Page 30 of Wood You Knot

“Pumpkin.” Tabitha laughed.

“There’s no love latte here if you’re worried about that,” the woman standing beside Tabitha said, giving me the same smile I often saw on Nix.

I’d met Laurel Hutchinson many times before, but I hadn’t seen her in several years. She was just as warm and friendly as I remember her being, but the secretive smile she exchanged with Tabitha when I walked in made me feel uneasy.

“Oh, thanks…but I’m not a big fan of pumpkin.” I smiled apologetically.

“I’ll get you a regular coffee, then,” Tabitha amended, setting the cup down and grabbing another. She went about filling it up with the secondary urn.

Nix’s mom caught my eye. “It’s so good to see you again. I’d like to officially welcome you back to Hartwood Creek.” Laurel’s tone was welcoming and warm, and she surprised me when she leaned forward and hugged me.

Her hug threw me off—to say I wasn’t used to such blatant displays of affection was an understatement. I couldn’t remember the last time my mother had hugged me, and although Auntie Em gave out an abundance of hugs, I was only really used to her hugging me. So I froze.

“Uh, thanks, Mrs. Hutchinson.”

“Oh please, call me Laurel,” she insisted with a chuckle, pulling back. “We’re all adults here, and Mrs. Hutchinson makes me feel like my mother-in-law.”

I didn’t have time to respond, as Mr. Robertson walked in, and everyone scurried to sit down. I chose a desk between Lilah and Tabitha, and Laurel sat down on Tabitha’s right, still watching me with a peculiar look in her eyes. Not a bad look, per se, but…an inquisitive one.

“Good evening, everyone. Thank you all so much for coming out tonight. We’ve got a lot to go over,” Mr. Robertson said with his signature grin as he leaned against his desk, facing the rest of us. His clipboard in hand, he started going over the itinerary.

“So first off, the food and beverages. The Hartley sisters have offered up to supply baked goods and coffee from Tout de Sweets, although we’ll need volunteers to man the table.”

Two women raised their hands, and Mr. Robertson glanced at them. “We can do it,” the one offered. Mr. Robertson wrote their names down on the clipboard he held.

“Thank you, ladies. And Pizza Picasso donated fifty large pizzas, which we’ll be selling at three dollars per slice. We’ll need someone to collect money and someone else to serve the pizza.”

Another woman eagerly raised her hand, and when Mr. Robertson nodded at her, she said, “Damien and I could run the pizza table.” The man sitting beside her nodded with confirmation.

Mr. Robertson smiled at them each in turn before writing their names down too. “Perfect, thanks so much.”

“That’s my cousin, Damien Wood, and his fiancée, Charlotte Gauthier. Damien has twins, too, Aria and Ronan. They’re also in Mr. Robertson’s class,” Tabitha whispered.

“What’s with all the twins in this town?” I whispered back.

“Must be something in the water,” Tabitha giggled.

“Or maybe it’s the love latte,” Laurel interjected with a wink before raising her own hand.

Mr. Robertson nodded at her to speak. “I’ve enlisted the help of all my boys again. Preston and Paxton will run the dunk tank. Parker and Nix will man the ring toss, and Keith said he would do the bag toss.”

“Excellent. Are you guys still doing a vendor table?” Mr. Robertson asked.

“Yup! Tabitha and I will run that, along with Gran, if she feels up to going. We’ll have small wood projects available and some of Jerry’s beautiful birdhouses.”

“Perfect! Lilah, are you still able to do face painting?” Mr. Robertson’s eyes drifted to Lilah. She stilled as if surprised he’d remembered her name and was addressing her.

“Yes, I am. I can also donate a gift basket with some goodies and a gift card to my spa for the silent auction.”

“That’s perfect,” Mr. Robertson said animatedly before writing a note down on his handy clipboard. Lilah seemed to blush under his attention. He beamed at her for a beat longer before turning to address me. “And Sage. You’re still interested in running the photo booth?”

It felt like every eye in the room turned to look at me, the new girl. I swallowed, then forced a smile. “Yeah.”

“Okay, great. You won’t have to worry about setting anything up. We have a group of student volunteers from the high school who will be helping set up the booths as a part of their required volunteer hours, so everything should be set up before you arrive.”

“Sounds good,” I replied.

“Also, you’re more than welcome to bring business cards to give away to help promote your photography business,” he added.

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