“We’ll find out soon enough,” Petunia sighed. “Enough about me. Can I see your new pieces? You know I get first dibs on the ones I like.”
Olive laughed. She’d supported her friend every step of the way in her career—from helping her make her jewelry and bath and body products to accompanying her to craft shows and markets.
“Sure, please step into my workspace,” she said, leading her to the spare room she’d turned into her creative bat cave. She let the thoughts of her ruse fall to the background as she focused on Olive and her work.
***
“Are you ready for this?” Mason asked as they lingered in the car. Once they let the cat out of the bag, there’d be no going back.
“I’m unsure.”
“You getting cold feet on me, little flower?” he asked, grabbing her hand and bringing it to his lips. He brushed her knuckles with a feather-light caress of his Cupid’s bow lips.
“Maybe?”
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head, unable to put her emotions into words. “Everything?”
“What can I do to help?”
She once again shook her head, and focused on the tiny pink flower print of her black cotton shorts.
“Don’t shut down on me. I can’t help you when you do that.”
“I don’t have words of reason right now, Mas. I’m freaking out. I don’t know how they’ll react or what this will do to our families once it all plays out.”
“And there’s no way to know. Worrying about it now is borrowing trouble we haven’t received. We have to take it one step at a time, okay?”
She nodded her head. “Let’s go before I chicken out.”
“Well, you’re going to have to pretend to like me a little bit. You go in there looking like I’m holding you hostage, and they’re going to know something is wrong.”
“You got a flask hidden in here somewhere?” she joked weakly.
“Naw, I got something better than that.”
She blinked as his face blurred when he moved in and captured her lips.
“Mmmm.” She opened her mouth to protest, and he slipped his tongue inside, wiping away every thought like an eraser on a chalkboard. He circled her tongue, and she responded in like. Blood rushed in her ears, heat spread through her body, and her lower belly tightened. They tilted their heads, deepening the lip lock. She’d heard of bells ringing, but not … a horn? They pulled apart breathlessly to find the car surrounded by the shocked faces of their family.
“Oh. My. God.” Embarrassed, she buried her face in his neck.
“I think the secret is it out.”
A roar of approval went up, and she prayed to be swallowed into a sinkhole. When it became clear that wouldn’t happen, she pulled away, and they climbed out of the car.
“When did this happen?”
“How long has this been going on?”
“How the hell did you land Petunia?”
Questions whizzed by them like curveballs.
“That’s why we had you all here. It’s not how we wanted to tell you, though,” Mason said.
They chuckled.