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“Since yesterday.” Noah’s all smug pride.
Me? My heart is turning to ice because my sisters aren’t happy about this. Why do they disapprove? Do they think I’m not good enough for him?
“Who had yesterday?” Honey turns to face Goldy.
Goldy just shakes her head. “All that matters is it isn’t me.”
“It’s Keating.” Clover jogs up the stairs, slightly red and sweaty from a morning workout.
“Are you sure?” Honey concentrates on her phone as she taps out a message. “I think it might be Grant.”
“You bet on me?” I ask. Unbelievable. Is nothing sacred? “Noah’s my best friend. You seriously had a family bet going on when we’d start dating?”
Honey slides her phone back into one pajama pants pocket and pulls a cookie out of another. Dani hurries up the stairs. She’s got flour on one cheek, but she’s dressed for work and even has her purse slung across her shoulders like she was about to walk out the door.
Dani points at us and narrows her eyes. “Two days. You couldn’t wait two days?”
I cross my arms over my chest. “How big is the pot?”
All four of them avert their eyes like they’ve suddenly found the floor or the walls or their fingernails fascinating.
“Just tell me.”
Noah’s body is vibrating, and I look over to see him holding back laughter. I glare and he loses it.
I gesture at him. “You only think this is funny because you didn’t grow up with these monsters.” I turn my glare on my sisters. “Tell me how big the pot is or I’m calling Mom.”
“Oh.” Honey’s expression brightens as she rocks back on her heels. “Mom has yesterday, doesn’t she?”
“I don’t know,” Goldy says between clenched teeth, “because we put Aunt Annette in charge of the calendar and she won’t let any of us have access to it.”
“I’ve got to get to work.” Dani brushes flour from her shirt as she speaks. Clearly, she forgot to put on her apron this morning, or had one last baking chore she only remembered to do after she’d already taken her apron off. “I’ll break the bad news to Grant.” She waves and heads down the stairs.
“I’m calling Aunt Annette.” Clover’s phone is already to her ear, her foot tapping and her free hand smoothing her hair, because she can never stay still and is a world-class fidgeter when she’s impatient.
“Damn it.” I stomp my foot. “How big is the pot?”
“Five hundred dollars.” Goldy grins, showing no sign of remorse.
I stare at my sister. There hasn’t been a five hundred dollar pot since Uncle Nestor went to Vegas, and we bet on whether he’d come back with wife number six. “You were that sure Noah and I would get together?” How could they possibly have been so sure? If they’d asked me, I’d have confidently said there wasn’t a chance in hell.
If my whole family thought Noah and I were inevitable, what does that mean for me? My family’s full of oddballs with overactive competitive drives, but they aren’t often wrong. Especially not Honey, who’s staring at me sympathetically.
“You two are always together.” Goldy waves a hand between us like it’s obvious, but she must see something on my face, because her expression softens with pity. “Daisy, you laugh more when Noah’s around.”
“You actually tune in when Noah’s around too.” Honey steps closer and rubs my back like she thinks I need to be comforted. “Instead of getting lost in a book.”
I step out of her reach and bump into Noah, who wraps an arm around my shoulders like he, too, thinks I need to be soothed.
Goldy nods. “Well put, Honey. And Noah would do anything for you. He’s so attuned to your moods and needs.”
“Which is a lot.” Clover rejoins us, her phone in her hand. “You are moody as hell.”
“I’m not—” I start.
“Enough chit-chat,” Aunt Annette says through the phone speaker. “I’ve got to be at work in twenty minutes.”
“Sorry, Aunt Annette.” Clover holds the phone up higher, like that will help us hear Aunt Annette more clearly. “Please make the official announcement.”
