Page 79 of Feel It in the Air

20

MARGEAUX

Welcome to the Hayes Family…

Gus’s words repeat over and over in my head as I go through the motions of prepping the ingredients. I can think of little else. That’s not true—they are the only thing I can think about. Five words that have completely taken over my entire world, shifting it on its axis, sending my head and heart into a whirlwind.

In every good way possible.

Biting back a smile, I continue to chop, doing my best not to lose myself into a fit of giggles. I am not thirteen, and the cutest boy in school didn’t just slip me a note in between classes. Except, that’s exactly what this feels like. Maybe even better.

I knew I was in deep—really, really deep—especially after spending this last weekend playing house with Gus. And I know he has feelings for me too. What exactly those feelings are and whether or not they run as deep as mine, I still don’t have full confirmation on, but after a statement like that, maybe I do.

Right? Right. Maybe.

“You’re coming, right, Margeaux?” Alice Evans, owner of Oh, My Lard!, the bakery in town, asks, looking up from her laptop.

I blink, pulling my head out of the clouds and back into the moment. But before I can answer, Dolly chimes in.

“Of course she is!”

I glance between her, Alice, and Emily—whose last name I have since learned is Barrowcliff, and that she’s not only Dolly’s cousin, but little sister to Gus’s best friend—trying to figure out what they are talking about. The two women, who are now sitting on the other side of the kitchen island as Dolly and I cook, showed up shortly after I joined Dolly inside, which helped to raise Dolly’s spirits. Lost in my own world, I haven’t paid much attention to all their girl talk, but I do know that Jeff’s name—and his now absence from today—hasn’t been mentioned. Only fueling my curiosity about the moment from earlier.

“Where are we going?”

“Right now it’s a toss-up between Blue Ridge, a little town up in the mountains, or Atlanta,” Alice says. “If we go with Blue Ridge, we’re thinking rent a big-ass cabin house, complete with pool and hot tub, and just chill. Or we could hit up Atlanta for big-city fun with clubbing and shows, and there is a spa that Willa took Kenzie to and raved about.”

“There’s a ton to do in Blue Ridge. We won’t be hurting for ideas if we go up there and want to get out and about. Not that I’m opposed to a couple of days of doing nothing,” Emily adds. “Or, there’s always Disney if we wanna go real big.”

“When? What for?” I still have no clue what is being discussed, and none of their comments are giving me any kind of context clues. This is what I get for daydreaming.

“My bachelorette,” Dolly says, her smile turning teasing. “A little lost in thought over there? I saw the way Gus was holding on to you.”

Heat prickles the back of my neck, and the feel of all eyes turning to me in an instant is more than a little uncomfortable. Back to the topic at hand.

“I don’t want to crash your party.”

“You’re not,” all three women answer, almost in unison.

Okay then…

“We’re going all out,” Dolly says. “It’s us three, plus Rose, Willa, Kenzie, Sylvie, Bronwyn, Brenna…I emailed Maisey, but I’m not expecting her to make it.”

“Do you even know what country she’s in?” Emily asks.

“Nope!” Turning to me, Dolly explains, “Maisey is another one of our cousins. She’s off traveling the world and we never have any idea where she is.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. Just, whatever you do, don’t mention her name around Ewan.”

My brow furrows, confusion taking over. That’s a random instruction if there ever was one. No clue as to why Dolly and Emily’s cousin who I’ve never heard of until this moment would ever come up in conversation, much less in front of Gus’s youngest brother, but…noted.

I nod. “Got it.”

“It’s…complicated…” Emily adds.

“But, other than Maisey, everyone is coming on this trip. Including you. You’re one of us now.”