Page 130 of One Good Puck
When we walk into Tinsley’s Tea Room for Sam and Dakota’s engagement party, Emma gasps.
“Whoa! Look at all those cookies! And cake pops!”
I glance at the dessert table at the front of the tea room. A half-dozen multi-tiered dessert trays are overflowing with cookies, tarts, cupcakes, and cake pops.
Emma grabs my hand. “Mom, can I have a cookie? Please?”
“You have to eat a sandwich first,” I say. “And some vegetables.”
“What if I have a sandwich with vegetables in it?” she asks.
Gavin chuckles. “Smart.”
“That would be fine,” I say, smiling.
The spacious tea room is decorated to look like a fancy tea room in London. All the chairs are plush and upholstered in cream fabric. The tables are made of rich mahogany wood. There are clusters of white peonies in glass vases on every table. Baby pink striped wallpaperadorns the walls, and there’s a cool, hot pink fluorescent sign on the far wall in cursive that says, “spot of tea?”
A massive floor-to-ceiling window makes up the far wall of the tea room, with a beautiful view of the Rocky Mountains. It’s the end of November, and a few snowflakes are falling in the air.
I spot Dakota by the bar, talking with her mom and brother and Sam. She’s wearing a pretty, white, one-shoulder, midi dress.
Dakota waves and walks over to greet us. She hugs me and Emma, then Gavin.
“I love your dress,” she says to Emma. “How pretty!”
Emma smiles and does a twirl in her pink dress. “I match the walls! You look like a princess.”
Dakota smiles. “Aww, thank you. Liam and Layla are here. When I told them that you were coming too, they got so excited.”
Emma grins and looks around. Dakota points them out at a table in the corner.
Emma turns to me. “Mom, can I go sit with them?”
“Yeah, of course. Remember to eat a sandwich with vegetables before you have a cookie, okay?”
“I will!” she says as she walks off.
Gavin slides an arm around my waist, pulling me close. Dakota looks at us for a second before gasping. “Wait, are you two…officially a thing?”
“Yup,” Gavin and I say at once.
She squeals and hugs us both.
“Oh my gosh! I knew it! I knew it was just a matter of time before you two got together! Who else knows?”
“Emma, Sophie, and Xander,” Gavin says.
Sophie walks up to greet us, and Dakota gives her aplayful smack on her arm. “You didn’t tell me about your dad and Abby making it official.”
Sophie chuckles. “I wanted you to be surprised. Thanks for letting me borrow your dress, by the way. You saved me from having to go shopping.”
Sophie is wearing a pretty, long-sleeve velvet cocktail dress in a deep forest green color.
“My closet is always open for you,” Dakota says.
“Would you ladies like a drink?” Gavin asks.
“I’m good,” Dakota says.
