Page 28 of This Memory (Moose Village #3)

Brystol

Christmas has always been one of my favorite times of the year, and no one does It better than Moose Village. The annual Christmas tree lighting is one of those events I always look forward to. This year, it was even more special because I got to share the experience with Gavin.

“Hungry?” he asked as he reached for my hand and helped me out of the car. He’d picked me up from the toy store, and we drove straight to my favorite little Italian restaurant, Bella’s. I was craving a meatball sub.

“I’m starving, as usual.”

He smiled and placed his hand on my lower back as we walked toward the front door. There was something so calming about that simple gesture. It made me feel loved and cared for. Gavin was the first guy I ever dated who did it, which made it even more special.

Once inside, we were shown to our seats, and Gavin helped me take off my coat.

He laid it carefully over one of the extra chairs at our table and held my chair out for me.

God, if he wasn’t the ultimate gentleman.

For a half second, I wished we’d just returned to my place and grabbed a quick sandwich, because if we had, I’d be asking him to take me over my dining table about now.

Gavin sat down and lifted a brow. “Ms. Duggan, what are you thinking about right now?”

I felt my cheeks heat. “Why?”

He leaned in. “Because the look on your face says it’s something naughty.”

I giggled. “It is.”

“Do tell.”

“If I voice it, then I’ll really want to do it, and my stomach really, really wants a meatball sub.”

Gavin laughed, and I couldn’t help but smile. I loved the sound of his laugh.

“Fair enough.”

The waitress, a young girl named Marie—the daughter of the owner—walked up and smiled. “Hey, guys. I haven’t seen you in a while, Brystol.”

“I know, things have been so busy at the store lately.”

Marie grinned. “That’s a good thing!”

“It is.”

“How’ve you been, Officer Quinn?”

Gavin looked up from the menu. “Marie, please just call me Gavin.”

She blushed. “Okay, Officer Quinn.”

I almost laughed but managed to keep it in. Marie looked back at me, and I expected her to ask what I wanted to drink. Instead, she asked something that totally took me by surprise.

“How are you feeling?”

Confused, I asked, “ What?”

“Evelyn and Denny were in here yesterday, and they told everyone the good news! That they’re expecting a baby, and you agreed to carry it for them.”

I blinked a few times before it registered.

“Oh, yes. I’m feeling great. Thank you for asking.”

Marie smiled. “I think what you’re doing for them is such a sweet thing, Brystol. Evelyn was over-the-moon happy, as was Denny. But Evelyn was really showing it!”

I smiled back at her, not sure what to say. I hadn’t prepared myself for all of the compliments people were giving me since Evelyn and Denny shared the news.

When I didn’t say anything else, Marie took our drink orders.

“I don’t know what to say when people compliment me like that.”

“Just do what you did, say thank you, smile politely, and move on.”

Nodding, I replied, “I guess I wasn’t expecting people to treat me like I’m some kind of hero.”

Gavin smiled. “You kind of are, Bry.”

I laughed. “Not really. I did what any best friend would do.”

He raised his brows. “I don’t think that’s a true statement.”

Shrugging, I said, “Oh well, I’m sure I’ll get used to it, and the news will be replaced by something else soon. At least, I hope it will.”

“It will,” Gavin said, reaching across the table and taking my hand in his. “Now, I don’t know if I should get the lasagna or a meatball sub as well.”

“Trust me—go for the meatball sub. ”

He glanced up from the menu. “You only want me to get it so you can have some of mine as well.”

Feeling myself blush, I nodded. “Maybe I should order one to go.”

Gavin blinked a few times, then laughed. “Sure, if you want.”

I waved my hand. “No, no, I’m being silly.”

Marie returned with our drinks, and we both ordered the meatball sub. And when Gavin didn’t quite finish all of his, I finished it for him. And before we left for the tree lighting ceremony, I ordered one to go. Knowing I would have it waiting for me when I woke up at midnight made me giddy.

“Excited about the tree lighting?” Gavin asked, when he saw me smiling.

Glancing at him, I lied and didn’t feel the least bit bad about it. “I sure am!”

“Five, four, three, two, one!”

The lights on the tree set up at The Green illuminated the dark sky with brilliant colors.

I cheered with everyone else as I held a hot chocolate in my gloved hands, hoping it would help warm them.

When the snow started to fall only moments after the tree lit up, the entire crowd cheered even louder.

“I have a feeling it’ll be a bad winter,” Aurora called out over the cheers.

