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“It’s good for twelve months,” he said. “I figured it could be our next adventure.”
She smiled at him, because she hadn’t heard of it, and that was exactly the kind of thing she wanted to do.He’s been listening, she thought, and that was a powerful gift too.
Sage shifted the papers, and she pulled in a breath. “This is a receipt for two nights in the historic South Charleston Hotel.” She looked at him, eyes wide. “Ty.”
“You can go with Thelma,” he said. “It’s a voucher. No dates on it. Doesn’t expire, but they have to have a two-queen room for you to book it. It comes with—”
“Don’t ruin it for me.” Sage smiled at him and went back to the pages. She flipped to the next one, her heart beating faster and faster. “It’s a food tour in Charleston.”
“I’ve heard they’re good.”
“You haven’t gone?”
He shook his head, and for someone who loved food as much as him, Sage knew—she’d be taking him on this weekend trip to Charleston. She wasn’t sure when, and she wasn’t sure how to ask him, but they’d be traveling there together, staying there together, and taking this food tour together.
“Thank you,” she said as sincerely as she could. “This is all incredible.”
“You didn’t look at the last paper.” He finally started to back out of the stall while Sage flipped to the last piece of paper in her gift.
“A pedicure.” She spun toward him, somewhat surprised at his amazing gift-giving skills. “This is perfect. I haven’t had one in so long.”
“And for someone who works on their feet all day, making others feel beautiful and pampered, I figuredyoucould use a little pampering.”
She wanted to lean across the console and kiss him, but he’d already started driving. So she grinned and grinned at her papers for a few extra second before she folded them up and put them back in the envelope.
“Thank you, Ty,” she said.
“Happy birthday, Sage,” he murmured, and she sighed as she sank back into her seat. He’d just given her the perfect gifts, and she couldn’t wait to carry most of them out…with him at her side.
10
Beatrice Turner bustled around her house, checking on the last-minute details for one of her best friend’s birthday parties. The table had been set for fifteen, and that included her, Grant, and Shelby.
Cass and Harrison would be here at any moment, and Cass had promised to bring the lilies that Sage loved so much. Bea had left a spot for them on the credenza that sat next to the front door.
“I love this house,” she said to Grant when she went into the kitchen. He stood on a chair, currently hanging a big gold balloon in the shape of a zero next to the one of a five he’d already put up. “Oh, those are perfect on the pot rack.” She smiled at the fifty, hoping Sage wouldn’t feel overwhelmed by anything at this party.
She was one of the more low-key ladies in the Supper Club, something that Bea always appreciated. She could go to Sage with anything, and she’d always been met with a rational mind and kind questions. Then the best, most calm advice.
Bea knew that Sage and Bessie had deliberately saved their Supper Club, and a slip of guilt pulled through her. After all, she’d been the first to come here, fall in love, and make the twelve-hundred mile move away from her friends. Away from the life she’d known in Texas. Away from all the heartache and sorrow that she’d endured.
Sometimes she still yearned for the Lone Star State, but she wouldn’t give up Grant and Shelby for anything. “Where’s Shelby?”
“She went to get some ice,” he said. “I definitely think there’s something wrong with the icemaker in that fridge, but now isn’t the time to be fiddling with it.”
Bea nodded, her lips pursing a little. No, she didn’t want to deal with a broken appliance either, especially not tonight. “Okay, well, that’s fine. Cass should—” The doorbell rang, cutting her off. “That’s probably her.”
“Bea,” a woman called, but it wasn’t Cass. “I’m walking in.”
“Come on back.” Bea left Grant to finish hanging the decorations, and she went to greet Bessie. Turned out, she carried more bread than Bea thought any one human being could, and she rushed to relieve Bessie of some of the loaves.
“I come bearing butters and jams,” Oliver said as he entered the house behind his fiancée. “And Cass is ten feet behind me. She might could use some help.”
But now Bea’s hands were full of bread. “Grant,” she called.
“I’m fine,” Cass said as she stepped into the house. “The flowers go right here.” The vase landed on the credenza with a thump that unsettled Bea, and she turned back to make sure Cass hadn’t fallen and broken a hip.
“It’s fine,” she said crossly. “My hands are just a little slippery.” Harrison, her husband, had joined her, and Bea let them handle the flowers. They came from a nursery next to Harry’s construction office, and Cass had become quite chummy with the owner. She’d taken up Lauren and Joy’s hobby of gardening now that she lived here in South Carolina, and she’d gotten all of her bulbs, shrubs, and flowers from the nursery.
