Page 9

Chapter Eight

I barely stepped foot into Trenda’s house, when I was almost tackled to the ground by a nine-year-old tornado of energy.

“Aunt Maddie, Aunt Maddie. What took you so long? Everybody’s been talking about you, and I’ve already made fourteen dollars for my swear jar.”

I looked down at my precocious niece and smiled. “Only fourteen dollars? But Uncle Drake is here. How come you haven’t made more?”

“He keeps going to the back porch to talk with Dad and Mr. Roan, Mr. Kai and Mr. Jase.” She gave a put-upon sigh. “Dad gave me the look when I tried to go with them. You know the one.”

I laughed. “Yep, I’ve seen that look. Men do that sometimes.”

“Is it true that you have a boyfriend?”

Aw, hell, even Bella knew about Beau. For the love of God, didn’t anybody in Jasper Creek have anything better to do than gossip about my life?

“No, Sweetpea, I don’t. I have a very good friend who is on leave. His name is Beau, and he’s Kai’s twin brother.”

Bella bounced up and down. “Do they look alike?”

“Yep.”

“Is he coming to the party?”

“I think so. He was invited.”

She clapped her hands. “This is going to be so cool.”

Trenda came over and put her hand on her daughter’s head. “Are you bothering your Aunt Maddie before she’s even had a chance to put down her purse?”

Bella frowned. “Oh yeah. I’m supposed to welcome people and show them where they can put their things. It’s in the guest room. I can put your purse there if you want. But we have to be real quiet, because baby Drake’s room is right beside it. He’s asleep now. Mom said we don’t want him to wake up. Right, Mom?” Bella looked up at Trenda.

“Right,” Trenda agreed.

I wanted to pout. Getting to hold my nephew was one of my favorite things in the world.

“Hey, you can come over anytime and play with my son,” Trenda promised. “All you have to do is leave work at a reasonable hour.”

I heaved a big sigh. “Okay.”

“Give me your purse, Aunt Maddie. I’ll put it away,” Bella said with a grin.

“Am I going to owe you any money?”

Bella giggled.

God, I loved her giggle.

“No, don’t be silly. I only collect money for swears. So be careful, I’ll be listening,” she said as she skipped off with my purse.

“Your daughter is amazing,” Ruby Miller said as she came up behind Trenda.

“That’s one way of putting it,” Trenda said. “I would go with terrifying.”

“I think she’s going to run the world one day,” I chimed in.

“The kitchen is empty,” Ruby told Trenda. “Let’s take our little friend in there so we can figure out the lay of the land.”

“I think that’s an excellent idea.”

Ruby hooked one arm through my right elbow, and Trenda hooked my left elbow and they shoved their way through the crowd with me sandwiched in the middle.

“There better be food if this is an interrogation. And you better have little smokies wrapped in dough,” I warned my sister.

“It wouldn’t be a party without little smokies,” she said as we entered the kitchen.

I untangled myself and headed for the cookie sheet on top of the stove and grabbed a plate to fill it up with some of the little treats. Okay, a lot of the little treats, like a whole pile of them.

“You better be sharing,” Ruby grumped.

“It depends how mean you two are going to be.”

“Beau. I want to know if you invited Beau,” Ruby commanded.

“Okay, now I know,” I said as I dipped my smokie in hot mustard. “You don’t get any, Miss Miller.”

“Fine. I’ll fix my own plate.” And she proceeded to do so while I bit into my food.

“I can answer if she invited Beau,” Trenda interrupted. “Since I invited Kai and Marlowe, I told her to invite Beau. It took some arm-twisting…not,” my sister laughed. “So, he should show up anytime. He’s such a gentleman. He called to see if there was anything he could bring.”

Ruby’s eyes widened. “Impressive.”

“That’s what I thought,” Trenda agreed.

“So, it didn’t take any arm twisting, huh?” Ruby said with interest.

I shoved a whole little smokie into my mouth and shrugged.

“Do you notice what she’s wearing, Trenda?”

“Oh, I noticed. It’s warm tonight, but little sis is wearing a clingy sweater. And if I’m not mistaken, she has a tank underneath, and as the party goes on, she’s going to get hotter and hotter, and be forced to take off the sweater.”

“Isn’t she the little minx,” Ruby cooed.

I swallowed my food and grabbed for a bottle of water and drank some down. “I will not be taking off my sweater. What’s more, it’s lightweight cotton, so it’s really cool. Not hot at all. So, your supposition is all wrong.”