I nodded. “I know, me too. They said we’re supposed to get more snow than normal. ”

“Oh joy,” Harper said, before taking a drink of her hot chocolate.

“What’s wrong with you?” I asked. “Not in the mood for a white Christmas?”

She shrugged. “I don’t get to enjoy my outdoor garden at the house if it’s snowing.”

“Why not make a greenhouse?” Cadie asked.

Harper’s face lit up. “That’s a great idea!”

Cadie smiled. “Oh, I meant to ask you, can you grow me some edible flowers? I was watching this show the other day, and the lady was making iced cookies and she sprinkled edible flower petals onto them, and they were beautiful.”

“I already have some in the store.”

Cadie beamed. “Wonderful! I’ll be by this week to buy some.”

Harper waved her off. “Nonsense, I’ll send some over.”

“Any refills for hot chocolate?” Kian asked, walking up and handing Cadie another cup.

“Not for me,” I said, as I finished mine off. For some reason, I wasn’t feeling so hot, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was from the meatballs. Maybe I overate. Turning toward Gavin, I reached for him. He took hold of my arm.

“Hey, are you okay?” he asked, concern lacing his voice.

I shook my head. “I’m not…I don’t…I don’t feel so good.”

“Are you going to be sick?”

“I don’t think so,” I replied, suddenly feeling dizzy. “Whoa! I feel dizzy.”

Gavin quickly pulled me closer. “Do you need to sit down?”

“What’s wrong?” Harper asked, suddenly right at my side.

“She said she’s feeling dizzy.”

“I…I think I do need to sit down. Everything’s going blurry.”

Gavin swept me into his arms and quickly walked us away from the crowd. I thought he’d bring me to a bench, but instead, he kept walking. I could hear voices behind him, but my head started to pound, and I buried my face into his chest.

“It’s okay, baby. It’s going to be okay.”

“I’m just going to close my eyes for a minute.”

That was the last thing I remembered before waking up in a hospital room. Gavin sat in a chair beside the bed, while Evelyn stood across the room, staring out the window.

“What happened?” I asked. My voice sounded like I had cotton shoved in my mouth.

Gavin jerked his head up and smiled. “Hey, you’re awake.”

“Thank God!” Evelyn cried as she rushed to my side, nearly pushing Gavin out of the way.

“The doctor said she’s fine, Evelyn,” he said, though I couldn’t help but notice his tone sounded off.

“You’re in the hospital because you have low blood sugar, and you haven’t been drinking enough water and were dehydrated. You’ve been sleeping for nearly two hours! That tells me you’re working too much.”

“Evelyn,” Denny said in a sharp tone. “That’s enough.”

Confused, I closed my eyes and shook my head. “Wait, what?”

Gavin moved closer, and Evelyn walked to the other side of the bed, where Denny stood.

“You’re tired because you’re pregnant, Bry,” Gavin explained, as he looked toward Evelyn with a weary expression .

“I felt dizzy. That’s all I remember.”

Gavin spoke before Evelyn could. “The doctor said your blood sugar is a bit low, and you were dehydrated.”

“Are you drinking enough water?” Evelyn asked.

Turning to her, I nodded. “I am, Eve. I may not have today though. We were so busy in the store.”

“Brystol.” Evelyn took my hand in hers. “You need to stop working so much. If you can’t afford to hire more part-time employees, Denny and I can help.”

Confused, I turned to Iook at Gavin and asked, “It was only one day, and it wasn’t like I didn’t drink water at all.”

A throat cleared on the other side of the room, and everyone turned to see a man standing there. He looked to be in his early fifties, with a warm smile and the brightest blue eyes I’d ever seen.

“I’m Dr. Mitchell. I’m the on-call OB. Nothing you did was wrong. Your blood pressure dropped some, and the pregnancy hormones most likely caused that. Mix that with the low blood sugar and maybe not enough water today. It was basically just bad timing.”

I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. “Today was a hectic day at the toy store. Honestly, I don’t remember eating lunch and I tried to drink water, but I guess not enough.”

The doctor nodded. “I’m going to have the nurse give you some tips on keeping hydrated, and I’d advise you to make up some snack packs to keep with you behind the counter. If you’re busy, you can have an easy grab-and-go snack.”

I nodded. “That’s a really good idea. ”

“You also needed a good nap,” he said with a laugh. “We got some fluids into you, and now that you’re up, we’ll get you out of here.”

