“You’re ridiculous,” I told her.
“Don’t tell me you don’t think the same thing. Every woman does.”
I left her comment alone, paying for my bouquet for Maeveinstead, Aurora’s laughter filling the space my silence left.
“Thanks, Daisy. I’ll see you in a couple of days for one of these for myself.”
“Perfect. Have a good night, Scarlett. It was nice to meet you, Aurora. Tell Maeve I said congratulations on the baby.”
Aurora waited in the car with the flowers while I ran across the street to Pine Street Market. I had made a fun iced tea mocktail, but I wanted an extra orange to cut slices for the rim, and I had used all of mine in making the infused tea. Matt was sitting in his car with the window down as I weaved between his car and the one next to it.
“Hey, Matt.” I waved.
“Hi, Scarlett. What, uh, brings you here today?” he asked, his eyes wide with surprise, like Calla Bay was so big that running into a colleague at the market was out of the norm.
“I just need to run in and grab something quick.” Something seemed off with him lately. Every time I saw him, he seemed uncomfortable. His fingers were drumming against his steering wheel, and his eyes darted around his surroundings like he was clocking every movement. It was probably just a habit from being a cop for years, but it left me feeling unsettled. “My sister’s waiting for me, so I should get going,” I told him, not wanting to drag out the conversation longer than necessary.
“Sure. Have a good day.” He smiled, the picture of casual. I didn’t believe it.
The market was big, for Calla Bay standards anyway, but it seemed like no one else was here. The fruits and vegetables were set up on the left in cute wooden bins. I grabbed the one orange I needed, opting to forego a produce bag, and spun around, nearly walking into someone. Juliet stumbled back astep, her face holding the look of contempt she often leveled my way.
“Sorry about that,” I said. It was a lie. I hadn’t meant to nearly run into her, but I wasn’t sorry either. Juliet could keep her contempt for me. I held my own contempt for her after what she did to Luke.
Her mouth pulled into a sneer that I thought was meant to be a smile but didn’t quite make it. I let her go ahead of me as we both made our way to the cashier.
Juliet paid for her items and walked out without a backward glance.
“Just this?” Debbie, the cashier, asked.
“Yup. One orange short. Go figure.” I smiled and paid, thanking Debbie as I gathered my orange and change.
Matt’s car was pulling down the street as I exited. Good. I really wasn’t looking forward to another odd encounter with him today, especially after having run into Juliet.
I pulled up in front of Wyatt and Maeve’s house five minutes later. Claire’s car was already here. We had decided that tonight would be a spa night for Maeve. Veda was three weeks old, and between managing a newborn and running after a fifteen-month-old, she was tired and ragged.
Aurora and I made our way to the door with the robes, slippers, and eye masks we had picked up special for tonight, along with the iced tea carafe. Maeve opened the door in her pajama shorts and an oversized T-shirt that I imagined was probably Wyatt’s.
“Why are you wearing that?” Her brow furrowed as she looked me up and down.
“I told her to change, but she never listens to me,” Aurora chimed in.
She did. But I had a real thing against going out in pajamas. Aurora didn’t have that same hang-up, happily strutting around in a skimpy pair of cotton shorts and a strappy camisole. My linen shorts were comfortable and loose, plus they were considered real clothes. I didn’t see any issue with it.
“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing? It’s not like I put on jeans,” I said.
“Fine. Fine. Just get inside.”
Claire was sitting at the breakfast counter, her Wilder Construction T-shirt covering whatever bottoms she had on. Her face lit up when she saw us, and she hopped off the stool to wrap both me and Aurora in a hug.
“Aurora, I’m so glad you came. This will be so much fun.”
Wyatt was in the living room, baby Veda lying on his shirtless chest. Her perfect little lips smooshed into her dad, her cheeks rosy. She was the cutest little thing. Jane was on the floor by his feet, playing with a wooden cube and different-shaped blocks, trying to figure out how to get the shapes into the cube through the cutouts.
“Hi, Wyatt. Hi, Jane.” I stroked Veda’s head softly, making sure not to wake her. Jane babbled to me, telling me a whole story in her own special language. “You don’t say. I think you’re doing a great job. You’ll get them all in there,” I encouraged her.
In the kitchen, Maeve had set up a fruit platter and some crackers and cheese for the night. Claire was in charge of the mud masks, scrubs, and foot soaks. She even went as far as bringing a full foot-soaker machine.
“How’s things going at the library?” I asked Claire, grabbing a plate and scooping a helping of fruit onto it. Claire hadstarted in the Delano Library as the historian a few months ago when she decided to uproot her life and stay in Calla Bay. Love makes you do crazy things, but so far, it’d been working out well for her.
