven’t figured out how to use it yet.”

Roxy laughed for the first time since that night. She took two mugs from the cabinet. “It’s not hard. Look, I’ll show you. You put the mug underneath, put the cup with the coffee in it in this part right here, then close the lid and hit Brew.”

Carmen paid close attention, then clapped her hands when the coffee started coming out. “That’s so easy! I can do that. You’re a good teacher.”

“There’s nothing to it, really.” Roxy handed her the second cup. “You make the next one.” While Carmen did that, Roxy got out small plates, two forks and a serving knife.

Coffee made, Carmen uncovered the cake, cut two generous slices and added them to the plates.

Roxy took one and her coffee to the kitchen table. Carmen followed. She sat across from Roxy and they both dug in.

The sugary sweetness caused Roxy’s cheeks to ache in the best possible way. The cake was a flavor bomb of pudding-moist milky goodness. “Oh man, that is amazing. You’re welcome to bring this cake over anytime.”

“I’m so glad you like it.” Carmen’s smile faded. “I have a confession to make. I never thought you’d invite me in. I was just going to bring you the cake, say hello, maybe talk to you a little, but now…”

Roxy sat up a little straighter. “If I’m keeping you from something—”

“It’s not that. It’s just…I feel like I’m not being truthful with you.”

Roxy snorted. Must be a Nocturne Falls thing. “Why? What aren’t you being truthful about?”

Carmen folded her hands together on the table, one on top of the other. “I’m not exactly your neighbor.”

Roxy frowned. “Then who are you?”

Carmen tried to smile again. “I’m Alex’s mother.”

Roxy put her fork down, the cake tasteless in her mouth. Carmen. Of course. The woman she’d signed a book for. “Did he send you over here?”

Carmen shook her head. “No, he’s in the shower. He has no idea I’m here. And he’ll be furious with me if he finds out. But when he told me what happened, I just had to come and talk to you. I knew if we could just have a chat, I could fix everything.”

Roxy pushed the cake away. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Please, Roxy, he’s a good boy. And he’s miserable that you won’t talk to him. I just hope you’ll give my son a second chance. He’s the best man I know.”

“Too bad he didn’t think I’d be strong enough, or like him enough, or whatever enough, to handle the truth about what he is. He was afraid telling me would stress me to my breaking point.” Delaney was really more to blame for that, but Alex had hurt her in a different way. Because she’d thought they had something. Because they’d agreed to be truthful with each other. “He lied to me. After promising me we would be upfront about everything.”

She crossed her arms and stared at his mother, almost challenging her to defend him. “I’m sorry, but accidentally finding out the guy you’re interested in has been holding back a major secret is no way to build a relationship.”

“What?” Carmen scowled in disapproval. “You found out he was a shifter accidentally?”

“Yes.” Roxy sighed. “But he was going to tell—”

“Unacceptable.” Carmen’s eyes flashed gold. “My son knows better than that. I am not happy with him.”