not a thing.
The bell over the front door chimed, and I recognized the voices of the people coming in before I could see them over the display of gift cards near the door.
“Stop trying to steal my son’s affections, Malachi Forrester!”
“Steal,” Mal scoffed. “Like I don’t already have them locked down. Your mom’s so silly, Beau. Isn’t she? Yes, she is. Say ‘Mal,’ buddy. Come on. Say ‘Mal Mal Mal.’”
The baby made a noise that sounded like “Ma ma ma,” and both Mal and Ava crowed in triumph.
“He said ‘Mama,’” Ava sniffed. “Clear as a bell.”
“Delusions. He spoke the name of his favorite uncle.”
“Nonsense. He didn’t say anything close to ‘Brooks.’”
Mal laughed out loud as they came fully into the store, Ava pushing an empty baby carriage and Mal cuddling Ava’s infant son to his chest. They both looked up in surprise when they spotted me.
“Well, hey, Parrish!” Ava Siegel’s blonde curls bounced as she came forward to give me a hug. She looked summertime perfect in a sundress printed with yellow flowers. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“Morning, Ava.” I returned her hug and nodded at Mal, who had his hands full. “Mal.” Then I grinned at the drooly baby in Mal’s arms. “Beau! Cuttin’ some teeth, there, little man? How are y’all doin’?”
I’d spent plenty of time with Mal and his boyfriend, Brooks, since Uncle Beau had first gotten to know them a year ago. I knew Ava and her husband, Paul, who was Brooks’s business partner, slightly less well. But Uncle Beau adored all of them and had more or less adopted them all into our extended family… so much so that Paul and Ava had named their baby after him.
“Oh, nothing new to report for me.” Ava waved a hand airily. “But word on the street is that someone just got engaged.” She gave me a mischievous smile that made my heart beat double time.
Had she heard about Diesel’s crazy fake proposal?
What had she heard? How had she heard?
Was it that Stewie person? Wasn’t that a breach of attorney-client privilege?
Oh, God, or what if Diesel assumed my leaving meant I’d agreed, in some ass-backward way? What if he was telling everyone we were engaged? What if someone told Uncle Beau?
“I don’t know what folks are saying, but it’s absolutely untrue,” I said vehemently. “I’m not engaged. Not even a little engaged. I’m single as a Pringle. Single as a dollar bill. Single as single can be!”
Ava’s gaze narrowed on me, and I could almost see the Terminator computer working behind her big blue eyes as she no doubt came to some kind of crazy conclusions.
Though, to be fair, nothing she came up with could be crazier than the truth.
I pulled at my collar. “Gracious gravy, it’s warm in here, huh?”
“Uh. Ava meant me, Parrish,” Mal volunteered. Over Beau’s head, he looked down at the hand splayed across the baby’s back and flexed his fingers to show off the simple gold and black band there. He smiled with a kind of quiet pride and bit his lip like he couldn’t quite believe it was real. “Me and Brooks got engaged. That’s what the ring was about at the Lickin’ the other day, remember?”
“Oh. Wow. That’s…” I swallowed against the wave of pure want that nearly towed me under. “Excellent. So happy for you. Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” Mal said. “I sort of figured everyone knew, otherwise I would have told you.”
I shook my head. “Probably my fault I didn’t put two and two together. It’s been a weird week. I’ve been… distracted.”
“Hmm,” Ava said, like a detective who’d gotten a break in a case. “So. Who are you shopping for today?” She glanced around the little boutique.
“Oh, just buying some things for a…a friend.”
“Oooh! Someone local?” Her eyes widened with genuine excitement. “I love getting to meet the new parents in town. We’ve got a great group that meets over at the splash park on Tuesdays through September. It’s fun to see the littlest ones interacting with their future best friends.” She ran a fond hand over her son’s head.
I looked at baby Beau, and it struck me like a physical blow that he was the same age as Marigold. That, if Marigold stayed in the Thicket, she could be his bestie someday. That, if she didn’t stay in town, she wouldn’t just miss out on having Diesel for a dad, she’d miss out on this. The community. The whole zany, close-knit bunch of them.
Which was not my concern, really. It wasn’t.