Page 37 of Axe Backwards
“Thank you.” I wiped at a stray tear. “I needed to laugh. This whole weekend…”
His blue eyes darkened to the color of stormy waters, and his fingers flexed on my waist.
He was thinking about the kiss.
Shit, now I was thinking about the kiss.
“When do you think we can leave?” He craned his neck and scanned our surroundings, breaking the spell.
“After they cut the cake,” I replied. “Then we can bounce.”
He gave me a sly smile. To say our hotel room was luxurious was an understatement. Last night, we’d watchedSchitt’s Creekbefore falling asleep in our respective king size beds. It was a lotlike being home in Lovewell, except without Tess and with a little more sleep for us both.
I missed that little bugger, and by the way he kept checking his phone and how he smiled at the photos Debbie sent every hour, he was too. Tess was having the time of her life with her grandma, who had undoubtedly been letting her mainline sugar andBlueyall weekend.
We planned to leave first thing tomorrow morning, skipping the post-wedding brunch and dropping Aunt Lou off on the way back. The geezer squad had handled all of yesterday’s deliveries, but summer was coming, which was our busiest time, so I had lots of work to catch up on at the food pantry.
This weekend had been surreal. Part nightmare, part daydream. I couldn’t wait to plant my feet on the ground and get back to reality.
A reality in which Noah and I were friends.
Friends who did not kiss.
We snuck slices of cake and were heading for the exit when my mother hurried over with Elizabeth on her heels.
My stomach sank. I’d had more than enough of both of them this weekend.
“Thank you for coming,” she said formally, as though, instead of sharing DNA, we were mere acquaintances.
Noah’s strong arm was instantly around me, pulling me close. He did this every time my hackles rose. As if he could sense it. I shouldn’t have been surprised that he’d create a physical shield of protection around me this way. Given his career, he obviously had a hero complex.
I wasn’t complaining. It was strangely comforting.
“We’ll see so much more of one another soon.” She gave me a sly smile.
Ice filled my veins. “What do you mean?”
She sipped her champagne, nose in the air. “Oh, I didn’t tell you? Dad and I purchased a lake house.”
The slow smile that spread across her face was so wide I worried her facelift stitches had come loose.
Relief hit me. Okay, so they bought another house. I wasn’t sure why it mattered to me. I had no intention of visiting.
“In Lovewell.”
My eye twitched.
“We’ll be there in two weeks. Alexandra will join us for the summer so she can rest, poor thing.”
“But you don’t like Lovewell,” I blurted out.
“It’s more of a compound, really,” she said, as if she hadn’t heard me. “But we need a place to spend summers with our grandchild.” She beamed at Alex, who was posing for photos while cupping her still flat stomach. Graham hovered next to her, his face ruddy from the abundance of alcohol he’d already consumed.
“You have two grandchildren already.” I glanced at Elizabeth.
She was too busy staring at the bar where Ralph was flirting with one of Alex’s sorority sisters. Bastard.
My mother smiled wider, her gaze shifting to Noah. “Of course. All the grandkids are welcome. It’s a beautiful property. With a lot of privacy. You know we deeply value our privacy.”
