Chapter 11 #2
“I don’t have any answers, and thinking about what’s going to be coming once training starts makes me want to throw up, so let’s paint instead.”
“Yes, and let’s talk about who Keely’s dating,” Felicity blurted.
“Excuse me? My dating life sucks. I knew moving to a small town would shorten the dating pool or make it shallower, or however that goes, but seriously, there’s nobody here.”
“Excuse me, I do believe that there are a few single men,” Gwen began as we all sat down and started painting.
It wasn’t a true paint and sip where somebody was teaching us what to do.
We were going for broke with a video tutorial, but this way we could still hang out and pretend we knew what we were doing.
“Do you know single men that I don’t?” Teagan asked dryly.
“Well, there’s Rune, but we all realize that’s not an answer for you.”
“Not at all.”
I grinned at Teagan’s vehement answer.
“There’s Finnian. If you don’t mind that he’s a single father. Though it seems that Ashford Creek has an abundance of single fathers.”
“We should make that the town’s slogan,” Teagan snarked.
“Although I’m afraid of who will show up to town.”
“Finnian is great, and I love those girls. But no. Not a single spark. Not that we tried anything. But he’s here enough with the girls because of Promise. And since I own a business with Promise, that would be a little too complicated. No spark, not worth it.”
“What about Kellan?” I asked, enjoying this game because it had nothing to do with me.
“Kellan is nice,” Keely said with a wince.
“Oh, that sounds like a lovely endorsement,” Teagan shook her head.
“He is nice. I don’t know him that well. And the age thing doesn’t really bother me. We’re not that far apart in age.”
“There’s nothing wrong with a slight age gap,” Felicity said primly.
I met Gwen’s gaze, and we both did our best not to laugh. Considering there was a decent age gap between Felicity and the love of her life, yes, it had to be a special couple in order to make it work. Those two did, but not everybody could.
“What about Sterling?” Teagan asked, speaking of Teagan’s other brother.
“I’m not going to be dating an Ashford.” Keely sighed. “I love you, Teagan, but dating one of your brothers sounds scary. I mean, Callum, Bodhi, Finnian, and Sterling are amazing men. But not for me. Although they are hot.”
“Damn straight,” Felicity said, speaking of her man.
“I don’t want to think about brothers being hot.
And frankly, I wouldn’t want any of my friends dating my brothers.
Even if that’s kind of difficult when you live in a small town.
” Teagan shrugged and did her best to add a little bit of color to whatever she was painting.
I was working on flowers and not doing the best job. This wasn’t my forte.
“Well, who’s left?” Felicity asked. “There’s Matthew, and Dustin, and Franklin, and I think a few guys that work at the brewery.”
“Dustin and I went on a date. It did not go well. Not terribly, but I was bored out of my mind.”
I pressed my lips together, trying not to laugh at the expression on Keely’s face. I sort of wanted to know the story, but then again, if Keely looked ready to throw up and laugh at the same time, maybe I didn’t.
“When does Gray come back to town?” Gwen asked, and I frowned.
“Gray rarely comes back to town,” I whispered.
Like Atlas, Gray was also an NHL player.
He was a left-winger and younger than all of us.
He was closer in age to Keely and Felicity.
So he hadn’t grown up in mine and Atlas’s circle, and the fact that not one but two people had made it to the NHL from our small town, let alone Callum, who had made it to the NFL, was a feat in its own.
But Gray did not visit. And nobody exactly knew why.
“He was here last week for something. I only saw him speaking to Thatcher, and then he left. I don’t know what about, though,” Teagan said mysteriously, and I frowned.
“Thatcher. What about Thatcher?” I asked, and Keely blushed.
Interesting.
Keely finally shook her head. “Thatcher’s a friend. That’s it. I really like his kids, and honestly, I think he might have a crush on Tess.”
“The nanny?” I asked. “I don’t know Tess that well because I don’t think she has much time to hang out, but really? Wouldn’t that be interesting?”
“It sounds like one of my favorite books,” Felicity sighed.
“I tried to get Tess to come out tonight, but she wanted to stay in with her little girl.”
“Understandable.” Gwen smiled. “After spending so many hours with Thatcher and Kellan’s kids, I would want to maybe spend a couple of hours with my baby girl, underneath a warm blanket, watching movies.
Tess is a sweet girl, and I don’t know, maybe she and Thatcher could be cute.
Or maybe a lovely stranger will come into town and change the game. Just like Kiera did with Bodhi.”
My mind whirled trying to remember everybody’s name in the small town, and I sank back as the topics moved to small town gossip, new recipes, the upcoming school year, and of course, the latest TV show about two soccer players who were in love.
“Seeing a sapphic book become a TV show has been the highlight of my life,” Keely said as she clapped her hands. “You really need to catch up, Elizabeth.”
“I know. I know.” The premiere happened right around when I was living in a fog, which, honestly, I still feel like I was some days, and then Will and Atlas have taken up so much of my time. Not to mention the fact that I’m already prepping for the school year. Summer has just flown by.
And so had the time with Atlas, but I didn’t want to think about that yet.
As the evening dwindled down, and we all were a little buzzed on sparkling wine, but not drunk, I set my painting to the side to dry overnight and cleaned up my space. When the hair on the back of my neck stood on end, I turned and knew exactly who was there.
“Hi,” I whispered. Both Keely and Teagan gave each other looks, but it was Gwen who moved forward.
“I see you’re finally coming out to town.”
“Hey, Mom. I just saw you this morning when you brought over breakfast for Will. Not me, for that matter, Will.”
“He’s still a teenager and a growing boy.”
“I’m a professional athlete. I could use carbs.”
“Whatever you say.”
“Now, what did the boy do?” Jackson Carter asked as he came forward and wrapped his arms around his wife. He dipped her, pressing his lips to hers, and every single woman in the room let out a happy sigh.
Atlas groaned and pulled me to his side. “Look at my parents, one-upping us.”
“I think I had one more glass of champagne than your mother, and if you try to dip me or spin me, I will fall asleep or fall.”
Atlas met my gaze and then pushed my hair back from my face. “Well, we couldn’t have that, could we?”
Someone cleared their throat from behind me, and Felicity moved forward.
“Hello, Dad. Hello, brother of mine. I’m in the room too.”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you want, pipsqueak.” He pulled Felicity to him, with me still at his side, and I laughed, feeling at home for the first time in far too long.
“Okay, I have my girls here. I guess I should take you home.”
“Is Callum not coming?” Felicity asked, her lip out in a pout.
“I’m dropping you off at the brewery because there was a bit of an emergency. Everyone’s fine. But Callum couldn’t come. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of my baby sister.”
“But he’s okay?” Felicity asked.
Considering everything that had happened recently, I understood the fear.
“There was a leak, and they got behind.”
“Damn it. I should probably go help,” Teagan put in.
“They’ve got it, Teagan. It’s really okay.”
“Why didn’t he text me?” Teagan asked, and I understood her confusion.
She was so used to taking care of everybody in her family, and when they didn’t reach out, that had to be stressful.
But I was glad that maybe, just maybe, the Ashfords were learning to do things without relying so much on the eldest daughter.
“Come here, dear Teagan, I’m driving you home too,” Mr. Carter said. He looked over at me and winked.
“If my boy would let you go for a moment, I’d hug you hello, but I guess I will just have to wait until tomorrow.”