I kissed the soft top of Marie’s head, inhaling that yummy baby scent.
“Coffee?”
“Can’t. Still nursing.” I smiled at Mac knowingly. “I’m sure you’ll find out about all this stuff yourself, sooner rather than later.”
He stared at me for a heartbeat. I wondered if I had freaked him out. Then he smiled so wide it lit up the room.
“Yeah,” he said, nodding to himself. “Soon.”
I stared at him in awe. I had never, not even once, seen Mac smile like that. He looked blissed out. He was a different person.
The reason for that change came down the stairs a minute later.
“Suzanna! I wanted you to meet my daughter. Well, daughters, though Marie is sleeping.”
Jayce popped out her little hand.
“I’m Jayce. It’s nice to meet you.”
I watched as Suzanna looked at my child, blinked, and fell in love. Just like everybody did. I smiled warmly at my new friend.
“It’s nice to meet you too. I’m Suzanna. Is it true you live right here on the lake?”
“Yes! The air is so clean here. I haven’t had any episodes since we came!”
“Episodes?”
“Cystic fibrosis,” Jayce answered without skipping a beat. My girl was so brave. She didn’t let her illness bring her down emotionally, and we did everything we could to keep her in good shape physically. Things had been great since we moved to the lake. And since Lucky came into our lives and changed everything. “You guys should move here too!”
Mac looked startled and then thoughtful. Suzanna didn’t notice. But I did. I hid my smile. These two were giving me all the feels.
I had a crazy feeling Mac was going to make everything all right for her, just like Lucky had for us.
It would be nice to have more of the club out here. Another cool, smart lady would make our self-imposed solitude much more bearable. And I wanted to learn about growing pesticide-free food from her. I would work my magic to get my new friend closer, I decided selfishly.
I told myself that just because my motivation was self-serving, it didn’t mean it wasn’t the best thing for Suzanna and Mac too!
Jayce perched at the kitchen table and ate a muffin while I watched Mac and Suzanna dance around each other. They kept giving each other longing looks when they thought the other wasn’t looking. It was so cute. They were perfect together, I decided. Suzanna was sweet and skittish. Mac was strong, silent, and steady. I giggled, realizing I had used all ’S’ words.
I blamed my mommy brain. Something about having a newborn made you hyper-focused on multiple things at once. I noticed the funniest things since Marie was born, and I remembered something similar happening when I first had Jayce.
Of course, that was a long, long time ago.
There was a single sharp knock before Lucky strode in, his broad frame filling the doorway. My man always knew how to make an entrance.
“I brought sausage. In case you need more than fluffy baked goods.”
Suzanna hid her smile.
“Fluffy?”
We all cracked up. Even Lucky. I loved a man who could laugh at himself.
And my man laughed at everything these days.
He was happy.
Jayce was happy.
I was happy.
We were all happy.
Even the baby seemed exceptionally happy. She rarely cried. She was pretty much a literal bundle of joy.
Lucky and Mac fought over who got to cook the eggs and sausage in the kitchen. Suzanna gave up and got out of the way, sitting at the table with us girls and drinking coffee.
Fresh coffee magically appeared just as she got to the bottom of her cup.
I smiled knowingly. Mac was one hundred percent in love with her. And after what she had said the night before, I knew she was falling for him too. It was a good thing because none of us wanted to see Mac get hurt.
We were definitely welcoming another girl to the sisterhood.
We chatted about life, family, and the lack thereof. Most of us were castaways when we found the club. Or in my case, the club found me.
I smiled, remembering how drunk Lucky had lain in the middle of the road, bought groceries, and practically stalked me until I gave him a chance.
Everything that came after, well, I was doing better with that too.
Jayce was prattling on about what she was learning and throwing in some choice facts about her life expectancy every once in a while. To her credit, Suzanna took it all in stride. It made me like her even more.
The men brought the food to the table and it was time to eat. We all pigged out, laughing and talking and eating for almost an hour. I was holding my belly by the time we all stood up to clear the table.
Mac and Suzanna got busy in the kitchen with the dishes, giving each other sizzling hot looks when they thought no one would notice. I realized belatedly why Mac had looked so sleepy when we came over. Not everyone got up at dawn to feed an infant, after all.