Page 10 of Ever After All

“Are we really girls?” I teased as I smiled up at Hazel.

“To me, you are. I am…” She paused briefly before adding, “Over seventy. Once you clear fifty, every female under forty is a girl.”

Tessa’s eyes twinkled. “How do you figure that, though?”

“Well, I’m old enough to be your mother, so I can say that,” Hazel replied archly.

Just then, the door to the café opened, and Wyatt and Griffin walked in together. Hazel glanced over. I was relieved nobody happened to be looking at me when Wyatt’s gaze arced around the café before landing on me. It felt like a camera wobbling and coming into focus before locking into place. Electricity jolted through me in a fiery-hot sizzle.

Hazel smiled and waved with one hand before looking back at us. “Those two. Last Cannon men standing. And they’re firefighters.” She waggled her brows. “We should start a betting pool.”

“On what?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“Who’s going to be the last one to fall in love? Because it’s got to be somebody,” Hazel explained.

“Well, they’re twins,” Tessa pointed out. “Maybe it’ll happen at the same time.”

Hazel shrugged just before her sharp, perceptive gaze landed on me. I knew instantly she was aware of something. Heat rolled in a slow wave through me. I took another bite of my pastry, which was a delicious distraction.

Hazel moved along and returned to the counter when another rush of customers came in. I silently crossed my fingers and toes, hoping Wyatt didn’t come over to our table.

But he did because, of course. His sister was with me, along with two sisters-in-law. There was no reason for him not to say hello, especially since Griffin was with him. When they finally made their way to our table, I almost choked on my food again, but I managed to finesse my way through it this time. Of course then, I had to go and ask the stupidest question. “How’s your shoulder?”

“What happened to your shoulder?” Tessa immediately asked.

“Got a fish hook in it. It was kind of deep.” Wyatt’s gaze met mine, and my skin prickled with awareness.

“How do you know about that?” Quinn asked.

I took a gulp of coffee. “Because I was at the hospital when he came in.” I hoped my tone sounded casual. “How is it anyway?”

“I got my stitches out last week. Just a little bit of soreness left,” Wyatt explained.

“He told me I can’t punch him in the shoulder yet, though,” Griffin teased.

“Well, I would hope not,” McKenna said.

I took another swallow of coffee and the last bite of my croissant. Kenan came into the café, of course, because the Cannon family was freaking huge. There were seven of them. He didn’t even go to the counter first. He came straight to our table to give Quinn a lingering kiss. He was so whipped. They’d been together over two years now, and the guy still practically drooled over her.

The conversation carried on around me, and I focused on my coffee and picking at the crumbs on my plate.

“Rosie,” someone said.

I glanced up to see Kenan looking at me. “Yes?”

“I was just saying your brother’s doing great with us,” Kenan replied.

“Good to hear.”

“I was telling him he might want to look into hotshot training since he likes working outside,” Kenan added.

Griffin chimed in, “I’ll give him a call. They have a new round of training coming up in a few months.”

“Do they do training here?” I asked curiously.

Wyatt and Griffin nodded in unison. Griffin was still a hotshot firefighter, but Wyatt had recently transitioned away from that to take the head brewer position at Fireweed Winery for their family.

“Well, that would be great. He’s bounced around between jobs,” I said.

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