Chapter 33 – Mabel
Chapter Thirty-Three
MABEL
Lunch prep is not going to take all morning and I don’t have cramps. I needed an excuse to get out of having to play cornhole against Anika. That girl is astonishingly good at that game.
When we were younger, we used to play all the time with our uncle while he tried to avoid work.
As we got a little older and Paul met Anika, he attempted to show off his skills.
She immediately wiped the floor with him and then the rest of the siblings.
She claimed she never played a day in her life and even if I suspected she was lying at the time.
I came to learn Anika never really did have the chance for games before she moved to Honeyville.
Luckily, I drove most of the supplies down and found that particular game set hidden away.
Mama thinks she’s sneaky or something, maybe she thought I wouldn’t have unloaded everything once I arrived.
Patrick’s frustrated groan reaches my ear and I can’t help the laugh that escapes me while I’m putting the bowl of chicken salad that I’ve just mixed all together.
It needs to rest, let all the flavors settle together for a few hours.
Which means I can go out and join Mama and Henry to watch Anika destroy the rest of our family in games.
If I’m also excited to watch Jude and all his muscles while they play games…
well, that’s neither here nor there. Lola is testing her swing, her back to me, as I walk around the corner and rejoin my family.
“Come on, scooch over.” I bump my hip against Henry, making him giggle so hard he topples over into Mama’s lap. She scoops him up into her arms to make room for me.
“Lunch will be ready whenever we are all.” I tell my mother between her trash talking to her children.
Patrick has his arms wrapped around Elle, his head resting on her shoulder and an over-exaggerated pout on his face.
Jude towers behind the couple, arms crossed with a scowl but what looks like a hint of a smile trying to poke out.
I have to remind myself that I can’t let my gaze linger on Jude for too long, only taking quick glances under the guise of offering advice to his team. Mostly, though, I tease.
Eventually, Jude’s team admits defeat. It comes with lots of whispered curses from Elle and a true smile from Anika. Lola and Paul do some complicated twin hand shake that I don’t even attempt to follow.
“Yay! Mommy and Daddy won!” Henry crawls off Mama’s lap and runs to his parents. His little arms trying to pull the much larger adults together in a bear hug might be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.
“Okay, losers, I require one of you to come and help me set out lunch while the other two clean up the cornhole boards.”
“And what do the winners get?” Paul yells out, he’s picked Henry up and is standing a little closer to Anika than he was a moment ago.
“Winners are Mama’s responsibility. Come one, who volunteers as my tribute?” Elle steps away from the trio of non-winners, leaving the men to clean up and lift the heavy boards. As she should.
Once she’s within reach, I swing my arm over her shoulders, “Can’t risk a splinter before the wedding, Bubs?” Elle allows me to keep contact with her until we round to the front of the house and out of the line of sight of the rest of our family.
Once we are vaguely alone, Elle shakes her shoulders to dislodge my arm. “Damn right. I don’t know if you knew this but I completely lied to Patrick about my muscle mass.” The sound that escapes me at my little sisters’ confession can only be described as a witch’s cackle.
We enter the cabin and make our way to the kitchen sink, making quick work of washing our hands. I head to the fridge to pull out the bowl of chicken salad, stacking a container of cut up veggies on the top of the bowl.
“Would you mind getting the rolls out?” I hadn’t really needed help getting lunch set up, I was hoping Mama would have volun-told Jude to come in and help.
“Patrick finally decided what he wants to do for his bachelor party. A game night with the guys,” Elle tells me while she arranges the rolls onto a platter.
“Oh yeah? Who are the guys?”
Elle’s scowl is deep at my question which makes my stomach twist with nerves. Whoever the boys are, I’m going to make sure they get to the game night come hell or high water.
“Jude, Bennett, some of the Farm workers…Paul.”
Oh shit.
“Oh shit.”
“Yeah, no shit. I don’t know what the hell Paul’s problem is but he’s going to need to get over it and make sure Patrick has a nice time.
” Elle’s voice is harsh. Patrick doesn’t have any family outside of the Farm, his parents passed away in a car accident when he was younger, and Elle is very protective of her man.
So protective that she crushed the roll that was in her hand.
“I can talk to him. Paul loves Patrick, I’m sure he can agree to get along for a night.
” I offer, knowing if anyone can talk Paul into a grin-and-bear-it situation for a night with someone he hates, it would be me.
Well, also Mama but she had to throw in the temptation of Anika being here this weekend.
Elle nods and mutters her thanks, turning her back on me to throw away the trashed roll.
I’ll do anything to help out my family, but this opportunity to speak with Paul about Jude is advantageous for me as well.
I should probably feel skeevy about using this situation in part for my own interests but I know that if what has happened between the two of us never happened, I will still bend over backwards to make sure Elle and Patrick have the best possible experience.
Elle is one of my favorite people in the whole world and Patrick is perfect for her in every way.
With resolve I wrap my arms around Elle in a quick hug, “I’ll do my best to talk to him this weekend, okay ?”