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“I guess I can share,” Cass agreed. “Do you know it’s a girl this early?”
“No.” Lauren didn’t want to let go of this moment, so she stayed there, present, holding hands. “I just call her a her.” A soft smile came to her face. “I’d like a little girl, I think.”
All of her friends smiled that same wistful, joyful smile back at her, and Lauren wished there was a way to press pause on life and see the situation from above. She’d do that right now, and she’d be able to see herself and her friends at this happy moment in time for all eternity.
She took a breath and the moment broke. “All right,” she said. “Who else has something? Bessie, what else with the wedding?”
“Mm, nope,” Bessie said as she finished her bite of salad. “It’s coming along. Nothing to share.” She looked at Sage meaningfully. “We need to hear all about the luau and one Tyler Parker.”
Sage grinned even as she shook her head. “You were there.”
“No one else was,” Bessie said as she glanced around. “And it was pretty amazing, guys. If they do another luau at The Heartwood Inn, I highly recommend us all going.”
“What was good about it?” Cass asked.
“They had delicious food, for one,” Sage said. “One of the sisters is a master chef, as is her husband. They cook for the whole inn, and I’m still dreaming of that Kalua pork.” She looked over to Bessie, who grinned and grinned. “And that cheesecake.”
“They made Hawaiian rolls from scratch,” Bessie said. “And those are hard to make. It’s hard to get the exact right sweetness. I dream of those.” She laughed, and a few others giggled with her.
“They had a program,” Sage said. “With fire dancers. Hula, all this just—perfectly relaxing island music. I really felt like I’d been transported from one beach to another. It was just…magical.”
“And you kissed Ty out in the open during this magical program?” Cass asked. “That doesn’t really sound like you, Sage.”
It sure didn’t, but Lauren took a bite of a crouton and stayed silent. Sage sure had come alive, and she could see what she meant about Ty making her feel like living again. Blake had done that for Lauren too.
“While they cleared dinner and set dessert,” Sage said. “They held a dance out on the sand. With flickering fire tiki torches, and the most romantic music…I kissed him out on the dance floor, in my bare feet.” She laughed like she’d just had the greatest adventure of her life.
Lauren wasn’t the only one semi-gaping at her. She brushed her hair out of her face, which had started to turn a shade of deep red. “All right.” She cleared her throat. “Enough about me.”
“Sage,” Bea said. “You’re being…responsible with him, aren’t you?”
Lauren pulled in a breath, and her eyes flew to Sage’s. Some of her light had dimmed, but she waved away Bea’s question. “I’m fifty years old, Bea. I’m not going to get pregnant.”
Cass exchanged a look with Bea, and it annoyed Lauren. It obviously did Sage too, because she added, “I’m fifty years old, you two. I don’t need you mothering me to death. Besides, I said we were both taking it slow. So calm down.” She gave them both a pointed look and then switched her gaze to Joy and then Bessie.
“Someone else say something.”
“I’m just glad to still be in business,” Bessie said. “And in case the mother hens want to know, Ollie and I are being responsible.”
Lauren snorted and reached for her water glass, and the six of them looked around the table at one another.
“I just—” Bea started, but she quickly got drowned out by the loud laughter that spilled from every mouth except hers.
As they quieted, Lauren tugged her phone out of her pocket and, under the table, sent a quick text to Blake.I told them. They’re all thrilled for us. I love you.
And she got the best text back, only a moment after hers had gone through.
I love you too.
15
Ty worried the steering wheel by gripping it to the beat, releasing his fingers in between. Sage rode in the passenger seat, and he had no idea how she’d respond to seeing the property in person. He’d been here—twice now—to go over things with the listing agent, and he’d taken a few pictures for her.
But contrary to what people thought, a picture was not worth a thousand words. Sometimes seeing something in person needed to happen. Ty had sold plenty of properties via video, but he firmly believed a client should be able to see the house and land they might potentially be investing hundreds of thousands of dollars into as many times as they wanted to.
Sage had been very busy at work in the past couple of weeks, and it had taken Ty some time to get this showing to come together. Now that he had, he could probably bring Sage back as many times as needed for her to know if she wanted this waterfront piece of property or not.
“All right,” he said as he eased up on the accelerator. “We’re going to be making a turn up here, and the road slopes down to a really pretty lane. Your house is just off of that. Don’t let the greenery overcome you. It’s springtime, and we’ve had a lot of moisture and then sunshine this year. Everyone’s yards are overgrown.”
