“Mom, Mom, can I go too? Can I?” He danced around her feet pulling on her shirt to get her attention. She’d not seen him so excited for ages. “I promise I’ll behave. I will. I will. I’ll do everything he tells me to, promise.”
“Yes, honey. That was what Ethan suggested. I’d take you myself but I have a meeting with a prospective client later today so I’m going to be in the office. I’m sure the boys can look after you but you have to promise to behave yourself. Best manners, okay?”
He rolled his eyes. “Mom.”
“I mean it. I don’t want Ethan thinking I’ve raised a wild child who can’t do as he’s told. If you don’t behave, I’ll hear about it from someone and it’ll ruin your chances of ever going again.”
“I promise. I’m not a little kid anymore, you know.” He dropped his plate in the sink.
“Thank you. Now please go and tidy your room and make the bed before Pearl gets here.” She looked at her watch and picked up her pace. The apartment had to be spotless before Pearl arrived.
Both Ethan and Mari had been right. Pearl cried as soon as she saw Noah. Luckily Mari’s boy had a good heart and gave her a big hug and spoke softly to her, not the slightest bit fazed at her tears.
“You look so much like your dad when he was little.” Pearl stroked the hair from his forehead and pulled him in for another hug, stifling any question he might have had at that comment. “Such a gorgeous-looking boy you are too.” Noah giggled and let her wrap him in cuddles. He’d gotten plenty from his aunts of late but the only grandmother he knew was Mari’s stepmother and they were away on a cruise of a lifetime. It looked as though her boy missed his grandma too.
“Come in and sit down, Pearl. I’ll make us coffee and we can sit out on the veranda and watch the people of Cherry Lake go by as we chat.”
“Aunt Bella made you a cake.” Noah grabbed her hand and pulled her inside the apartment, over to the table and pointed at the cake sitting under a glass cover.
“Oh my. That looks fabulous.”
He spoke matter-of-factly. “She’s famous and lives here now. Jake’s going to marry her.” Noah gazed at the chocolate layer cake, a wistful sigh escaping his lips.
“Lucky Jake then. I think I know who your aunt Bella is. From what Ethan tells me, she’s the lady who won Masterchef a couple of years ago and made a good name for herself.”
Mari poured two mugs of coffee. “That’s her. Now she lives here and is going to be making wedding cakes for my business as well as producing her cookbooks. That’s if I ever get any clients.” She brought over cake plates and forks. “I have someone Skyping me later this afternoon about a date later this year. I really hope I can pull it off.”
“Honey, if I’m any judge, you’ll do fine. I heard all about your wedding business in LA. I even looked you up once I knew what you were doing.” She waved a hand in front of her face to ward of the tears starting again. “I’m so proud of you, of what you’ve managed to achieve. Don’t you dare doubt yourself now.”
Easier said than done even taking into account her success in the city. It was a whole new ball game setting up shop in Cherry Lake and trying to make the whole package work. But Rake had confidence in her or she wouldn’t be here now. She was going to give it her best shot. “I’m trying not to but it will be my first wedding since moving here and I’m nervous.”
“You have every right to be but you should just remember how well you’ve already done and not let the nerves get the better of you. Listening to Ethan talk about the plans you have for the ballroom makes me wish I could do it all again, not that Jeff would agree. It sounds fabulous.”
“Hopefully it will be. I know Christian and I tossed designs back and forth for months until we were both happy with what the architect put together. As soon as Rake showed me the hotel, it felt like the right place to be. The perfect place to bring up Noah.” She cut the cake and put a piece on each plate. A flash of pain passed over Pearl’s face. Mari could not mention his name, but it wasn’t the way to behave. He’d been a large part of her life and there was no way she was going to put his memory into a back drawer and forget about him. Even if it caused his family pain.
“Let’s take this outside in the sun.” She picked up her plate and coffee and led the way out to the small table and chairs that overlooked the main street. She could see almost to the other side of Flathead Lake from up here.
“Such a lovely spot upstairs. I doubt you’d ever get sick of the view.” Pearl put her cup and plate down and took a seat and sighed as she sat back. “This is lovely, Mari.”
*
The joy on his mom’s face told him how her coffee date went.
“He’s adorable, Ethan. So much like you and Rake as a youngster.”
“I thought he looked like Mari.”
“No, not at all. He’s you and Rake to a ‘T.’ You boys were almost identical as babies. How can you not see that?” She picked up a pot of seedlings, tipped them into her hand. “He even has some of the same mannerisms. The way he tosses his head even when the hair
