The air froze. For a split second, Claire’s mask cracked. He saw panic, then a flash of that feral runner’s defiance. She didn’t lie.
They didn’t hug. They didn’t shake hands. They just looked at each other, and Leo saw his mother blush—actually blush —for the first time in his life.
“Before what?” Leo demanded.
“I don’t care if the pot is a quarter million. I’m a mother first.”
A pause.
Claire’s eyes glittered. “I’m good for it.”
“I love you and your father more than anything,” she said, stopping by the old oak tree at the edge of the fairgrounds. “But I forgot who I was. The woman who likes to run in the dark. The woman who gets a rush when the cards fall just right. I’ve been hiding her in junk drawers and pantry closets.” naughty mommy juicy secrets
Claire sighed, the weight of ten years of perfect baking sliding off her shoulders. “Sit down, sweetheart. I think it’s time you knew your mother’s juicy secrets.”
A flip phone. In 2024.
It started with the drawer.
Every Tuesday, Claire told Leo she was going to her “book club.” She’d kiss his forehead, grab her tote bag (which always clinked with wine bottles), and drive off in her sensible minivan. But last Tuesday, Leo had followed on his bike. The air froze