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The next day, while Miranda is at work, I get started on setting up decorations for her surprise baby shower. It’s a surprise in that she thinks it’s scheduled for next week. She also thinks it’s stupid that the guest list will contain only three people: herself, me and Elizabeth.
She’s wrong, though. With Marcus’s help, Tyler and I have an awesome shower planned. Sherry from the Salt Gap Inn will be attending, along with Ms. Candy and her daughter and granddaughter who work at the baby boutique. All the waitresses at the diner are showing up, thanks to Big Large allowing some of the cooks to do the serving for two hours, so they could get off work. Of course, they’ll show up late, so as not to arouse suspicion from Miranda while she’s at work.
We’ve got it all figured out, and Marcus is quite proud of himself. He calls me early in the morning, probably right after he dropped off Miranda at the diner. “So I have to help my dad do some stuff around the house, but don’t worry, I’ll be there. I just can’t get there early for decorations.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I say, feeling a little grateful for his absence. He’s nice and all, but sometimes he does too much work and I’m left feeling like I haven’t contributed anything. And, not to be a jerk, but this is my house and my shower for Miranda so I want to make sure it’s perfect.
“My sister and her best friend are coming too, of course, but my mom probably can’t make it. She’s having another arthritis flare up today.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I say, smiling to myself because I know Miranda is terrified of Marcus’s mother. Despite the fact that his mother has always been very nice to my niece. She doesn’t say it very often, but I know Miranda is embarrassed of her status as a pregnant teenager. She expects that people are going to judge and shun her, so she has no idea how to react when they don’t do that. “You haven’t said anything that would give away our secret, have you?” I ask him with a warning tone.
He sighs into the phone. “No, Robin. I’m an amazing secret-keeper. You should know this.”
Heat rises to my face when he alludes to the secrets I’ve told him about Tyler. God, I hope he hasn’t told anyone. “You’re right,” I say quickly, hoping he’ll drop the subject. “You can definitely be trusted.”
“Damn right,” he says with a laugh. “I’ll see you later, Aunt Robin.”
He hangs up the phone right before I can ask if he just called me Aunt Robin. I’m used to Miranda saying that, but come on, I don’t need the entire town calling me that. I’m not even close to thirty years old yet.
A light tapping on my front door tells me that Elizabeth is here. At least, I’m guessing it’s Elizabeth since there are no other cars in the driveway. She beams when I open the door, holding out a massive cupcake box. It has a clear plastic top and I can already see that she was totally right when she offered to make the cupcakes for the shower. They are absolutely beautiful. My mouth falls open and I help her carry them to the counter. We leave the front and back door open since it’s a beautiful day and the cool breeze allows me to keep the air conditioning off all day. Now that Elizabeth’s ex-fiancé is in jail, we don’t have to worry about someone trying to get inside.
“These are completely gorgeous,” I say, peering at the light blue frosting with silver sprinkles and little marzipan pacifiers and baby bottles. “You really outdid yourself.”
Elizabeth smiles. “I can’t take all the credit. Big Large helped.”
My mouth falls open. “Big Large? And cupcakes?”
She nods and drops a bag of more shower supplies on the table. “Believe it or not, he’s an amazing cupcake froster. I can never get the swirls to look so perfect, so he did them for me.”
“Wow,” I say as I help her unload the stuff she brought. This town just keeps on surprising me, and unlike with Houston’s crime and scammers, Salt Gap surprises me in a good way. We fall into a comfortable silence as we unpack and hang up decorations, making my home look like the aftermath of a baby store explosion.
“So, you and Tyler?” Elizabeth asks while smoothing out a plastic tablecloth over the kitchen table. “Y’all are sort of an item now, I guess?”
“I think so,” I say, nodding my head. “I mean we’ve had a talk about how we both like each other so…yeah. But no official dates or anything yet.”
Elizabeth’s lips press into a tight smile. “That’s good. That’s really good for you, Robin.” She smiles wider and it actually looks sincere. “He’s a good man. Tyler’s a really good man and there aren’t many of them around so I’m happy that you got one.”
“Thanks,” I say. I try to notice any hint of disdain or jealousy in her voice, but if it’s there, she’s not showing it. She glances at her left hand, where her engagement ring used to be. Guilt falls over me. “You’ll find someone too,” I say. “You just need to get out of town for a while. There are plenty of great men left.”
“Well if you know any, make sure you send them my way.” She laughs and grabs a box of streamer decorations. “My standards aren’t too high, either. Basically if a man has a decent job and won’t threaten to kick my ass anytime he gets mad, then sign me up.”
She laughs about it, but her remark stings, leaving an uneasy feeling in my gut. Elizabeth is a sweet, beautiful and amazing person and she deserves a good man. She probably deserves one more than I do, and yet I’m the one with Tyler’s number saved into my phone with a heart next to it. I should be happy about my newfound prospect of love, and yet I can’t shake the feeling that I don’t deserve any of it.
I stare at Grandpa’s watch on my wrist, but I don’t know why. It never helps. I still feel awful for taking Tyler away from Elizabeth. He did say he didn’t like her in that way, but what if I had never shown up? Would he be with her right now?
I was so caught up in the task of decorating the house and setting out trays of finger foods, that I hadn’t heard the sound of anyone arriving. So when Tyler pokes his head in the door and says, “Hey, ladies!” I jump so hard I drop a tray of ice. Luckily, only two squares of ice fall out of the tray, skidding across the tile floor.
“Tyler!” Elizabeth chastises, placing a hand on her hip. “Don’t go around scaring your girlfriend! She’s very busy today.”
He laughs and lets himself into my home, which is actually his property, while carrying a massive gift bag. The thing is nearly three feet tall. “Where should I put this?” he asks, lifting it with one hand and wrapping the other arm around me. He kisses me on the cheek, which makes me blush like crazy and I try looking anywhere but at him so he won’t notice. “In the living room, I guess,” I say. “What did you get her that’s so freaking huge?”
He shakes his head. “You’ll have to wait and see.”
The duplex feels so much bigger when it’s just Miranda and me hanging out on our couch. Now, with nearly twenty people in my living room, everything is small and jam packed with presents spilling out in every direction. I hand Sherry a pink paper cup of punch and then look around for a place to sit. We should have borrowed more folding chairs from the fairgrounds. I think I’d grabbed a dozen and that’s not nearly enough.
Elizabeth waves her arms over her head to get everyone’s attention. “She’s here!” she whisper-yells. The talking dies down and we all wait excitedly for Miranda to walk in the front door. A cell phone rings and Marcus silences it. “That was her,” he whispers, trying to hold back a laugh. The front door opens and Miranda walks inside, phone to her ear.
“Surprise!” We yell it exactly as planned and it couldn’t have gone any better. Miranda’s mouth falls open and tears spill onto her cheeks almost instantly. “That’s why you didn’t answer the phone!” she says to Marcus, playfully slapping him on the arm.
