She smiles against my mouth, her hands sliding from my chest as she wraps her arms around me.“Okay,” she says, kissing me once more before we both pull back, only to discover Oscar and Olivia standing there watching us.
“So,” Oscar says, a huge grin on his face as he crosses his arms over his chest.“What do we have here?”
“Oh fuck,” I chuckle, as Hannah buries her face in my chest.“Guess we really gotta come clean now, babe.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Hannah
These two kids are standing in front of us, horribly judgmental looks on their faces, the kind of look that a parent gives a teenager for sneaking in after curfew.This isn’t the first time these two have busted us, but at least last time we were able to cover it up.This time, not so much.
“You know you can get pregnant from kissing a boy?”Olivia shames, her hands on her hips, her lips pursed in disgust.“Do you want to have a baby?”
The way she asks the question once again brings me back to my teenage years and health class.All those lectures on condoms and teenage pregnancy and the judgment that comes with getting knocked up before marriage.I am currently being judged by a ten-year-old who thinks a baby will magically appear in my stomach from kissing a boy.Thank fuck it doesn’t work that way or I’d have a hundred kids by now.
I look over at Leo, hoping he saves me from this mess, but all he’s doing is smirking, reaching out, he ruffles Oscar’s hair, shaking his head.
“You two need to find a hobby,” Leo now jokes.“Don’t you play baseball or soccer or something?”
“Yeah, but we don’t have practice today and when you’re ten and your family owns a vineyard, you have to stay up to date on the gossip,” Oscar replies and it’s really hard not to burst out laughing.
“I’m not sure we’re the most interesting gossip,” I jump in.“Didn’t your aunt and uncle just have two babies?That feels like a bigger deal than finding us sharing a quick kiss.You know in France, where lots of chefs study, they kiss to say hello and goodbye,” I add, thinking on my feet.Kids are gullible and will fall for anything an adult says with confidence.
They both fall silent and I’m patting myself on my back for my quick thinking and for shutting these two nosy ninjas up.But just when I think they’re going to slink off and forget what happened, they both start laughing.
“Uncle Jack tried that line before.How dumb do you think a ten-year-old is?”Olivia asks, and I swear this child has perfected the judgmental bitch face like she’s taken lessons from my mother.“And you never answered my question, do you want to have a baby?”
Whoa, it’s like this kid is inside my head, like she knows Leo and I just had this discussion and while kids are cool and all, I’m not sure they’re for me, especially now that I’m standing here being drilled by these two.
“Okay, so first, that’s none of your business and two, it’s rude to ask people about their…” I stop short, reconsidering using the words “sex life” because that’s certainly not appropriate.“It’s rude to, I don’t know,” I say, not even sure where I’m going with this conversation.“You should go check on your aunt and see how the babies are.”
“They’re still at the hospital,” Oscar chimes in, rolling his eyes.“Even we know that.”
“Hey!”a voice shouts and I see Ellen walking toward us and we’re either about to be saved or sold out.“I was looking for you two.Oscar, your homework needs to be re-done, it’s trash and Olivia, you need to clean up the markers that you left thrown about my office.”
“Leo and Hannah were kissing,” Olivia blurts out as if this will distract from the fact that she and Oscar have just been reprimanded by their mom.
Ellen leans down close to them, beckoning them even closer with a hook of her finger.“What have I told you two about being in other people’s business?”
Their eyes are wide as Ellen sternly looks at them, crouched down so she’s eye level, and now I know where Olivia gets that face from.Right now, even I’m afraid of Ellen.
“Not to do it,” they both reply, a mumbled response that shows this is a conversation that has been had several times.
“Then why are you doing it?No one likes a tattletale,” Ellen now says, still glaring at her two children, who look like they’re now scared shitless.
“Olivia tattled, I didn’t,” Oscar immediately defends and it’s obviously not the answer Ellen is looking for.She slowly shakes her head and points a finger toward where her office is located.
Neither says another word, waving goodbye to us, they begin to make their walk of shame back to the office to clean up and get their homework done.
“Sorry,” Ellen apologizes, which is totally unnecessary.They are two kids who are stuck at a vineyard on a regular basis with only adults and each other to keep themselves busy.Eavesdropping and gossip seem to be pretty common pastimes around here, and given their Uncle Jack is the ringleader, it’s hard not to be entertained by it all.“Now, I didn’t hear what they said, but if I did, I want you to know that no one cares.If anything, Lauren is probably cheering in her hospital bed.”
“What?”I ask, confused by Ellen’s response.
“We may have been hosting a little bet on when you two would hook up.I’m even starting to wonder if Lauren let you move in here so she could set the whole thing up,” Ellen now admits.
“Wait, I thought Jack was the matchmaker?”Leo adds in.“He’s always claiming he set up Tommy and Penny and Dylan and Tessa.”
“Lauren and I may be as equally involved in the relationships here at Somerville’s,” Ellen hints, winking at us.“I set up Jack and Lauren.”
