“I think it’s going to stop before then. The place looks great! The kids are going to love it.”
Megan smiled and pride swelled as she looked around at the decorated store. “I think so, too.” She laughed as she said, “I don’t know who is going to be more excited – the kids or Caleb.”
Megan grabbed her things from the storage room and met Megan at the front door. Caleb was nowhere to be found, so she sent him a quick text message to tell him that she’d be back later.
The diner wasn’t too crowded yet. There were a few customers finishing up their breakfast, but it was the perfect lull between those who had to be at work and those who started their day later.
Abbie was already in one of the back booths and waved her arm as she spotted Megan and Rose. Megan scooted in to sit next to the window and Rose slid in next to her.
“I ordered everyone coffee, it’ll be here in a second,” Abbie said as she handed them menus.
“Great, thanks. I definitely need some.” Megan perused the menu, but nothing grabbed her attention the way the thought of an omelet had.
“How is prep for the party going?” Abbie asked.
“Caleb is losing his mind, but the store looks great. He’s been so excited that I don’t think he’s slept all month.”
Abbie raised an eyebrow. “Is it just excitement about the party or has something, or should I say someone,been keeping him up at all hours of the night?”
Megan didn’t blush as she grinned. The memory of the other night flashed through her mind, of Caleb’s lips on her skin and his hands on her body. She took a sip from her water glass to battle the flush that came over her at the thoughts.
Abbie laughed, and then turned to Rose. “So, what’s new with you?”
Rose put down the menu and sat against the back of the booth. “Not much. Hard to have stuff happen when you’re still a social pariah.”
Megan met Abbie’s glance. It had been over a year since Rose called off her wedding, and neither her family nor Henry’s had gotten over it.
“It’s ridiculous that Henry’s family is still ignoring you,” Abbie said.
“I don’t blame them,” Rose said, a hint of sadness in her voice. “They were excited for Henry and their dynastic future. I ruined it.”
Abbie huffed but Megan cut in, “You ruinedtheirplans but saved your heart. That’s what matters. You were under no obligation to be part of some, how did you put it? Dynastic future. This is the twenty-first century. They’re not part of the British aristocracy, for crying out loud.”
Rose smiled at her, and Megan saw gratitude in Rose’s eyes.
“I know. And part of me is angry that they aren’t over it. At least his mom isn’t shunning mine at the club anymore. They refuse to sit with me, of course, but that’s whatever. I stopped going to club. I’ve never liked it.”
Despina, their waitress, interrupted to deliver their coffees and take their orders. Megan laughed when they each ordered a different omelet and home fries.
After Despina left to put their orders in, Abbie turned to Rose and said, “That family has always been snotty. You deserve in-laws who see you as more than a brood mare for their son to breed.”
Rose choked on her coffee and spluttered.
“It wasn’tthatscandalous a thing to say, was it?” Abbie asked.
Megan passed Rose some napkins and helped her clean up the table.
“No, I thought I saw someone,” Rose said. Her cheeks were red.
“Who?” Abbie moved closer to the window to look, but Megan knew the answer. She’d seen him walk by, and had a feeling the jingle on the door of the diner meant he had come in.
Jacob Clark. Rose’s high school boyfriend. The memory of him and a chance meeting just before she was supposed to walk down the aisle to Henry had been enough for Rose to call off the wedding.
Megan noticed Rose’s eyes widen ever so slightly.
“Never mind, I don’t think it was hi–her.”
Abbie started to say something, but Megan shook her head once. Abbie stopped and took a sip of her coffee instead.
