circumstances.
She shifted in her seat, crossing her legs. The conversation made her uncomfortable since it didn’t seem right to gossip about a man she’d kissed. Not with his sister, anyway. Yet, she wanted to find out as much as she could about him, so she ignored her unease and attempted to hide her interest by casually observing, “I’m not home a lot myself these days, but I don’t see much sign of him next door.”
“He’s spending most of his time at Aspenglow trying to get the majority of the outdoor work finished before winter. We have a new contractor starting work next week, though, so I expect Lucca will have more free time. Whether that will be a good thing or a bad thing, I’m not sure. He might revert to doing his Oscar the Grouch imitation if he doesn’t have plenty to keep him busy.” She sighed heavily and added, “But then, I’m not sure of much of anything these days—other than the fact that my mother is driving me crazy.”
“I worked with my mother for years,” Sarah said. “It certainly has its challenges.”
Gabi sighed. “Mom and I have always been good friends, and I thought this would be a good thing for us both. When I first broached the idea, she was all for it. Even now she’s all for me helping, but … she’s gone bonkers, and I can’t stand it.”
“Bonkers?” Hope asked. She’d visited with Maggie just yesterday, and she’d seemed perfectly normal.
“The electrician was scheduled to work today. When he showed up at eight a.m. ready to go to work, she told him to go home. She said she’d pay him for the day, but that she wanted a pajama day all by herself. She told Lucca to stay away, too.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Sarah asked. “Pajama days are heaven.”
“Yeah, but they’re not Mom. It’s just very weird and I—”
The women paused when Michael let out a happy gurgle. Sarah lowered the baby onto her lap and made faces at him. Gabi finished her sentence by changing the subject. “He is such a doll, Sarah.”
“I am head over heels in love.”
“As well you should be,” Hope said, trying to suppress the envy. “Enjoy every minute of it.”
“I do. It’s amazing, so different from last time, thank goodness. Looking back, I don’t know how I ever raised Lori without Cam there to help.”
“If Michael’s through nursing, can I hold him?” Gabi asked. In a sly, purposeful tone she added, “I need auntie practice.”
Sarah’s gaze zeroed in on her, her eyes bright with delight. “And why is that?”
Gabi grinned and stared at her manicured fingertips. “I’m not saying a word.”
She didn’t have to say a word, Hope thought. Her expression said it for her. Handing her son over to Gabi, Sarah demanded, “Savannah’s pregnant? Oh, Maggie is going to be over the moon. Every single time she sees Michael she goes into rapture at the idea of being a grandmother.”
“No, Savannah’s not pregnant. Not yet.” Gabi made faces at Michael. “She told me they’re about ready to start trying, though.”
“I’m sure Zach’s ready to work hard at the effort,” Sarah said with a grin. “Cam certainly was dedicated.”
“This onesie is too cute, Sarah.” Gabi tickled the terry-cloth monkey stretched over the baby’s tummy. “You know, maybe I should take Nic’s idea about opening a children’s shop in Eternity Springs more seriously.”
“Do you think you’d like to be a shopkeeper?” Sarah asked.
“More than I’d like working for my mother at her B&B,” Gabi replied. “I think that’s part of the problem. Aspenglow is her idea, her dream. I think I’d like to have my own.”
“You should work retail around here first and see if you like it. I’m sure Savannah would love the help at Heavenscents.”
“See, that’s the thing. Heavenscents is her baby, just like the B&B is Mom’s. Fresh was your dream, Sarah. Vistas is Sage’s. Ali has the Yellow Kitchen. How will I know if anything is really right until I dive in and do it? How did you decide that you wanted to be a kindergarten teacher, Hope?”
She took a moment to formulate her response. “I worked in advertising out of college, but after my divorce, I was drifting. I needed a career change and the idea of working with children pulled at me. I was able to get my teaching certification without much trouble, and as for kindergarten, well, I love the little guys.”
“So you knew what you wanted,” Gabi said. “That’s my problem. I’m still looking.”
“Keep looking,” Hope replied, her tone insisting. “We have to keep looking and never give up believing that someday, we will find … what we seek. Keep looking, Gabi. Don’t settle. Don’t accept. Believe.”
“Wow,” Sarah said. “I’m hearing a lot of passion.”
“You must really love being a kindergarten teacher,” Gabi added.
“I love children. I really, really love kids. And you’ve had Michael long enough. Hand him over, Gabi. It’s my turn. I get to hold him.”
SEVEN
Lucca walked into the Eternity Springs Community School on Saturday night with his mother and sister under protest.
The guy who ran the local grocery store handed him a piece of paper listing volunteer assignments. Lucca read it over and frowned. “Why does Zach get to work the fishing booth and I have to work the art pavilion?”
“Because—” Maggie broke off as she abruptly stopped and slapped her palm against her forehead. “The cake. I forgot the cake. Lucca, would you go out to the car and get it? It needs to go to the kindergarten classroom. That’s down this hall”—she pointed toward the right—“third door on the left.”
The kindergarten classroom. Lucca’s mind immediately went to the kindergarten teacher. He’d been right the morning after the meteor shower when he’d said they wouldn’t see much of each other. Except for the instance when he’d run into her in the grocery store one evening and they’d exchanged small talk for a few moments, in the past month he’d seen her only in passing. He told himself that was a good thing. He almost believed it.
His mother continued, “I can’t believe I forgot it after all the trouble I went to in order to make it. Your grandmother’s cake is too much work to make in an ill-equipped kitchen. It’ll be so nice when Richard gets my new kitchen finished.”
Richard was the new contractor working at Aspenglow; Lucca’s grandmother’s cake was the best cake in the history of the world, Italian creme. The mention of it stopped Lucca dead in his tracks. “You made Nana’s cake?”
“Yes. For the cakewalk.”
That didn’t compute. No way. “You made Nana’s cake and you’re giving it away?”
“Well, yes. Sarah Murphy can’t do all the work.”
Maggie turned at the sound of her name, then crossed the hallway to visit with a couple Lucca didn’t know. He looked at his sister. “She made Nana’s cake.”
Gabi grinned widely. “Yep. And I’m going to win it.”
At the sight of his sister’s smile, something familiar stirred inside of Lucca. Competitiveness. He answered her grin with a sly smile of his own. “Don’t bet on it.”
He left the building and retrieved the cake. For a brief moment, he considered absconding with it—mainly to mess with Gabi—but his sense of fair play wouldn’t let him do it. Besides, his mother would kill him. On the way into the building, he saw Zach and his wife, Savannah, approaching, so he waited for them to catch up. “Hey, beautiful,” he said to Savannah. “Why don’t you ditch the lawman and run away with the better-looking brother?”
She lifted her brows innocently. “Oh, is Max in town?”
