AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’d been wrapped in our conversation; I didn’t even see her approach.
“Landon, are you keeping your girlfriend under wraps?” Cedar sat in the vacated chair beside me.
My heart stopped beating, and my mouth dried so I took a swig of beer and puckered.
“Not at all. This is Libby. Libby meet Cedar, Cheshire Bay airport’s golden girl. Anything you want to know about the area, she can spew a ton of facts–”
The rest of his words were drowned out by the sharp pounding in my chest. She’d been the one I’d been looking forward to interacting with all day. Or over the past ten days. And finally, she was here, inches from invading my personal space, and of course, with my luck, my brain flatlined.
“How do you do?” The words came out of me, but they weren’t mine at all. I never spoke that way.
“Good, thanks. You look so familiar. You’re the lady from the bakery, right?” Her voice was as warm as her expression. Very welcoming. Very un-Stewart-like. That gene typically caused RBF – resting bitch face.
I nodded, trying to string words together. To say something witty and intelligent. “I brought chocolates.”
Yeah, that wasn’t it, but she smiled all the same. “From the bakery?”
“No. I made them.”
“Mmm. I need to try those.”
My eyes bulged as she rubbed her tummy.
She carried on. “This one is a chocolate craver. The twins were all about the salty snacks, but not this one.”
“Congrats. When are you due?” My gaze focused on her belly. This worked out even better. The quicker she gave birth, the quicker she could be eligible for organ donation, if she matched, and more importantly, if she wanted to.
“Ten weeks, give or take” Her phone rang. “Sorry. I need to get this.”
Just like that, she was gone. I’d wanted to say more than just congrats, but my chance had slipped away. For now. However, my mind was reeling.
A hand waved up and down in front of my face, and I pulled back in surprise.
“You okay?”
“Oh, yeah, of course.” With the tip of the bottle on my lips, I chugged back the rest of the beer. It was the only way to get it down quickly.
“C’mon, let’s mingle.” Landon rose and grabbed my hand, but I couldn’t stop staring at Cedar.
I met an elderly couple who I thought were maybe Lily’s grandparents, but it turned out they were friends too. Willow was the local midwife who delivered Henry, as well as Saffron and Ziggy, Cedar’s twins, my great niece and nephew. Arlo, her husband, played guitar as a few of the others sang along. They were all songs I didn’t know, so I watched, but mostly I kept a quiet eye on Cedar. She put her arm around the grandmotherly woman and sang along, moving from side to side. Cedar seemed to be like an effervescent bottle of bubbly. She was dancing and swaying, and truly having a good time.
After a couple of hours, and four beers, each of which I drank as if I were in a race, I was exhausted, but feeling pretty damn good and carefree. It was like working the market, but with a dwindling energy, and crawling into a chair to take a quick nap didn’t seem out of line.
Cedar and I hadn’t spoken since the first initial introduction, but I had chatted briefly with Mitch. Sadly, he wasn’t much of a talker, and it was awkward, like he was oil, and I was vinegar. Mostly he hung out with Eric, and occasionally had a child in his arms, although I wasn’t sure if it was Saffron or Ziggy. For fraternal twins, they were damn near identical.
Amber was sweet, a little shy, but came across as a gentle spirit. I knew of her a little more than Mona or Lily, but only because I’d been to her pub on many occasions.
I lounged in my chair, the light buzz from the alcohol tickling my senses, and drawing me into a quietness I hadn’t expected. Being around so many people was draining, but not so much in a bad way as the air was light and the laughter flowed with ease. However, like the battery on a phone, my energy was being drained quickly.
Landon had given me a quick kiss before he disappeared into the house to help tuck Henry in, leaving me alone with his family.
Cedar suddenly dropped into the seat beside me, a chocolate in her hand.
“I found the box of chocolates, finally. Lily had been hiding them.” She laughed and showed one off. “They’re so good. Can I have the recipe?”
“It’s a family secret, so I’d better not.” I gave her a lopsided grin.
The only family it had come from was my own brain – a Stewart special. I’d been working on the perfect chocolate blend for a long time.
