Fragile Hearts (Poplar Falls #4) - Amber Kelly Page 0,70
and rush to Elle’s aid.
I pull up to the house ten minutes later and hurry inside.
“Are you two ready to go?” I call as I walk through to the kitchen.
Aunt Doreen is fluttering about. She is taking her responsibility for getting Elle to her “surprise” engagement party very seriously.
“Where’s Elle?” I ask as I walk over and pluck a muffin from the basket on the counter.
“She’s still getting ready. She came out here in jeans and a T-shirt. I had to make up something on the spot to get her to change clothes because I know she’ll want to look nice in the pictures from her party,” she rattles off nervously.
“What did you tell her?” I ask around a mouthful of blueberry crumble.
“I told her I wanted us all to get fancied up for dinner. Oh, now, I have to go find something fancified to put on too. I don’t have anything fancy. Why did I say that? It doesn’t even make sense. This is why I don’t lie. I’m so bad at it. You girls never should have trusted me to be the one to get her there. Do you think she’s suspicious?”
She is a flustered mess.
“You always look nice, Aunt Doe. I think what you are wearing is fine, and I doubt she suspects a thing,” I reassure her.
She looks down at her light-purple blouse that has tiny yellow flowers all over it and her tan dress pants, and she frowns. “But I wear this all the time. Do you think I should change, so she buys it?”
I look up at her. “No?” It comes out as a question instead of an answer.
“You’re right. I should change. I’ll put on my chocolate-brown blouse, switch to my nice dress shoes, and put on my pearls. Maybe add on some blush,” she says more to herself than me as she hurries out of the kitchen.
Five minutes later, and Elle walks in, wearing a pink maxi dress with drop shoulders, and her makeup is flawless.
I whistle.
“She made me change clothes and do my face,” she whispers and rolls her eyes. Then, she looks around. “Where did she go?”
“She’s upstairs, putting on a fancier blouse and shoes, so you don’t catch on to her tricks,” I say on a grin.
She smiles. “She’s really falling for it.”
“Yep. Hook, line, and sinker. She’s a nervous wreck,” I agree.
I look down at my phone.
“We have to get her out of here, so Jefferson, Emmett, and Pop can get ready and beat us there,” I tell her.
“I know. How was I supposed to guess she’d make me change? It threw us behind.”
We hear footfalls coming down the stairs in the living room and hurry to meet her.
I elbow Elle, and she clears her throat.
“Don’t you look nice?” she praises her aunt as she makes it to the landing.
“You think so?”
“Yes, ma’am, and Bells just called her momma to tell her to put on a nice blouse and shoes too. Look at us, getting all dressed up for girls’ evening out. How fun!” Elle says excitedly as she claps her hands.
“Too much,” I say under my breath on a fake cough.
“Um, let’s get this show on the road. I’m starving.” Elle hurries us out the door.
“I’ll drive,” I offer, and we head over to my Mustang and climb in.
We get about twenty minutes up the road when Doreen’s phone chimes with a text. I watch in the mirror as she checks it and bites her lip.
“Bellamy, I forgot something back at the house. Can we run back real quick?”
I look over at Elle in confusion, and she gives me a slight shrug.
“Don’t we have reservations?” I ask her.
“Yes, but I’ll let them know we are running a tad late. I have a little something for your mother I meant to bring with us, and absentminded me forgot it,” she says.
“Okay.” I give in and turn around, heading back for Rustic Peak.
We pass by Jefferson’s truck.
“Hey, isn’t that Uncle Jefferson?” Elle asks. “I wonder where he and Emmett could be headed to.”
“Oh, who knows? They probably didn’t want to eat what Ria made for dinner,” Doreen says on a nervous laugh.
Like that’s a plausible explanation.
Once we pull in, Doreen opens her door.
“I’ll be back in a jiffy,” she says before attempting to climb out. “Oh, fiddle. I don’t know how you girls get in and out of these ole, low cars,” she mutters as she heaves herself out of the Mustang.