AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She glances up at me and notices the heat in my eyes. Her eyes flare in response. Oh yeah. We’re getting out of here as soon as possible.
“Cole! Cole! Cole!”
I turn around to see who’s chanting my name and watch as Feather, Petal, Sage, Cayenne, and Clove hurry toward us. Their faces are full of excitement, and I wish I could travel through time and lose the argument with Ellie about leaving the apartment.
“Good. You’re all here,” Feather says.
“We have a surprise for you.” Sage smiles at me and I gulp. Knowing this group, a ‘surprise’ could mean anything. I do not want to know what it is, but I refuse to be afraid of five women old enough to be my grandmother.
“You’re going to love it.” Clove winks.
“Get out here, Rowan!” Sage shouts.
Rowan freezes with his hand on the door to the bakery where he was trying to sneak away from these women. Good grief. How bad are they to make the six-foot-five former professional football player quiver in his boots?
“I need to replenish supplies.”
“I’ll go,” Ashlyn offers.
“You can replenish supplies in a minute after we show you our surprise.” At Petal’s announcement, Rowan drops his hand and trudges back to the booth.
“You ready?” The women nod at Sage’s question. “Three, two, one. Tada!”
They rip open their coats and I slam my eyes shut praying it’s too cold for them to be topless.
“Those are awesome,” Ashlyn squeals.
Awesome? She wouldn’t say their naked chests are awesome, would she? Although, it is Ashlyn. The word unpredictable was invented for her. But I won’t be a chicken. I slowly open one eye until I can see Sage. She’s wearing a hot pink sweatshirt with the words Proud Gossip Gal on it.
“I thought you preferred the term busy body?” Ellie asks.
Sage shrugs. “It’s obvious certain people in this town prefer the term gossip gal.” She lifts her chin toward Rowan.
“I never said gossip gal out loud.”
Ashlyn snorts. “Liar.”
“What happened to we’re a team and we need to stick together?”
She pushes up on her toes to kiss his jaw. “You’re on your own when it comes to the gossip gals.”
“We are the gossip gals!” The five women begin chanting. “We are the gossip gals!”
“We have to go show the rest of Winter Falls our sweatshirts,” Cayenne says.
“Don’t forget to stop by Feather’s Frozen Delights.” Feather points at me. “I want your opinion on a new flavor.”
“And I have a new coffee concoction for you to try, Cole,” Clove adds and waves before marching off with the others.
“What am I? The guinea pig of Winter Falls?”
“They like you. They want to show you they accept you and consider you one of their own,” Ellie explains.
“Congrats, man,” Rowan says. “You’re one of us now.”
I smile at his announcement. Mere weeks ago, I would not have been happy with the idea of this community of eccentric people bringing me into their fold, but now I’ve accepted my future lies here – at least for the next two years – I realize how much I admire the people of this town – strange habits and all. It’s not home yet, but it could be.
