Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
B unny barely waited for Preston to come to a full stop before she unbuckled her seatbelt, murmured a distracted “Thanks,” and dashed out of the car. The icy wind bit at her cheeks as she hurried up the sidewalk to her sister’s townhouse.
She didn’t bother knocking. Her hand twisted the doorknob. Predictably, it turned easily. Unlocked again. She sighed. She’d have to lecture Kitty about that later.
Once inside, Bunny was engulfed in the familiar scent of turpentine, tea, and the faint aroma of burnt toast—Kitty’s signature perfume of chaos. Her baby sister was at her easel, hunched over, adding intricate details to a vase of painted flowers, her brush strokes quick and precise. Birdy was sprawled on the couch, her feet up on the coffee table as she scrolled through something on her tablet, her sharp features illuminated by the screen’s glow.
Neither of them so much as glanced up.
Bunny’s irritation flared. Over twenty-four hours, no calls, no texts, and they were completely unfazed. She planted herself in the doorway, hands on her hips.
Birdy was the first to notice her. She looked up from the tablet, blinking lazily. “Hey, honeybun, what’s new?”
Bunny raised an incredulous brow. “What’s new? Seriously?”
Kitty didn’t even look up, her brush poised mid-stroke. “Did you bring over some agave? I’m out, thanks to someone who thinks half a cup belongs in one teacup.”
“Maybe if you bought groceries like a normal person, you wouldn’t have to ration your agave,” Birdy shot back, not missing a beat.
“And maybe if you didn’t drown your tea?—”
“Hello!” Bunny’s voice cut through their bickering like a thunderclap. Both sisters turned to her, wide-eyed and silent. “Did you even notice I was gone?”
Kitty frowned, setting down her brush. “Gone?”
Birdy tilted her head. “I figured you were holed up at home or, you know, the mayor’s office.”
Bunny threw up her hands. “I was holed up in the mayor’s house.”
That got their attention. Birdy’s feet hit the floor, her tablet forgotten. Kitty dropped her paint brush as she swiveled in her chair to face Bunny fully.
“You and the mayor?” Birdy said, her voice pitched somewhere between shock and delight. “Alone? In his house?”
Bunny waved her hands quickly, as if she could erase the mental picture forming in their heads. “It wasn’t like that. We weren’t alone. We had… the baby.”
Kitty gasped, clutching her heart theatrically. “So it’s true? You and Mayor Carter have a baby?”
“What? No!” Bunny’s voice went up an octave, her face heating as she looked between her sisters. “Oh my God, even you believe the rumor? What is wrong with this town?”
Birdy crossed her arms, leaning back into the couch with a smirk. “Well, you’ve got to admit, it’s a juicy rumor. The mayor, his brilliant-but-overworked communications director, a secret baby… It’s like a soap opera.”
“I’d watch it.” Kitty nodded enthusiastically.
Bunny groaned, pressing her fingers to her temples. “This is not funny. And for the record, the baby is not ours. Someone left her on the mayor’s doorstep, and now everyone’s lost their minds.”
“Okay, okay.” Birdy held up her hands. “No need to have a meltdown.”
"I'm not having a meltdown," Bunny snapped. She was so totally having a meltdown.
She fanned her face with one hand as if the motion could somehow cool the heat rushing to her cheeks. Her other hand tugged at her coat’s neckline, which suddenly felt suffocating. She tried to pace, but her legs wobbled beneath her, and instead, she slumped into the nearest chair, her arms crossing tightly over her chest like she could physically hold herself together.
“Honeybunny," Kitty soothed, "I think you're having a meltdown. Why didn't you go home to rest after spending a platonic night at the bachelor mayor's house with a baby who is not your secret love child?"
Bunny lifted her hands away from her temples to glare at her baby sister. "Because I thought you might need me.”
Her sisters exchanged glances. For once, neither of them had a quick comeback. Kitty reached for her paintbrush, twirling it between her fingers. Birdy tapped her fingers on the couch arm.
“Well, we’re fine,” Birdy said finally, her voice softer. “I mean, not to feed your ego or anything, but you did kind of train us to handle any and all eventualities.”
“We can survive without you, Bunny," said Kitty. "We might burn the toast sometimes, but we’re not helpless.”
"Did you call your husband?" Bunny shot at Kitty.
"I did." Kitty's nod was solemn. "We're going to sign the papers when he gets back from tour."
"And, before you ask, I handled my paperwork," said Birdy. "Did you know they have an online arm for the small business office?"
Bunny sat there, their words sinking in. The town hadn’t fallen apart. Her sisters hadn’t crumbled. Everything was fine. Everything except her private life, which was now a full-blown tabloid headline, complete with a secret baby and a love story no one had consented to.
Well, that wasn't true. Bunny had consented to being kissed by Teddy. She'd agreed to a date—singular. But she wanted more. More kisses and more dates.
“This town is going to drive me crazy.”
Kitty grinned, returning to her canvas. “Pretty sure it already has.”
Birdy snorted, but then her expression softened. “Hey, whatever’s going on, you’ll figure it out. You always do.”
Bunny leaned back, staring at the ceiling. Could she, though? The rumor mill, the mayor, the baby, and—most terrifying of all—the way her heart had felt when Teddy kissed her. Could she figure that out?
She'd just left him to handle the crisis all by himself. A pang of guilt twisted in her chest. But looking at her sisters, perfectly at ease and managing just fine? Sure, she’d always been there, giving advice, swooping in when they flailed—but they’d found their own way. They didn’t do everything her way. In fact, they rarely did. But they still got things done on their terms.
Just like Teddy.
Teddy had told her that true leadership wasn’t micromanaging—it was giving people the tools they needed, trusting them to take the lead, and stepping back to let them shine. She hadn’t agreed with him then. It had sounded like a convenient excuse for his laissez-faire approach to running the town. But now… now she wasn’t so sure.
If she wanted to be a real leader, if she wanted people to follow her, she had to trust them. She couldn’t hover over every decision, couldn’t hold their hands through every step.
Maybe that was what had terrified her most: letting go, giving them her orders and then stepping back, trusting that things wouldn’t fall apart without her constant oversight.
It wasn’t just her sisters. While she'd slept in this morning, Teddy and the baby had been managing without her, too. Not in the way she would’ve done it—probably not perfectly—but they’d figured it out. Teddy had fed and soothed that baby like he’d been doing it for years. And when it came to her…
Her cheeks flushed as she thought about the way he’d kissed her. He’d told her exactly what he wanted, clear and confident, and then—he’d let her take the lead. He hadn’t pushed, hadn’t demanded, hadn’t tried to control the moment. He’d just let her be. And it had been perfect.
Bunny felt her pulse quicken. Her fingers brushed over her lips as the memory of his mouth on hers came rushing back. She wanted more of that kiss. She wanted more of him.
She straightened in her chair, her resolve hardening like steel. Teddy Carter had taught her something important—not just about trust, but about letting go, about finding the balance between leading and following.
Kitty looked over at her, raising an eyebrow. “You okay? You look like you just solved a quadratic equation or something.”
Bunny smiled, her first real smile in hours. “Something like that.”
Birdy rolled her eyes. “Whatever it is, save it for later. You’re cutting into my tea time.”
Bunny ignored her, standing and smoothing down her shirt. “Actually, I think I’ve got something I need to take care of.”
Birdy and Kitty exchanged glances, but Bunny was already heading for the door. For the first time in a long time, she felt like she was finally ready to stop micromanaging and start trusting—and maybe even start letting herself want.
And at the top of her list of wants? Teddy Carter. And another one of those kisses.