Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sure enough, I’m awake when the sun rises.
I did manage a couple of hours of restless sleep but not nearly enough.
I usually love nothing more than to lounge in bed or down by the water with a good book on a Sunday morning, but the thought of being alone with my thoughts at the lake is less than appealing.
I know myself well enough to realize I’ll keep analyzing everything about last night if I stay here.
Plus, there are no donuts.
I move quickly through my morning routine, choosing leggings, and the cozy grey sweater Megan bought me for my last birthday.
I have no patience for my mop of blonde hair this morning.
No amount of dry shampoo is going to fix this, and I don’t want to take the time to wash it, so I throw it up into a messy bun securing it with a scrunchy.
Grabbing my sunglasses and bag I give Penelope a kiss on her forehead.
“I’ll be back soon, Pen. I just need to inject myself with caffeine and sugar before I can even begin to think about doing anything else today.” Penelope glares at me, stands, and spins in three circles before she lays down in the exact same spot. Well, okay then.
“Sorry I bothered you. See you soon.”
The drive into the village is quick this early in the morning.
During the summer, the population triples with tourism and seasonal residents.
People are drawn here for the freshwater lakes, hiking trails, and local artisans.
Now that fall is here, vacations are ending and students are returning to school, it’s much quieter.
As I pull up in front of Maggie’s, I can see her filling up the bakery counter with fresh pastries through the glass. That woman is pure joy. She is always smiling and has a kind word for everyone.
Even for Brian Marshal who’s sitting with his laptop, at his usual table beside the large front window, just like he does most days of the week.
It’s a prime location for people watching and collecting gossip.
He currently has several newspapers spread out before him, presumably catching up on national news.
We know he knows his way around the internet, so this seems a little extra.
When I open the door, Maggie looks up from her display and smiles warmly.
As long as I can remember Maggie has had a short blonde bob. She coordinates her large, framed glasses with her smock dresses and tights. Today they are orange, and I’m here for it. All women need this level of confidence.
“Good morning, Hannah. I didn’t expect to see you out so early this morning. Did you come alone?” She peers around me.
The clock on the wall above her head reads 7:30 a.m. Yes, it is definitely very early for me, especially on a Sunday.
I can’t even get to work on time most days.
The place is empty except for a young couple that don’t look like they have been home yet.
And of course, Brian who is pretending not to listen, but I know better.
I look over my shoulder to check too.
Turning back, I give her a cheeky smile, and confirm, “Yep, I’m all alone. I need something hot and something sweet. I knew you wouldn’t let me down.”
Maggie just shakes her head. She clearly knows Danny and I went out last night and is wondering where he is. I’m sure Beck will fill her in.
“Well of course. What can I get you?” she asks.
“I would love an extra-large coffee with two cream and one sugar.” I am just about to select a donut when I hear the bell ring over the door and a delighted squeal.
“Auntie Hannah!”
I turn just in time to catch Ben as he comes barreling towards me. I pick him up, put him on my hip, and give him a squeeze.
“Hey, little man. How are you today?”
“I am full of awesome,” he replies with a giant smile.
He is always full of awesome. He’s honestly the best kid I have ever met. Currently dressed in black sweatpants and a hoodie with a popular athletic brand name across the front, red converse and a red cap on backwards he looks adorable. Like seriously, I wish I was this cool.
Claire became unexpectedly pregnant while working out of the country.
It was shocking but she was excited to have a baby.
Ransom quickly decided, for them both, that living a nomad lifestyle as travel bloggers, with a child was not a part of his life plan and sent Claire back to Emerley.
He wasn’t willing to even discuss ways to make it work for all of them.
Since then, Claire has been on a one-woman mission to do as much with Ben by her side as humanly possible.
To prove to everyone, especially Ransom, that parents don’t have to stop doing the things they love, they can just adapt to include a child.
This kid could ride a skateboard and a snowboard by the time he was three.
“And how is your mommy this morning?” I pretend to whisper in his ear as I look over at Claire.
You would never know she danced the night away last night.
“Are you pretty good, mommy?” He looks towards my friend for confirmation with his arms looped around my neck.
“I’ll be better after I have a coffee and something to eat,” she answers her son.
“What do you think, Auntie Hannah? Would you like to join us?”
“Please, please, please say yes,” Ben pleads as he takes my face in his tiny hands and squishes my cheeks.
“I would absolutely love to have breakfast with you.”
