Page 175 of Lavender Lake
“Am I wearing it like a badge?” I demanded.
“A scarlet badge of honor,” Wyn said.
The four of us took our coffee mugs out to the fire circle.
“So, I call this meeting to order,” Poet said as she sat down.
“And normally, we would’ve let you both sleep, but there’s something that needs attention,” Wyn said.
“What’s that?” I asked.
Wyn looked at Poet. “You tell them. You’re gentle.”
Poet nodded. “Wyn and I went into town this morning for breakfast.”
“Oh no,” I murmured.
“Yeah, everyone was talking about the wedding,” Wyn said.
The two of them fell silent.
“And?” I prodded. “Go on. There’s more. There’s always more.”
“And the news of both Powell sisters being pregnant,” Wynn added. “And the drama of how it all came out.”
They went silent again.
“The rest of it,” Hadley demanded.
Poet cleared her throat. “It’s on the front page of the Huckleberry Hill Crier.”
“With photos,” Wyn added. “Of Declan’s hand pulled back ready to hit Bowman, Hadley’s stricken look, and Salem’s gobsmacked expression.”
“That’s not that bad,” Hadley said, her gaze darting to mine. “Not nearly as bad as Salem being on the front page for the bar fight with Amber.”
“Thank you for that.” I wrinkled my nose in distaste. “How is that possible, though? Amber left the party. It’s not like she wasable to take candid photos of the drama going down. Not when she was involved in it.”
“The wedding photographer from the paper,” Hadley murmured. “Who came with Amber.”
“No. It can’t be. They signed an NDA, right?” I asked Hadley. “You had them sign an NDA so they couldn’t share their photos without your approval, right?”
Hadley shook her head. “No. Why would I have done that? They literally came to do a story on the wedding and us. I didn’t intend for it to turn into a saga.”
Poet sighed. “There’s more.”
“More?” Hadley demanded. “How much more?”
Poet winced at Hadley’s tone. “It’s all over social media. The town paper’s social media account posted a video of the—er—baby daddy reveal. And then they tagged Sweet Teeth because Gracie made the cake. And because Sweet Teeth went viral not that long ago, they had a bunch of new eyeballs on their page . . .”
Hadley pulled out her phone, her fingers flying across the screen. I watched her face fall.
“What?” I asked, dread curling inside me.
“Our family’s dirty laundry is all over the front lawn and being set on fire,” she intoned, holding the phone out to show me.
I grimaced.
“How bad is it?” Wyn demanded. “It was at two hundred and fifty thousand views when we knocked on the cabin door.”
