“Of course, Lexie didn’t whap you upside the head for that…” Ivy said to her sister.
“Perhaps that’s because this was involuntary, while you were showing off,” Holly said with an arch look at her twin.
I was standing right behind the sisters during this exchange, waiting to buy the fabric swatches that matched the bridesmaid’s gowns. My stomach tightened at their words. “Is everything alright?” I asked them.
Ivy smiled. “Absolutely.”
Her smile read false to me, and the coffee I’d had earlier wasn’t sitting well on my stomach. Perhaps I was under more stress with meeting all of them than I had realized. At any rate, I kept a smile on my face and shuffled the lot of them out the door.
***
I went to pick up Willow and headed to the kitchen door of the Drake mansion as instructed. I found her in the family kitchen with Julian, Nina Vasquez, her husband Diego and their daughter Isabel.
The nine-month-old sat in a high chair squealing happily and banging a plastic spoon on the tray, while Willow was helping Nina bake cookies. My original plan to go directly back to the cottage was sidetracked. Willow was blissfully happy working elbow-to elbow with Nina.
“Would you like a cup of tea?” Nina asked me as I shrugged out of my coat.
“God, yes,” I hung my coat over the back of a kitchen chair. Julian introduced me to Diego and Isabel, and I sat beside the baby.
“Better make that chamomile,” Julian said to Nina.
“Problems with the bridesmaids?” Nina asked as she pulled down a big tin of tea and rummaged through.
“Nothing more than the usual.” I said and smiled at the baby. “Hello, pretty girl.”
Isabel stopped her happy squeals and gazed at me solemnly.
“Isabel has a bit of a temper,” Diego warned me. “She doesn’t like strangers.”
“Is that right?” I smiled at her father. While the man was covered in tattoos and looked rough around the edges, his voice was quiet and calm.
“She gets that from her father,” Nina said tartly, placing a mug in front of me.
“I can make the tea myself,” I said, starting to rise. “Nina, you don’t have to wait on me.”
“I’m not.” Nina poured hot water from a bright red kettle. “I simply don’t like people poking around in my kitchen.”
“She has a system.” Diego smiled, and he went from tough and intimidating to bad-boy handsome in the blink of an eye. “Don’t mess with her spice rack—it will get ugly.”
Nina fired something off at her husband. It sounded Spanish but wasn’t…Maybe Portuguese, I guessed. While I couldn’t interpret her, the tone was crystal clear. Diego only laughed in response. I opened my tea bag, dunked it in the hot water, and told myself to relax.
Nina went back to helping Willow put the cookie dough on baking sheets, and Isabel decided at that moment to throw her spoon to the floor, arch her back in a tantrum, and let out an impressive howl.
Automatically I leaned over, unbuckled the high chair strap, and picked up the baby. “What’s the problem, sugar pie?”
Isabel stiffened her whole body and I ignored it. Holding Isabel under her arms, I stood her on my lap so we were eye to eye. Her face wrinkled up.
“You gonna have yourself a little hissy fit?” I asked her.
The baby seemed to reconsider and studied me carefully with dark brown eyes.
“No. I didn’t think so,” I said. Turning Isabel around so she faced outwards, I tucked her on my lap.
Isabel began to happily bang her hands on the table, and I eased my mug further away.
Diego stared. “How did you manage that?”
“I’m a mother,” I said, dropping a kiss on the top of the baby’s dark hair. “I know a thing or two about strong-willed babies.”
“She doesn’t like most people she meets,” Diego said.
“Especially my father,” Julian agreed. “They glare at each other most days.”
Willow climbed down off the step-stool she’d been standing on at the counter and walked over to the table. She bent over and got up in the baby’s face. “Hi, Isabel!” she said too loudly.
Isabel responded with a bounce and a happy squeal as she reached for Willow.
“She likes my mama, and she likes me,” Willow pointed out, taking the baby’s hand.
“Thank you for helping keep Willow entertained today,” I said to Nina. “If I can ever return the favor, please let me know.”
“Yes!” Willow bounced up and down. “I wanna watch Isabel!”
“Deal,” Nina said, slipping a batch of cookies from the oven. “I miss date nights.”
“Are you trying to take over my babysitting job?” Julian asked Willow.
“Oh, sorry. Don’t you have another job?” Willow asked him seriously.
In answer, Julian threw back his head and laughed.
By the time we arrived back at the cottage, it was suppertime. I started some water for elbow noodles for the mac and cheese Willow loved and slid a ham steak into the oven. After the meal I supervised Willow in the tub, and once I put Willow to bed I double-checked and organized all of the decorations, games and goodie bags for the Sugarplum Fairy party.
Satisfied everything was set, I made a quick run through the cottage, straightening as I went. I walked across the living room and whacked my shin on the coffee table. “Ouch!” I grabbed at my leg and saw that I’d hit the table because it had been moved. It now sat more central on the area rug as opposed to closer to the sofa. “How in the world did it end up in the middle of the room?” I asked myself.
As a matter of fact, the pillows on the sofa had been rearranged, and all the wholesaler catalogues I’d left neatly stacked on the end table appeared to have been gone through. I stopped myself from automatically straightening them and cast my gaze cautiously around the cottage. Which is how I
