Page 90 of Late Nights & Love Lines
22
YOU’VE HANDLED WORSE THINGS THAN PLAYDATES
ROWAN
“Honey, we’re home.”
I stand quickly from where I’m bent over searching the fridge and whack my head on the refrigerator door. I’m still rubbing my scalp when Bella and Tabby walk around the corner. They both have a baby attached to them with a baby carrier.
What the heck do they put in the water here? A baby boom has exploded all over town.
“Ah, hi?” Was I supposed to be expecting them?
“We come bearing gifts,” Tabby says cheerily. I’ve yet to see her offer anything but golden retriever energy. It’s as though her only setting is sunshine and rainbows.
She places a tray of cupcakes on the counter with one hand, holding the hand of a little girl in the other, all while bouncing the sleeping baby she’s wearing.
Talk about multitasking.
“They’re beet cupcakes,” Bella clarifies. “Tabby uses us as guinea pigs for her bakery downtown.”
“Oh, that’s…nice.”
Tabby waves me off. “Kids will eat anything with frosting and it’s their opinion I trust.”
“The guys have taken over Beck’s house, and Stella’s oldest wasn’t feeling well, so we grabbed Ruby here and are invading your space for a playdate,” Bella explains. “I hope that’s okay.”
“Oh, does your husband work with them too?” I saw him in the kitchen at Beck’s house, but I thought he was a teenager at first.
Bella holds up her hand. “Fiancé, but yes. Teddy’s Crystal Waters’ legal counsel.”
Ruby wiggles free from Tabby’s hand and bounces excitedly. “Where’s Kade?”
Her enthusiasm draws a chuckle out of me. These two are going to be trouble together.
“He’s all the way upstairs on the third…”
She’s tearing off through the house in search of the staircase before I finish.
“How’s Miles doing?” Bella asks, keeping her gaze downcast. She’s a wispy little thing that floats around as though she has wings helping her along. She’s also painfully shy but attempting to be social, that much is clear. I thought I was shy, but now I know I’m just closed off because I’ve got nothing on this woman.
She stands two steps behind Tabby as though she needs a shield, and for her part, Tabby seems to understand her triggers and moves as though she’s trying not to startle her.
It’s similar to how the guys were in the kitchen the other night at Beck’s house. They all move in perfect harmony with each other, as if they’ve been doing it their entire lives.
“Um, Miles is doing well,” I say, finally remembering she asked a question. “He’s still recovering, so he basically has unlimited screen time.”
Tabby ushers Bella to a stool while she openly helps herself to a tour. “Where is he? I wanted to give him a cupcake.”
“Oh, he’s in Sebastian’s room for now. Kade has too much energy for them to both be in the bunk room right now.”
“And Seren? Where’s she?”
My nose wrinkles and my palms begin to itch because I’m not sure how to handle this inquisition.
“She went to use the music room at camp. Leo said it was fine now that Lottie’s crew is gone. I’m not sure what will happen when he has actual campers, but for now, it’s a good place for her to be.”
“Good, good,” Tabby says. She scans the place as though she’s planning to rob it.
