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“Well, how about you come just as the bake shop girl.”
“Am I delivering treats?” I gave him a hard stare.
“Only if you want.” He reached for my hand and gave it a little squeeze. “Please say you’ll join me? It’s so low-key, and I promise if it’s overwhelming, we can leave. We’ll just be hanging around the fire, watching the stars come out. One of Amber’s co-worker’s boyfriend or something like that, is some kind of rocket scientist, and he points out neat things to see in the sky, if it’s clear. It’s kind of like a science lesson mixed with recess.”
“Are you referring to Iris and Holden?”
“See?” His lips stretched and curved upward. “Everyone knows everyone else.”
I nodded at the truth, but everyone knew Holden. He was a type of genius.
“Besides, it’s a lot of fun, and no one complains about any one extra person coming.”
I sagged into my shoes, feeling the ground pull harder to hold me into place. “Who’s all going to be there?”
He rattled off all the names. I counted twelve, a lot of people, but Cedar was listed as being on the guest list.
I’d been given the chance, once more. Maybe Everest was right and someone above was watching over me. Probably laughing her ass off too.
“You’ll come?”
Maybe dropping the news on Cedar when she’s surrounded by her friends will make it all easier. Then she’ll have someone to support her, and maybe even push her toward the possibility of at least seeing if she’s a match. That shouldn’t affect her pregnancy. It was just a blood test first.
“Fine, I’ll attend.”
* * *
Not wanting to be alone after work, I hopped in my car and drove over to Erin’s. No doubt she was home and working in her shop. I loved being right.
I pulled into the driveway and walked past the house to the garage at the back of the lot. I stayed off the mat – it was pressure sensitive and flashed a warning light in the workspace, mainly to let Erin know someone was about to enter. Standing as close as I could without touching the mat, I listened for the noise of the saw blade to die down before I stood at the door and then entered.
Sawdust particles hung in the air, lit up from a streak of sunshine blaring in through the skylight she’d installed last summer.
Erin raised the safety glasses to her forehead. “Hey. Fancy seeing you here.”
“Whatcha working on?”
She stood the six-foot length of wood on an end and leaned it against the wall beside the others. “Making those boards parents use to measure their kids’ heights.” She shrugged. “Figured they would be quick grab-and-go pieces at the market.”
That was Erin, always planning for the future, and ever since I met her, she always had. Being a single mother meant she was highly organized, so she could both work for a living and still give her love and attention to her seven-year-old daughter, Vera, who was going deaf.
“What brings you by?”
“I just needed some company.” I paced the length of her shop, admiring the pieces.
There were some carvings, the unique pieces she always brought to the market which were sold out within the first couple of hours, but lately, she was moving into the more mainstream pieces. Measurement boards. Signs to hang on the door. That kind of thing. They were all lovely, and she put her heart and soul into every piece, but I didn’t think they were as special as the whale tails, or the huge intricate wall pieces like the giant custom mural she created which was displayed at the entrance of Birch Bay Burgers.
“Everything okay?” She set her tools down and took a rag from the pocket of her overalls and wiped her face.
“Yes and no.”
Erin grabbed a workbench, dusted it free of sawdust, and set it in front of me. “Sit.”
“I’d rather pace around.”
“Wow, you’re really bugged. What’s up?”
I put my hands against my face before pushing them up and over my head. “I can’t really say.”
