Jared said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you both. Did you get what you wanted, kitten?” Jared asked as he closed her hand in his.
Dale greeted the men and said, “I’m a member of the Riverbend Volunteer Fire Department. I heard we had a couple of new firefighters join the department in town. Heard good things about you.” His curiosity was obvious as his eyes skipped from one man to the other, noting the way they bookended her.
Kendry shook his hand and said, “We bought a place out near the river and I think we’re in your coverage area.”
Jared and Kendry shared brief pleasantries with them and Missy leaned forward and quietly muttered, “I mean it, Presley Ann. He’s off the market.”
Because she was holding their hands, she felt the reassuring squeeze they both gave her. “I’m off the market as well, Missy.”
Missy scoffed a little. “For now.”
“Missy,” Dale’s voice was firm. “That’s enough. I’m your man. You’ve made it clear, wildcat.” Missy frowned and her jaw jutted out a little but she said nothing else and Dale smiled at her. “Sorry, Presley Ann. She doesn’t mean to be that way. She’s just the one who…picked up the pieces.”
Both of her men were about to reply, but Presley Ann gave her head a small shake and they let her speak. “I know, Dale. I’m sorry for that. It’s kind of nice having someone at your back who is so protective though, isn’t it?” Missy was more possessive than protective, but whatever…
Dale smiled and relaxed a little as he put his arm around Missy, who was now blushing as she looked down at her boots. “It is. That’s a precious little boy you have there. I’d heard you were expectin’.”
“This is my son, Whit,” Presley Ann said, feeling her heart swell with love and purpose. There were still plenty of people who disliked her in the community, but she had her little angel and two men who had just achieved hero status.
“How old is he?” Missy asked.
“A little over six weeks.” Heat coursed through Presley Ann as she spoke the words. Earlier that week, Emma had given her the green light on her postpartum recovery. Jared and Kendry probably knew what that meant.
Oh, I am so not going there again.
Before she’d left the doctor’s office, she’d also started a strictly scheduled regimen of birth control shots at Emma’s suggestion. She even had an app for that on her phone.
Dale nodded and said, “Well, looks like motherhood is agreeing with you.”
Missy smirked. “That’s his nice way of saying that you put on quite a bit of weight with the baby.”
Presley Ann let it go, knowing Missy was just getting in her licks while she had her chance, and she tried to convince herself that she didn’t care what the wench thought, but it still hurt.
Kendry cleared his throat and squeezed her hand gently, an unspoken show of support, but it was Dale who spoke up as he turned to his girlfriend. “Actually, I always thought she was too thin. I don’t know why you gals worry so much about that stuff. A man likes a woman who has a little meat on her bones.”
Missy shrugged and looked from Jared to Kendry and said, “Which one is his daddy?” She couldn’t see that Whit’s hair was jet black because of the hat.
“I am,” Jared and Kendry both said at exactly the same moment. Presley Ann’s stomach dropped into her feet and she could think of nothing to say.
Missy smirked as if she thought they were teasing her and before she could follow up with another question Jared said, “It was nice meeting you folks. Always good to meet another firefighter in the community.” After taking their bag of popcorn and shaking hands with Dale, they steered her away, with Missy still looking dumbfounded.
“You didn’t have to say that,” she whispered to them as they stopped to look in a store window.
Jared shook his head before putting his arm around her shoulders. “Nah. Her question was inappropriate. Like her. It deserved an inappropriate response.”
“Yes, but now rumors will fly.”
“Anyone who believes her deserves to be misinformed.”
Presley Ann laughed out loud. “Well, the already misinformed couldn’t think much worse of me so I guess that’s an improvement.” At least she had her family, these two handsome men, and a circle of friends she could rely on to have her back. She knew there was a chance she’d never win over the whole of Divine. She’d take what she could.
While they were milling around, visiting, and looking for a spot to sit, they came upon Lucy Owen and her husbands, Patrick and Beck, and Patrick’s son, PJ. Presley Ann mentioned the shop she’d visited the day before and Beck, who she’d discovered wasn’t nearly as cantankerous as she’d always thought, told her he was definitely interested in talking to Mrs. Finch.