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"I mean … kind of everyone," I said. She looked like she was going to argue, then relented and nodded. "What are you doing back here? Aren't there any good bakeries out a bit closer to your home?"
"Well," Jade said. "It just so happens that I am close to home. Trevor and I have decided to move back to Murdock."
I couldn't really read the look she gave me. It could have been smugness. It could have been embarrassment. I wasn't sure, and I realized I really didn't care.
"That's great," I said. "I hope you’ll be happy here.”
For the first time, I really meant it. I was far too happy in my own life to not feel that way.
"Thank you," she said. "I could say the same for you. Look at that little sweetheart."
She nodded toward Cassie, who had drifted off to sleep against my chest.
"This is Cassandra," I said.
She looked at me with a bit of surprise in her eyes. "I heard you and Mark were really together, but I didn't know if it was true."
I nodded. "It's true. We're actually engaged." I smiled to show I wasn't carrying any lingering negative feelings. Or at least that I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of thinking she still held it over me. "For real this time."
She was the first person I'd told, but that felt right. After all, she was what had brought Mark and me together.
"Congratulations," she said. "That's really wonderful, Carmela. I'm glad you're happy."
I wasn't sure if she was being genuine about that or not, but I chose not to care. There was far too much to be positive about. Including the big boxes of treats brought over to me so I was able to get up and leave the bakery with a smile and a wave.
28
MARK
“Almost everyone is here tonight,” Carmela said as she joined me in the kitchen.
She was carrying a couple of empty glasses, and as she rinsed them out and put them in the dishwasher, I grabbed a couple of the red plastic cups that we were switching to for the evening festivities.
“I know,” I said. “Sad that Victor couldn’t make it out, but it’s good seeing everyone else.”
“Camden is still trying to get beer pong going,” Carmela said, rolling her eyes. “Can you talk him out of it? It’s almost midnight.”
“I can try, but you know Camden. He cuts loose like this, what, three times a year? When he goes big, he goes big. And that man loves beer pong.”
“I know,” she said, pouring the new drinks into the cups. “Oh, can you get Mallory a water?”
“Sure,” I said, digging through the cooler to grab one of the water bottles we had icing down.
“Thanks,” she said, then leaned up on her toes to press a kiss to my cheek. “I appreciate you doing the food tonight, but you should come on out. It’s almost time for the ball to drop.”
“Just one more minute,” I said. “The bacon crackers are almost done.”
“You’ve got one minute,” she said teasingly. “There’s only five until the ball drops, and I want you standing beside me with our baby and no bacon crackers in your mouth when the new year starts.”
“Breaking my back, babe,” I said, laughing.
“I know, I’m such a taskmaster,” she said.
Carmela went through the door and back into the living room as I pulled the delicious snack out of the oven. The parmesan cheese was the way to tell if it was done. Once it was gooey and melted between the bacon and the cracker, it was time. I took a close look at one and set it back down on the cooking sheet, shaking my hand to cool off my fingers.
“Perfect,” I muttered.
I arranged them on the plate and grabbed myself another drink. It had been a good while since I’d had anything harder than a glass of wine, mostly out of solidarity with Carmela. But she had pumped quite a bit in the last forty-eight hours, specifically so she could have a couple glasses of champagne with us to celebrate the new year, and I was glad to have the reprieve for myself as well.
Taking a sip of the bubbly, I smiled. I could barely recognize my life now compared to a year before. The last time I rang in a new year, I was still living near Austin, alone, and wondering when I would be able to get around to living more of a life than just work.
Now I had the woman of my dreams, the most adorable little baby in history, and I was looking at a new life in Murdock with friends that were slowly coming back home, one by one.
I walked through the door and brought the drink to Carmela. The baby was in her arms, and she was patting her back gently. Cassie’s eyes were open, but she seemed tired still, draped over her mama’s shoulders. I reached for her, and Carmela let me take her, happily taking a deep sip of her champagne.