I give him a fishy kiss while he giggles and buries his face in my neck. His sweet baby smell fills my lungs. I always thought I would have a family of my own by the time I hit my thirties, but those dreams died a long time ago. Being Ben’s honorary auntie fills that void in my heart.
Maggie takes our order. I include a breakfast sandwich, that I didn’t plan on, with my donut so I can be a good role model obviously.
Claire orders them each a fresh fruit cup and bagel with cream cheese.
Orange juice for Ben. A mochaccino for herself.
I wonder if I should save my donut for later or if I should offer to share it with my little friend.
We pick a table as far away from listening ears as possible. Claire pulls a colouring book and crayons out of her backpack for Ben to colour in between bites. That backpack is like Mary Poppins magic, bottomless carpet bag I swear.
Once he’s settled, she looks at me.
“Soooo, last night was fun.” She winks at me as she takes a drink of her coffee.
“Yeah, it definitely looked like you were having a good time.” I take a sip of my own and put it down out of Ben’s colouring range.
“Did you stay out late?”
“Not too late. Megan had us home just after midnight. Erin stayed in my spare room, so we left her to sleep in.”
Claire’s younger sister, Erin, is finishing nursing school. She comes home to help Claire as much as she can and encourages her to do things for herself. Single mom life is tough.
“But let’s talk about the PG version of your night.” She raises her eyebrows at me, as she takes a bite of her bagel.
“There’s not a lot to tell, PG or otherwise.” I shrug, eating my sandwich, wishing it was the donut that I really want.
“I beg to differ. I notice you are here without Danny this morning.”
“Mmmhmm. He went back to his parent’s place last night, I presume.”
“He didn’t want to have a sleep over Auntie Hannah?” Ben asks as he continues to colour.
“No, not last night. I was very tired.” I run my hand over his back, and he nods in acknowledgement.
“Will he be having any sleepovers anytime soon?” Claire smirks, sitting back holding her cup with both hands.
“No, we didn’t make any plans.”
“I see. Do you have plans to sleepover with anyone else I know?” She bites her bottom lip, trying and failing to suppress her grin.
I narrow my eyes at her. “No, I do not.”
She laughs.
“It’s only a matter of time.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask quirking my eyebrow.
“Hannah, you could cut the smexual tension between the two of you with a knife. Everyone could feel it. You couldn’t keep your eyes off each other.”
Smexual – I’ll add that to my Ben friendly word bank.
“And he was insanely jealous of Danny. Not gonna lie it was kind of hot.”
“I think you misunderstood what kind of tension it was. Besides, I thought you weren’t on team Logan.”
“I’m on team Hannah first, but I will confess he’s hard not to like.”
“Did you know that Logan is Uncle Riot’s very bestest friend in the entire world?” Ben asks, looking back and forth between his mom and me.
“Is that right? Who told you that?” I ask my tiny gossipy friend.
“Uncle Riot. He was talking to him on the phone and when he got off, I asked him who he was talking to, and he said it was Logan his bestest friend in the entire world. He moved into the yellow house with all the little men outside. Why is there soooo many little men, Mommy?” He looks up at Claire with round eyes.
“Those little men are called garden gnomes and when Logan was a little boy and lived in the yellow house, his mommy collected them.”
“Why?”
“It’s a mystery.”
“And they had babies and now there is so many?”
“Well, no,” Claire rubs her forehead, “they are just a large group of gnome friends.”
“That have sleepovers?” he asks with a tilt of his head.
“Sure.” Claire chuckles.
Ben takes a sip of juice and continues to colour contently with that answer. I swear nothing gets past this kid.
“He called me last night.” I figure I may as well tell her before Riot does.
She raises her eyebrows.
“Oh yeah? How did that go?”
“Okay, I guess. We didn’t talk long.” I look over at Ben, trying to figure out how to word this.
“He was feeling kind of tipsy from all the wobbly pops, so Riot sent him to bed.”
“Did you know that Uncle Riot sometimes gives me pop? But it doesn’t make me wobbly,” Ben says seriously as he continues to colour.
Claire just shakes her head at her silly boy and laughs before saying, “Oh yes, I know Logan was tipsy. He was line dancing level tipsy.”
“That’s what I heard, I can’t even imagine.” I shake my head.
“You don’t have to. Someone has already posted it on TikTok,” Claire says as she hands me her phone.