As soon as Hudson mentioned Bishop, he had my attention.
“Hudson’s writing a new book, and the protagonist owns a Christmas tree farm,” Greer explained.
“Oh,” I said with a lighthearted laugh. “You’re going to the right guy for that information.”
Hudson nodded. “You ladies enjoy your evening. Don’t have too much fun.” He kissed Greer on the lips, told her he loved her, and then headed out.
“Come on, let me show you to your room,” Greer said.
“I have my own room?” I asked with a chuckle.
“The party is for you! The guest of honor should have her own room. Plus, we have so many damn bedrooms!” We headed toward the steps. “There are two sets of stairs. The other is off the kitchen.”
“I love old houses,” I mused as we made our way up the solid wood staircase.
“The second floor has five rooms. Two of the bedrooms have a connecting bath. Then there’s one with a half and another with a full. I thought I’d put you in the full, so you can have your own bathroom. I’ll put Candace in the room with the attached half bath, then Willa and Brighton can have the two that are connected. That leaves the last room for Arabella.”
“Goodness, you could really fill up this house with kids if you wanted to!”
A sweet blush moved over Greer’s cheeks. “I do want to have kids, but not enough to fill this whole house. Two, maybe three.”
We both laughed as she opened the door to the bedroom I’d be using.
I glanced around. “Greer, this is beautiful.” A large, king-size bed sat before me with a beautiful cream and light blue comforter on it. Plush pillows adorned the top of the bed and sat against a large, dark wood headboard, most likely walnut. Cream-colored wallpaper were on the upper portion of the walls, while a white board and batten covered the lower. A round rug sat in the middle of the room and held the same white, cream, and blue colors that Greer had decorated the room with. Soft white linen drapes hung down from the large windows, adding the airy feel of the room. A large fireplace sat opposite the bed, and I couldn’t help but dream of sitting next to it, snuggled up with a book.
“It needs updating. I hate the wallpaper in all the bedrooms, but we’ll get to it. The bed is very comfortable and brand new, and if you want a fire in here, you know how to build one. Hudson made sure to bring up enough firewood just in case.”
“I doubt I’ll want to build one, but thank you.”
A car horn sounded outside, and we both walked over to the window. “Looks like Brighton and Willa are here,” Greer said.
I glanced at her. “Did you talk to Willa?”
Facing me, she said, “I went a step further and called Arabella first, to see how she felt about Brighton being here. She was fine with it, like I said. Then I called Brighton and told her Arabella would be here. I got the feeling Brighton might want to talk to her.”
“They probably should,” I said, watching both women get out of Brighton’s BMW. Brighton had to pull Willa’s arms to help her out of the car. Then she motioned for Willa to go up the steps, while she went to the trunk and took out two bags, then two smaller bags, and, finally, something I couldn’t see.
“Jesus tap dancing Christ. What in the hell did Brighton bring? Is that…a giant speaker?” Greer asked.
I laughed and leaned toward the window to see if I could get a better look. “I think we need to go help her.”
Greer sighed and started to make her way back down the steps. By the time we got to the front door, Willa had made her way to the porch. Greer opened the door and hugged her, then leaned down and kissed her very pregnant belly.
Willa smiled brilliantly when she saw me. “Oh my gosh, Abby! You’re home!”
I opened my arms and hugged her—well, hugged her the best I could with her baby belly in the way. Taking a step back, I glanced at her stomach. “May I?”
She held her arms open. “Have at it. She loves the attention.”
“It’s a girl?” I asked as I placed my hands on Willa’s hard stomach.
She shrugged. “Don’t know. Aiden and I want it to be a surprise, so we haven’t found out. I think it’s a girl though.”
Suddenly, my hand jumped, and I let out a little yelp. “She kicked!”
Laughing, Willa said, “I told you! Only a woman would love that much attention. Plus, I had terrible morning sickness the first four months. I didn’t have that with Ben.”
I placed my hand on her stomach again, only to be rewarded with another swift kick.