First Came Baby. Kris Fletcher
“Sometimes you have to. But this room has only two layers, and it’s been coming off pretty easy so far.”
“Plus it’s great exercise. Especially if you have to, oh—” Allie batted her eyes rapidly. “—work off some frustration.”
Kate leveled the scraper in Allie’s direction. “Don’t you give me the innocent puppy-dog look. You’re not getting a rise out of me.”
“Ah, but the question is, are you getting one out of Boone?”
Kate sagged against the wall, her energy spent. “Al...”
Thank goodness, the message seemed to sink in. “Sorry. None of my business. I’ll shut up now.”
“You don’t have to shut up. Just—”
“Don’t harass you about your love life. Got it. Cash wants me to move in with him.”
Whoa.
“He wants what?” Kate shook her head, trying to clear the onslaught of questions. “Um, did he forget that you guys have only been together together for a couple of months?”
“No. He knows, and not just because it’s the first thing I said when he came out with this.” Allie’s ponytail swung out behind her as she whirled Jamie in slow circles. “But my lease is up at the end of May, and my landlady is pushing me to sign up for another two years. She said if I do it, she won’t raise the rent at all and she’ll let me get a cat, even though I’m not supposed to have pets, because she hates hunting for new tenants and she wants me to stay, basically forever.”
“Oh, that’s not fair. I mean, it is, but—”
“I know.” Allie giggled along with Jamie as they dipped and turned. “I love living there. It’s a great apartment, walking distance to work, with parking, which doesn’t matter most of the time but hello, when tourist season rolls around I start singing glory hallelujah. Also, all the stained glass? And the funky stairs? It’s like I’m back at Mom’s place, but without the upkeep.”
“Or Mom.”
“You nailed it. But...”
“But Cash?”
“But Cash.” She sighed and shifted Jamie to her shoulder. “I love him, Katie, okay? No second thoughts about that. I can’t believe how wonderful life is with him. And when I think about how close I came to missing out on this, I get the shakes. I want to be with him. In so many ways it would make sense to jump in right now and say, sure, why wait when we both know this is where we’re headed? But on the other hand...”
Kate was pretty sure she knew exactly what was bothering Allie, but the words needed to come straight from the source. So she shoved her scraper under a particularly stubborn piece of wallpaper and forced herself to wait.
“It’s a big step. A major step. And the past few months have been such a whirlwind that I don’t... I need time to catch my breath. Luke and I... That all happened so fast. In less than a year I’ve gone from having two guys as best friends to having one tell me he loved me, to getting engaged, to planning the wedding, to having the Mounties crash the wedding—”
“Because they always have to get their man.”
A hint of a smile. “Right. And then, boom. Now I’m with my other best friend. Very happily so, I remind you, without any of the doubts I kept telling myself were just wedding jitters. But I... No one else knows this, okay? And you can’t tell anyone because it sounds so stupid and ridiculous, but the thing is, I figured out I loved Cash that night.”
“Which night?” Kate pushed the scraper and hit a ridge. “Not the night of your wedding?”
“The night of my nonwedding. Yes.” Allie grimaced. “It makes me sound like such a flake.”
“Yeah, not gonna lie, I can see why you want to keep that one close to your chest.”
“I know, right? It’s bad enough that people have already figured out I’m with Cash now. You wouldn’t believe some of the comments I get at work. And I know that will all fade. And it’s not like I really care about what people say, because it’s nobody else’s business. On the other hand, I think I’m entitled to some adjustment time.”
“You just don’t know if you want two years’ worth.”
“Exactly.”
Out of nowhere, a totally unexpected sense of jealousy surged through Kate. What must it be like to be so wanted, so loved, that a man would be ready to turn his entire life around after just a few short months?
Stop it, Kate. Allie needs you. You’re fine.
“Could you sublet?”
“It’s not allowed now. And yeah, if I needed to I could probably buy my way out of the lease, or whatever, but I’m still paying off the wedding that didn’t happen.”
And probably trying to save for one that would take place, Kate suspected. But there was no way she was going to say that at this point.
“What about selling the lot that Nana left you?”
Allie was shaking her head almost before the question was finished. “That would be the very last resort. I have plans for that space.”
“Oh?” Kate pictured the wooded chunk of riverfront. “I don’t suppose those plans include a house and a mini Cash or two.”
“Log cabin. Complete with a front porch and matching rocking chairs. So cute it’ll make you hurl.”
The churning in Kate’s stomach had nothing to do with anticipated cuteness.
“Well,” she said briskly as she attacked the wall with her scraper. “How long do you have before you need to... Whoa, what’s this?”
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