Smiling, I said, “Thank you so much.”

Turning, the doctor smiled at everyone and headed out of the room. Once the door shut, I took in the three sets of eyes staring at me. I lifted a hand and gave them all my sternest warning look.

“If one of you dares to lecture me, I will have you all kicked out of this room, and I’ll call my mother or father to come pick me up.”

Gavin pressed his lips into a tight line while Denny looked up at the ceiling.

Evelyn, however, stepped forward. “You’re not taking care of yourself, Bry.”

I sighed. “Evelyn, you heard him. It was a bad mix of circumstances, and today was a very busy day.” She tried to speak again, but I held up my hand again.

“Before you say anything else, I hired two more people just yesterday. One full-time person and the other part time. I’ll take a couple of days off a week and promote Nelly to manager.

She’s been asking for more hours, and she knows how to do everything anyway, from ordering stock to doing the payroll.

I’ve been training her since I found out I was pregnant. ”

Everlyn blinked back her surprise, while Gavin wore a wide grin.

“Would you like us to pick up anything for you?” she asked.

I thought about it for a few moments. “Do you still have my meatball sub?” I asked Gavin. He shook his head.

“A meatball sub from Bella’s would be amazing. Oh, and can you pick me up a bag of Lay’s chips? Just the regular ones.”

Denny smiled. “Anything else?”

“Oh! Plum Street Market has these black cherry cookies. Can you get me some?”

Evelyn frowned. “Does Cadie’s bakery have them?”

I leaned forward. “No, and you can never tell her I buy cookies from another baker. It would hurt her feelings. I had one as a sample and they’re out-of-this-world amazing.”

Nodding her head, Evelyn replied, “Got it. Meatball sub from Bella’s, chips, and black cherry cookies from Plum Street Market. Anything else?”

Giving it some serious thought, I shook my head. “No, that’s it.”

It was pretty clear that Denny was trying not to laugh, as was Gavin. On the other hand, Evelyn was typing it all into her phone like a woman on a mission.

“I’m glad one of you is taking this seriously. Trust me, try one of the black cherry cookies and you’ll see what I mean.”

Two hours later, I was finally home. It was late, and Gavin was exhausted, but a giant bouquet of flowers and black cherry cookies awaited me in the kitchen. A note said the meatball sub was in the refrigerator.

I took it out and put it in the microwave. When I saw Gavin eyeing me, I asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“It’s late, Bry. Are you really going to eat a meatball sub?”

“Yes, I am. I’m starving. And I can’t really have dessert before I eat dinner. ”

“But we had dinner before we went to the tree lighting ceremony.”

“Yes, but since then, I’ve taken a nice nap, had water pumped into my body, and dreamed of eating my black cherry cookies. The baby wants meatballs again.”

He raised his brows. “The baby does, huh?”

“Damn right, she does.” I hit start, and the microwave did its thing. “Besides, Denny and Evelyn went to all that trouble. You saw her text. They barely got to Bella’s to place the order before closing. And it’s a good thing Plum Street Market stays open until one in the morning.”

I checked the pantry and took out the Lay’s chips. When the microwave beeped, Gavin took out the sub and put it on a plate for me.

“Oh, that smells so good!”

Gavin looked like he was about to fall over.

“Gavin, go to bed.”

“I’m fine.”

“You worked all day.”

He chuckled. “So did you.”

“But,” I replied with a smile, “I got to take a nap in the ER. Seriously, go to bed.” I opened the chips, took out a couple, and put them inside the meatball sub.

“What are you doing?”

Glancing up, I asked, “What do you mean?”

He pointed to my plate. “You’re putting chips in your sub.”

“I need the crunch.”

Gavin watched me as I cut the sub in half and took a bite. I closed my eyes and moaned in delight as the slightly spicy marinara sauce hit my tongue .

“Oh yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. That is so good.”

“Are you eating it or having sex with it?”

Opening my eyes, I looked at Gavin. “If this meatball sub could give me an orgasm, it would only make this experience that much better.”

After staring at me briefly, he closed his eyes and shook his head. “I think I do need to go to sleep, because that sounded about right.”

I laughed. “Go to bed. I’ll be up shortly.”

“You don’t need anything?” he asked before kissing me.

“Just my meatballs and black cherry cookies.”

Frowning, he pointed to the food and asked, “Should I worry about this?”

I patted his hand. “Nope, I’ll always prefer your balls over these balls.”

“Yep, I’m going to bed.”