Page 74 of Forever Fickle

“Really?” Karen laughed, looking at the other woman in disbelief.

“He knows enough to be dangerous,” Glory said grimly. “He’s good at most things but you and Lee go traveling a lot. Maybe I’m just paranoid?”

“I vote for paranoid,” Dixie muttered, smiling over her coffee mug.

“I knowwww…” Glory whined, making Sophie laugh. The woman met Karen’s eyes and smiled nervously.

“How are you and Reaper?” Karen asked knowingly. “I don’t know that I ever had a chance to tell you both congratulations.”

“It’s weird,” Sophie smiled shyly. “We’ve been married for a few months now and I still can’t believe that he’s mine – or that I can’t see him for almost a year.”

“What?”

“Ryan,” Sophie began and hesitated, “Reaper… he used all four weeks to come out and help cover just like Hot Cakes used his week. When does his time roll over again?”

“I don’t know,” Karen replied. “We are meeting at Thanksgiving though, so I’m assuming it’s in the next month or two.”

“Must be… and you’re lucky,” Sophie admitted. “If he wants to come visit longer than a week – tell him no. It’s hard, but I think it’s tougher to have to wait an entire year.”

Sophie smiled knowingly.

“We are meeting up for five days and haven’t made any other plans yet. Maybe Christmas? Jace, I mean ‘Hot Cakes’ said he wasn’t sure but would let me know.”

“Ryan has five years left…” Sophie said quietly. “And Hot Cakes?”

“Almost two years.”

“Dang…” Dixie sighed. “I’m really glad Lee is out.”

“Girl, you had it easy,” Glory grunted in acknowledgement. “I was in Afghanistan for four years and Hunter completely ignored me the entire time. It wasn’t until we met here that things got interesting.”

“You were there for four years?” Sophie and Karen said, turning to look at the pregnant woman in pigtails, stunned.

“I know… craaaazy, right?” Glory drawled, rolling her eyes as the café front door opened, and Romeo and Alpo walked in together. Karen felt a pang of envy as both Dixie and Glory’s faces lit up – as well as the men’s. She understood what Jace meant when he said she glowed now – because she saw it in their expressions.

“How’s my sweet little mama doing?” Alpo said, coming over and kneeling beside Glory before kissing her stomach. “How’s my kiddos?”

“Swimming like little tadpoles,” Glory laughed.

“Dix… Do you mind if I sneak something for me and Alpo? I’m starving, baby,” Lee said tenderly, bending over to kiss Dixie on the cheek. She immediately got up and urged him to sit in her chair.

“I’ll get it for you, sweet thing,” Dixie replied, quickly reaching for a chair for Alpo. “Sit down by your wife, Dad.”

“Will do,” Alpo grinned, squeezing in between Karen and Glory. He turned and gave Karen this smirk before turning to look at his wife.

“Sooo Karen,” Alpo began coyly. “Why don’t you let my beautiful wife know how things are going with you and Hot Cakes?”

“Ooooooh,” Glory squealed, leaning as far forward has her stomach would let her to meet Karen’s eyes. “Are you and Hot Cakes an item? So, we’ve got Soph and Reaper – and now you and Hot Cakes? Saaaweet! Now I’ve got to find someone for mywiddleCaboose since Valkyrie claims that Handsy is off-limits.”

“Handsy ismarried,” Karen replied, smiling. “Yes, Jace and I are doing well. You weren’t trying to set us up, were you?”

“Reaper and I are doing very well,” Sophie interjected immediately, trying to draw the line of questioning as Karen looked at all the guilty faces that surrounded her.

“You are kidding me…” Karen uttered in disbelief. “You were trying to set us up? Sophie, did you know about this?”

Sophie grimaced and hesitated.

“It’s the reason Ryan and I got married,” Sophie explained quietly. “Ryan didn’t want to be set up on blind dates and knew Glory was trying to set everyone up…”

---