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“What Jamie is trying to say,” Noah stepped in, “is that Vivian is less traditional than Lyra and that wooing might look a little different.”
“Yeah. No kidding. I mean, she’s very practical. And straightforward. She likes things that make her home feel clutter-free but homey. And her business is incredibly important to her—not just its success, but its reputation. She wants to be respected and doesn’t believe she is. Tyler obviously needs to be the center of her world. I’m not sure if she even likes flowers and stuff.”
“All women like flowers and stuff. You just need to find out what the flowers and stuff are that they like.”
They all turned toward Spence. “Like, Lyra loves her bakery but doesn’t eat a lot of sweets, right? They all have their ownand stuff.But no matter what, the respect thing—that’s spot-on.”
“Okay, you’re not a complete idiot about this,” Cam conceded.
“You know—” Before Jamie could throw whatever the crazy idea he was probably forming into the fray, they heard the front door fall shut.
“Hello! We’re here!” Lyra wandered out, hands full of a basket with little bags of cookies and sweets. Her gaze immediately slid to Spence. “Oh my gosh! You’re here!”
She tossed the cookies at the table and threw herself into his arms.
“You said you’d be back tomorrow. You said that like ten minutes ago, you big liar!”
Spence swept her into his arms and kissed her in a way that had them all glancing away for a second. “I missed you too much. Driving extra today didn’t seem like a big deal.”
They stood there grinning at each other like fools until Vivian brushed past them.
“We can open these cookies, right? Because it looks like people somehow overlooked the cinnamon spice ones this week.”
Spence pulled out a chair for Lyra and put a glass of tea in front of her before settling himself down as close as the arms of their chairs would allow.
Cam, feeling like he was already behind the ball, jumped up and pulled out the chair next to him, waving a hand between it and Vivian.
“Can I get you something to drink?” he asked.
Vivian just looked at him like he was nuts. “Am I going to have to tip you at the end of the night if you do?”
Cam opened his mouth, but before he could respond, Noah interjected, “Don’t. Just don’t.”
“Um, no. No tip necessary.”
Vivian sat in the chair, glancing around the table with a look of frustrated impatience.
“Yes, Cam told me he loves me. No, we’re not getting back together. Yes, Tyler loves him and I’ve decided I’m willing to negotiate that situation, especially since we’re going to be working together this month. Other than that, can we maybe get to the part where we have a huge town issue going on, Jonathan is trying to do something very Jonathanesque, and Noah is being adopted by the lairds?”
“Wow, I wasn’t even here and I feel up to date.” Spence grinned and nodded. “I guess I don’t need to worry about falling behind next time I go out of town.”
Lyra patted Spence’s hand and grinned up at him.
Cam frowned. Vivian did not pat his handorsmile up at him.
He definitely had work to do.
“Vi’s right. We need to regroup before Jonathan starts claiming he’s an elected official.” Jamie glanced around the table. “Which leads us back to… what did the lairds want?”
“I’m sorry.” Spence shook his head. “Did you say… the lairds?”
“Yup.”
Spence eyed Jamie like he was pulling his leg. “You know, I’ve been here almost a month and you’d think by now I’d just learn to say, ‘Why, yes. Of course he saidlairds.’ But, alas, I have not.”
“Don’t worry.” Lyra patted his hand again, which was starting to rub Cam the wrong way with all the affection. “You will.”
“So,” Cam cut in before they could actually start cooing at each other. “The lairds?”
