Page 26 of An Adventure For Aster

“I’m not sure I’m sweet,” he said. “Or a walking confusion.”

“Sure, you are. To both. But we’ll agree to disagree for now. How about apple pie and ice cream for lunch?”

“Is that my reward for helping today?”

“One of them,” she said, smiling and moving over to get plates.

He wanted to ask what the other rewards were but had a feeling it wasn’t the answer he was hoping for.

9

A LITTLE ROMANTIC AND SAPPY

“Dahlia got engaged,” Ivy screamed into the phone five days later. “And she’s having a boy!”

“Wow,” Raine said. “The day for a lot of news. Did you know the engagement was coming?”

“No,” Ivy said. “I had hoped. I really did, but she takes things slow and you know that Hugh is recently divorced. That baby was a shock to them both, but they are so perfect for each other.”

“I’m glad it’s working out for them,” she said. “And you’ve got another nephew coming.”

She knew Jasmine was having a boy too.

“Me too,” Ivy said. “Dahlia said no wedding date set. She isn’t rushing it, but it’s going to be small when it’s time. I’m the only one having the big wedding.”

“Your parents are going to be here for it and it’s a first for you and Brooks,” she said. She was surprised Brooks was willing to have a bigger wedding, but her brother would do anything for Ivy.

“It’s a first for my sisters too, but Jasmine and Wesley eloped. You know that. I just hope Dahlia doesn’t do that. I mean, it’s not my choice, but it’d be nice to be there for her wedding. I understood Jasmine doing what she did, but I was sad too. At least they had another ceremony when they got back, but it’s not the same.”

“Everyone has to do what works for them, Ivy. Jasmine and Dahlia are a little more low-key. They also know that it’s hard for your family to get together all the time. You didn’t get pregnant like them.”

Ivy giggled on the other end. “That’s right. I was the good daughter. And I think it’s nice that my brothers will both be here. We’ll get to meet Mark’s fiancée too. He’s getting married in Japan. No way Dahlia and I are flying there. We don’t like flying at all and over the ocean and that long? It won’t happen. I know Jasmine and Wesley would try, but now with the kids it might be hard to leave them that long.”

“I think it’s great that they will try to go. Will your parents?”

“If they can. If not, then I know for sure Jasmine will definitely go and maybe Mona will too to watch the kids. I don’t know. I can’t think that far in advance. I’m just happy for Dahlia and excited about planning my wedding. I can’t wait to go dress shopping. You’re still going with us, right?”

“I wouldn’t be anywhere else,” she said. “And we’ve got to pick out the bridesmaids’ dresses.”

Raine was so excited to be in the wedding with Jasmine and Dahlia. River, Wesley, and Hugh were the groomsmen. She’d be paired up with Wesley, as Jasmine was the Matron of Honor paired up with River.

“Now we just need to find you a man,” Ivy said.

It was the opening she needed. Aster had said this wasn’t a secret when she brought up if she could let anyone know. That it’d get back to the people he worked with. There was no way it couldn’t.

He’d had no problem with any of it and that made her feel better.

“Well,” she said. “I’m dating someone.”

“You are?” Ivy said. She could almost see in her mind the excitement and Ivy doing one of her little dances. “How come you didn’t tell me and when did it start?”

“I’m telling you now,” she said. “And it started on Friday. That was the first date. Then another on Saturday and Sunday. So three in a row, but we’ve only been texting since then. We’ll try to plan something tomorrow again.”

During the week was just too hard for both of them with work.

“You had three dates in a row after first meeting someone,” Ivy all but shouted. “That means you had to have hit it off. Tell me more and who it is. Not that I know a lot of people around here, but how did you meet?”

“You do know him,” she said, laughing. “And we met the first time at the firehouse when I brought my kids for a field trip. Then again when there was a garbage fire at the school.”

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