Ruby shoved a margarita at me. “Here, you know you love Trenda’s strawberry margaritas. She made them weak, so they won’t get you hot. You’ll be fine.”

I took a sip and coughed. “Jesus, Trenda, just how much tequila did you put in this, the entire bottle?”

Trenda looked innocent as she sipped from a bottle of water.

Smart woman.

“Ruby, don’t you think it’s time we give Maddie some advice? She’s used to milquetoast men like Ted. She needs to know how to handle a live one.”

Ruby gave Trenda a surprised look. “Trenda, I might have lived in LA most of my life, but I don’t have the slightest idea about how to deal with a live one. Hell, look at me, like anyone as hot and impressive as Beau would ever be interested.” She held out her arms to show off her voluptuous figure.

“You need to stop doing that, Ruby,” I said seriously. “Half the guys who show up at Java Jolt in the morning are not there for the coffee. They’re there for the view.”

Ruby gave me a hurt look. “Give it a rest, Maddie. I don’t need you blowing smoke up my ass. I know who I am. I’ve come to terms with it. Okay?”

Aw shit . I’d fucked up. I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings.

I glanced over at my sister and she gave me the ‘shut it’ sign. Still, it killed me that Ruby had such a skewed perception of herself. If I ever got ahold of the people who hurt her in LA, I would let loose a full can of whoop ass out on them.

“Ignore me, Ruby. I’m just nervous about Beau,” I apologized.

“Now, that I believe.” She smiled. “So, Trenda, you snagged Simon. What advice do you have for Maddie?”

Before my sister could answer, I said, “I don’t want to snag Beau. He’s my friend. That’s all he’s ever been and ever will be.”

“Sure. And that’s why you let him win that game of pool,” Ruby scoffed.

“I heard about that,” Trenda laughed. “Maddie always wins. I wish I could have seen that.”

“Maddie, in real life, aren’t you the teeniest, eeniest interested in Beau, not as a friend, but as more? Maybe as a lover?”

I started coughing. I should have known better than to be sipping the red-dyed tequila when Ruby started to talk. Trenda patted my back.

“I don’t know,” I wailed. “That’s the problem.”

“Well, I know,” Trenda said. “I recognize the symptoms. You have the same Avery girl sickness that has assailed Evie, Chloe, and me. The dazed look, the confusion, too much ice cream, longing looks and feeling like you’re a planet orbiting around the sun.”

“Orbiting around the sun? Are you kidding me? Where in the hell do you get this hooey?” I demanded.

Ruby looked at Trenda like she was some sort of oracle. “I’ve seen the longing looks and the confusion. Let’s not forget the panic attacks.”

“Oh yeah, there’s those, too,” Trenda nodded.

“Are you talking about Maddie’s infatuation with Beau? I think he might be okay.”

I turned around so fast at the sound of my big brother’s voice, one of my little smokies shot off the plate and rocketed toward Drake. He caught it and popped it into his mouth.

“You like him?” I asked.

He swallowed the smokie, then grabbed the margarita out of my hand and took a swig. “I said I might like him. Still thinking about it. But I did a little digging with some of my buddies in California. He checks out.”

“What in the hell does ‘checks out’ mean?” I demanded to know.

“He’s solid. I’d trust him to have your back. Doesn’t mean I like him yet.” Drake plucked another little smokie off my plate and dipped it in mustard. “Nice sweater.” He smirked.

“God, can you all just stay out of my business?” I cried.

They all laughed.

“At least he’s a major improvement over Ted what’s his face. The man with the most boring Netflix queue ever,” Drake laughed.

“Yeah, what was he like in bed?” Ruby asked. “Was it ever anything besides missionary?”

Drake threw up his hands. “For the love of God, I am so out of here,” Drake groaned. He turned around and left the kitchen, only after grabbing two more smokies off my plate.

I smiled at Ruby. “Thanks.”

She curtsied. “You’re welcome.”

“Auntie Maddie, he does look exactly like Mr. Kai. I thought he was Mr. Kai, but I checked outside and Mr. Kai was still outside. When I called him Mr. Kai, he said his name was Beau. I think he’s even cuter than Mr. Kai, even though they look exactly alike. He asked where you were. I told him you were in here. So be ready. He’s coming in here.” She peeked over her shoulder. “He’s coming. He’s coming.” Bella was jumping up and down.

“Actually, I’m here,” Beau said, as he gave me a heated smile.

Oh hell .