“Your dad isn’t going to be happy when you’re too wired to sleep,” Livie said, shaking her head.
“Come on. It’s girls’ night.” Melanie rested her hand on her belly. “Besides, we never know when we’ll have another one. I feel like I’m about to pop.”
“You’ll bring the baby when we do our next one,” Jade insisted. “We have to break in the next generation.”
Melanie laughed. “What if I have a boy?”
Jade shrugged. “He can hang with us for a while, or Tanner can take him for guys’ night. Though I can’t guarantee his first word won’t be ‘hell’ or ‘damn.’”
Piper’s eyes widened. “You can’t say bad words around me.”
“Sorry.” Jade reached for her wineglass. “Don’t repeat them.”
Livie rolled her eyes. “Believe me, she’s heard worse when she’s helping the guys at the airport.”
“Yeah, and Daddy has a bad-word jar now and Livie makes him put money in it when he says bad words,” Piper said with a wide smile. “Daddy says I get the money.”
“I think my plan has backfired,” Livie muttered. “Now she wants him to get in trouble.”
Jade laughed as she finished off her Pinot and headed to the fridge for a bottle of Moscato. They’d polished fingers and toes and the ladies had let Piper choose their shades. Jade cringed as she reached for the chilled bottle and spotted her bright purple nails. But she could live with it for a few days . . . she hoped. It was still better than a hideous orange dress or that showgirl-style makeup.
Melanie sported a bright, shiny red that was the complete opposite of her personality. Livie may have gotten the worst of the bunch with her school-bus yellow, but Livie didn’t seem to mind too much. Livie had seriously mellowed out since coming back to Haven and stepping into the role of stepmom. Piper was impossible not to love, and if yellow nails made her happy, so be it. Though Jade was glad she didn’t get the yellow.
Jade poured herself another glass and couldn’t help but smile at the scene in her kitchen. Granted, although this house was still technically in Livie’s name, Jade called it home.
The old, two-story white cottage was a far cry from what she’d been used to in Atlanta. Her condo had all the amenities and she took advantage of the gym, the sauna, the laundry service, the coffee bar. While she missed that part of her life, she didn’t miss the rest.
Haven was where she was supposed to be. The résumés she’d sent out a few months ago had been a vain attempt at trying to reclaim the professional businesswoman she’d created. But being in this town, with these people: that was more important than anything else. She’d never thought she’d ever get to this point, but the temporary trip back just rolled from one day to the next. Now it was a year later, and Jade was in no hurry to be anywhere else.
She couldn’t imagine not being here with her friends as they raised their children. Who knows? Maybe one day Jade would have a family of her own with a man who loved her.
When Cash’s face popped into her mind, Jade jerked at the unexpected image. Her hand tapped her wineglass at just the wrong angle and her Moscato went all over the island.
“Oh. Sorry, guys.”
Melanie grabbed a towel from the counter and sopped up the wine before it could hit the food dishes. The wine surrounded Piper’s bottle of water and Livie’s stemless wineglass.
Jade grabbed a roll of paper towels and ripped off several. “I don’t know what came over me,” she mumbled as she picked up snack plates and utensils and swiped the soaked counter. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
Livie put her hand over Jade’s wrist. “Is everything all right?”
Jade impressed herself by keeping her maniacal laughter inside. “I’m fine.” If she didn’t count the man who lit her up and forgot to extinguish the flame. “Just daydreaming.”
“Anyone we know?” Melanie asked with a knowing smile and an irritating gleam in her eye.
“Believe me, you guys would know if I was seeing someone.”
And she wasn’t. She and Cash were nothing more than a one-night stand. The faux wedding date didn’t count either.
“My friend Josh needs a mom,” Piper chimed in. “His dad doesn’t have a girlfriend. You want him to call you?”
Jade wasn’t sure if this was a new low, having a five-year-old play matchmaker for her, or if the gesture was so utterly innocent and sweet. Either way . . . no.
“I’m not really looking for a boyfriend right now.” Piper’s face fell, so Jade hurried on. “But when I am, I’ll let you know, and we’ll see if you can help me out.”
Piper nodded. “Deal. I just want Josh to get a good mom like I got, and I know you’d be awesome.”
Tears threatened to prick Jade’s eyes, but she blinked that nonsense away. Damn it. Stupid wine was getting to her, that’s all. The idea of her becoming a mom wasn’t something she’d entirely dismissed. Oh, sure, her own mother was ridiculous, but that didn’t mean Jade would be.