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I grinned at Aaron. “Arnav and Foster told you I have a weakness for White Spot.” I sat in a booth across from the hotel manager and his husband, Noel.

“Far from it. We had our wedding reception here, so we’re a little partial.”

I arched an eyebrow. “Okay, that I didn’t see coming.”

Noel grinned. “I remember the first time I introduced him to Triple O’s sauce.”

Aaron groaned. “Died and gone to heaven.”

This, I couldn’t conceive. I loved it, but wouldn’t have been quite so effusive with the praise. “Nothing like that in…” I squinted, trying to remember where Aaron was from.

“California.”

“Right.”

“Cataluma was known for strawberries, not amazing sauces.” Aaron shrugged. “And it definitely didn’t have this guy.” He nudged Noel.

“So you came north.”

“Love makes people do crazy things.”

I wasn’t going to argue with that. I’d seen a few people fall head over heels in love in the past. Hell, I’d been pretty close to that with Erlene. At least, that’s what I told myself.

Lindsay arrived in time to take our very-clean plates. “Dessert menu is there.” She gestured with her chin.

“I cannot imagine having room for anything else.” I rubbed my belly.

Noel handed the menu to me. “Get something to go. You can eat it later.”

The Grand Hotel was small, and although I could go down to the bar for grub, room service would’ve stopped serving by the time I returned. Already, the sun was touching the horizon.

We’d been here for more than an hour.

“Well then…” I eyed the menu. “Oh, New York cheesecake.”

“Blueberry, strawberry, or chocolate sauce?”

I licked my lips. “I had a blueberry milkshake yesterday at Fifties. Oh, sorry.”

She laughed. “They make great milkshakes. Their burgers aren’t bad either. Not as good as ours, mind…”

“No, for sure not.” I crossed my fingers behind my back. Honestly, I was grateful I wasn’t a food critic who had to choose. “I’ll take chocolate sauce.” I eyed the guys. “I should be able to eat it here.” We hadn’t even started talking about the reason we were here tonight.

“Great. And you two?”

“Two slices of apple pie to go.” Aaron eyed me. “We can’t wait for blueberry season.”

“My favorite time of year.” I fingered my napkin as Lindsay took off. The first portion of the meal had been thegetting to know you betterpart of the evening. I appreciated they hadn’t just dived right into the adoption stuff. I’d said I was happy to share—which I was—but I preferred to know the people I was about to share my heart with.

“So I’d known Erlene for about ten years. We met through work—and just…clicked. Not in a romantic sense. She was dating a guy seriously back then. Just, we had a similar outlook on life. I was single and occasionally seeing people. She knew she wanted to be a mom more than anything. Truthfully, I was still supporting my sisters through school and just trying to keep my head above water.”

“Your twin sisters, right?” Noel squinted. “Imani and Malaya.”

“Yep. Amazingly smart. I’m not dumb, but I’m also not in their caliber of smarts. Easy decision for me to focus on working while paying for their schooling.” My sisters had always been my top priority—pretty much from the day Mom had brought them home from the hospital and explained what being a big brother meant. More so after she, and then Nan, passed.

“I won’t comment.” Aaron offered a sympathetic smile. “I maintain my younger cousin Trey is way smarter than I am, and I was happy to take care of him.”

He understood.