“You’ve been told,” I whispered.

“No shit,” he said as he pushed the seat forward to squeeze into the back. I felt bad that Tatum’s large body had to sit back there, so I moved my seat as close to the dashboard as I could to give him more legroom.

The car came to a stop next to the bowling alley, which had a diner attached to the side. “This will be nice, Paige. Thank you. It’s been far too long since I’ve been out of the house for a meal,” Mrs. Montgomery confessed.

“It’s my pleasure. Really.”

Tatum squeezed my hand as we approached the diner’s glass doors. Our bodies moved in sync before he held the door open for his mom and then for me, giving my butt a quick smack as I walked in front of him. The diner wasn’t crowded, but every person in the room turned to stare the second we entered. I figured that the news about my being in town had gotten around a while ago and that it wouldn’t cause any problems, but I quickly realized that they weren’t only looking at me.

“Maybe this was a bad idea?” I said apologetically toward Mrs. Montgomery.

She leaned toward me. “It’s not you, dear. It’s me. And Tatum holding your hand probably doesn’t help.”

“Emily. Tatum. Young lady I don’t know. Sit anywhere,” an aging waitress shouted from behind the long white counter, and I stifled an uncomfortable laugh. Three men sat on bar stools watching us, and I shifted toward Tatum, feeling a little uncomfortable. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me against him.

Mrs. Montgomery slid into a corner booth away from the majority of prying eyes and forced a smile. “I don’t get out much since Tatum’s daddy passed. It was just too hard at first. Not just to leave the house, but to leave the bed,” she said with a sigh. “But this is good.” She nodded, as if trying to convince herself. “This is a good step. These are my friends and I’ve ignored them for far too long.”

I sat next to Tatum, silently listening as his mom confessed things I was certain she usually never talked about. Before I could feel guilty for forcing her out of the house, she assured me with a smile that this had been a great idea. I wasn’t entirely convinced.

When Tatum rested his hand on top of my thigh, I both relaxed and tensed at the same time. He had this calming effect on me that mixed with his ability to turn me on with just a touch, which of course caused complete chaos inside my body. Excitement tore through half of me while utter comfort settled the other half. It made zero sense, but I chalked it up to the Tatum Effect and all that feeling “red” he seemed to do to me. Quinn would have a field day with that.

Air blew past me as someone stopped abruptly in front of our table. “Hi, y’all. I’ll be your server tonight.”

I looked up to see Brina standing there glaring at us with a notepad and pen in hand.

“Hi, Brina, I didn’t know you worked here,” I said sincerely.

Her face soured as her voice turned bitter. “It’s not like we’re friends, so how would you know?”

“Be nice, Brina,” Mrs. Montgomery said in a warning tone.

“Can I get y’all anything to drink?” She tapped her pen repeatedly.

“I think we’ll all have some tea,” Mrs. Montgomery said before Brina turned on her heel and stomped away.

“Do you think she’ll spit in them?” I whispered toward Tatum’s mom.

“She most certainly better not or I’ll be paying her mama a visit. What happened to that girl? She used to be so nice.”

Tatum’s grip on my hand tightened. “She wasn’t ever nice, Mama. She’s a fake. A fraud. A phony.”

I squeezed Tatum’s fingers before letting go. “She’s not worth it,” I reminded him, and he leaned over, placing a kiss on my cheek.

“Do we get to talk about this now?” Mrs. Montgomery waggled her finger between us, and my cheeks warmed.

“I hope it’s okay. I meant to talk to you.” I glanced at Tatum. “Alone. I just—”

“Paige.” She reached across the table for my hand. “It’s more than okay. You’ve brought light to my son’s eyes again and a smile to his face. It’s been too long since I’ve seen either.”

Tatum squeezed my thigh and nodded in agreement at his mom’s words. A smile spread across his face, and my eyes instantly filled as I fought to keep back the tears that threatened to spill. I refused to be the girl who cried at dinner because some nice words were spoken about her. Focused on holding back my emotions, I’d almost forgotten my manners. “Thank you, Mrs. Montgomery. That was really nice of you to say.”

“I wasn’t being nice, dear. I only speak the truth. So, thank you.”

Tatum’s mouth breathed against my ear, “She’s right. You’ve made me believe in love again. I’d all but given up any hope for it existing before you came along. Thank you for reawakening my heart.”

I ducked my head, and the tears I’d fought so hard to stop from falling spilled down my cheeks. I quickly wiped them away as Brina sauntered over to our table. Perfect timing.

“Make her cry already, Tatum? Great job, sweetheart,” she snapped as she placed the three drinks on the table.

“Brina Marie Ward, I know for a fact that your mama didn’t raise you to have such a smart mouth. I’ll ask you one last time to act like the Southern woman you were raised to be before I start lodging complaints. And you know how much I’d hate to do that.” Mrs. Montgomery cocked her head to the side and smiled.

Brina straightened her back and lowered her head. “Yes, ma’am. You’re right. I apologize. I’ll be back in a minute to take your order.” She quickly shuffled away.

“Wow. That was impressive,” I said, somewhat intimidated by Mrs. Montgomery’s attitude.

“Here in the South, we know how to make you feel about this big.” She held her fingers almost an inch apart from each other. “And we do it all with a smile on our face.”

“You ladies scare me,” I admitted with a tight laugh.

“Me too,” Tatum chimed in.

Dinner was uneventful and Brina didn’t act out anymore. Matter of fact, she barely spoke to us unless absolutely necessary. I think Mrs. Montgomery scared her. After paying for the check and tipping Brina more than she deserved, I noticed Tatum’s eyebrows pull together as his eyes got that faraway look in them.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

“I think I left the office door unlocked at the shop. I need to run there real quick and make sure I locked it all up.”

“This is a dangerous town. You should definitely dead bolt everything,” I teased.

Mrs. Montgomery chuckled. “You two go check on the shop, and I’ll go wait in the car,” she offered with a smile.

“Thanks, Mama. We’ll be right back,” Tatum said before giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

As we closed in on the shop, I noticed the side door hanging completely open. “Tatum, you didn’t even close the door!”

He shrugged. “I was in a hurry.”

“For what?” I asked as we entered the dark space.

“To see you.” He wrapped an arm around my lower back as his lips met mine softly, his tongue gently begging for entry. I opened my mouth, allowing him in and greeting his tongue with my own. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged as I deepened our kiss, his lips all over mine, tasting me, wanting me. But then he broke our kiss just as slowly as he started it. “Stop distracting me.”

“Me?” I pretended to growl and walked through the office door out into the garage. Even in the dark, my eyes immediately found my beautiful black car, gleaming as it sat in one of the garage’s two bays. I walked around it, noticing all four tires were intact and in place.

“Uh, Tatum?” I shouted toward the back office where he was doing God knows what.

“Yeah?”

“Is this my car?” I asked, knowing full well that it was.

“Yeah,” he drawled out.

“How long has it been fixed?” I asked with a small smile playing on my lips.

He exited the office and stared at me before answering, “Pretty much since you got here.”