Saltwater Secrets - Amelia Addler Page 0,65
off a few times. He’d had a long walk, after all, and no one could blame him for neglecting his duty of keeping his eyes on the chicken at all times.
When Toast finally woke up and realized that he was getting a treat, he stood up, shook himself off, and started prancing around in excitement. Matthew put the chicken into his bowl and Toast gobbled it down in a matter of seconds.
He spent a few minutes searching the floor for more food, but when that proved futile, he went to the living room for a more comfortable nap. Luckily he’d be pretty tired from his walk so Matthew wouldn’t feel guilty about leaving him to go to the party.
Once the dip was done, Matthew decided to work on writing a message in each card. He wanted to be prepared for any situation, but he found it surprisingly hard to come up with what to say.
He ended up going online for help, and after a painful twenty minutes, he was happy with what he had. It was almost a shame that Jade wouldn’t get to see both cards since he’d put so much time into them.
Just before it was time to go, he changed and made sure to pack everything into the car – the dip, the bags of chips to go along with it, and the cards. Toast was snoozing peacefully when he left, as expected.
Matthew was the first one to arrive and Chief greeted him at the door.
“Oh for me? You shouldn’t have!” he said, accepting the dip.
Matthew laughed. “Yep, all of that is for you. Enjoy.”
“Hi Matthew!” Margie yelled out from the kitchen. “Come in and have a seat.”
“Matthew brought food!” yelled Chief. “Was he approved to bring food?”
Margie appeared at the door. “Of course he was! He offered to bring an appetizer. That was very nice of you Matthew.”
“I hope it’s decent – I’ve never made it before. But I think I can follow a recipe, so I guess we’ll see.”
“I’m sure it’s lovely! And it smells great. Do I need to put it into the oven or anything?”
Matthew nodded. “I’m not sure – maybe just for a few minutes? To remelt the cheese.”
Chief handed the dip off to Margie and she took the two bags of chips from Matthew. “I think I know where she wants these. She has these big gold bowls – ”
“Not the gold ones!” Margie popped her head out of the kitchen. “I want the glass ones. You know, the ones with the bubbles painted on them?”
Chief made a face. “Yes?”
She shook her head. “Just follow me. I’ll show you. Matthew – you can go ahead and have a seat.”
“Okay – are you sure that there isn’t something that I can help with?”
“If I can’t help, you definitely can’t help,” Chief said as he walked away.
Matthew felt awkward sitting at the table by himself, so instead he just hovered around it. Every time that he heard a noise, he thought it was Jade arriving. His heart rate picked up and his skin felt cold, but every time, it was a false alarm.
After about ten minutes, the front door blasted open and he heard Luke’s voice calling out. “Come one, come all, to the island vote of the century!”
He went to the front door to greet him and was surprised to see that Luke was followed by all of the other guests – Tiffany, Morgan, and Jade.
“Hey guys – good to see you,” he said.
“Matthew, be a doll and use those big muscles for something,” Luke said, handing him a large glass platter. “I was charged with caring for these cupcakes until we got here, and the responsibility is too much.”
Matthew laughed, accepting the platter. “Where do you want these?”
“Hm, can you please put them in the living room?” Morgan said. “Half of the cupcakes are for if we win – and the other half are for if we lose.”
“What’s the difference?” Matthew asked, trying to peek under the cover.
“None of your business!” snapped Morgan, slapping the cover back down. “At least not until we know if we won.”
“Got it.” Matthew set the cupcakes down in the living room as instructed.
When he returned to the table, Luke and Morgan were teasing each other and Tiffany had disappeared into the kitchen. Jade was standing by, quietly watching with an amused look on her face.
Matthew took a deep breath. It was time to stop being a baby and talk to her.
“Hey Jade – I didn’t