Page 24 of A Little Thankful

“I meant it to be,” she said. “About living here or in San Francisco? Cause, I’ll make a deal with you. If you move back here, your grandad and I will move back as well. We can live in the guesthouse, and babysit for you whenever you need it. You could either live here in the big house, or you could live with one of Autumn’s baby daddies… or in this town… you might be living with all three of them at once.”

I couldn’t believe she’d just said that. I was shocked. I’d always thought my grandparents didn’t like any of that stuff. I’d assumed that was one of the reasons they’d moved away.

“And you’d be okay with that?” I asked her, as I placed Autumn back down on the blanket.

“Honey, I’d be okay with anything you decided to do, as long as your grandpa and me can be part of your life. I don’t know if you noticed or not, but we’re getting up there in age, and for the time we have left, we want to be part of your life, and part of Autumn’s life. It’s important to us.”

She brought tears to my eyes, and I leaned over and gave her another hug. “Oh Gram, I would love that. I really would, but I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet.”

“What does Mace have to say about all of this?”

A rush of heat momentarily swept over me as soon as she mentioned his name. “I think he’d be thrilled if we stayed. He’s a good man, Gram.”

“They all are. If you’re going to have a relationship with three men, you couldn’t have picked better men. They’re all great, with good jobs and good morals… although I wouldn’t have said thata few years ago. But I’ve changed my mind. I’ve seen how some of these other group families are doing in this town, and I’ve come to understand it, and even admire them. It takes a lot to make a relationship work. I can’t even imagine what it must take to make a plural relationship work.”

“That’s the problem. I have no idea what that even looks like.” We sat together on the blanket, watching as Autumn sucked on some of the toys that surrounded her, cooing and studying each one.

“I think it must be like anything. You jump in and keep moving until you learn how to swim. That’s the secret. You just do it, and once you do, you realize you can do anything,” she said, sounding so smart I wondered why I never really paid attention to her wisdom before.

Probably too busy being full of myself.

We hugged again, and this time I thought about what it would be like to live in Cricket, with one or all three of the guys.

Could I really do it?

It was then that my phone rang with a call from my assistant back in San Francisco. I knew right away it had to be bad. Today was Sunday. Only bad things happened when Emma called me on a Sunday.

“What happened?” I said once I accepted the call.

“Oh, Sage, you’re not going to believe this, but…”

THE APPLE PIE bake-off, along with a pumpkin pie bake-off and a cranberry sauce contest, and various craft booths were housed inside Moon Hall, where our city mayor held most of his town hall meetings on the Sunday evening before Thanksgiving. The doors opened at five and most everyone in town arrived as soon as those doors were unlocked.

Mace and Forrest were already there when I finally arrived with my family, but tonight was my time with Hunter. We had it planned. We’d stay for the apple pie awards, but then we were off for dinner at Food Therapy by eight, and back to his house for drinks. Once again, my family were more than happy to care for Autumn, who seemed to be loving all the fuss. Even Sami got into playing with her, and feeding her. She and her mom only lived up in Sweet Whiskey, an hour away, so if I did relocate to Cricket, I’d have plenty of babysitters who loved her.

Mace greeted me with a warm kiss that Sami noticed. “Awe, Auntie Sage, you and Mace make such a cute couple. Does this mean if he’s the dad, family members get a discount at Just Desserts? It only seems fair.”

Mace broke the kiss and turned to her. “For you, I’ll make all sorts of exceptions. I’ll even give you your first cupcake or muffin of the day completely free. After all, you’ve been on my side from the very beginning.”

“I think I’m going to like having you in the family,” she said with a little chuckle. “Like it a lot.”

I was falling in love with my cousin. It seemed as though her Diva phase was behind her, and what was left warmed my heart. She still kept an edge, but she was much more agreeable than I’d ever imagined she could be.

“How about me?” Hunter asked as he approached. We were standing just inside the front doors now. Mom and dad had already gone in to officially enter her apple pie. And of all things, Aunt Sylvia had entered her cranberry sauce. It has always been a hit at our dinners. Best cranberry sauce ever, so this year she decided to do something about it.

She was also already inside, doing the official thing as well.

“What about you?” I asked spinning around to get a better look at him. God, but he was a handsome man, with his square scruffy jaw, and arms of steel. I couldn’t decide which of thesethree men I liked hanging with more, they were all so damn tempting. He wore a baby-blue shirt, gray casual pants, and black boots. He looked delicious.

“Am I part of the family as well?” he asked in that salty, low voice of his.

“Not yet, big guy,” I said, smiling. I warded off his kiss by giving him a peck on his cheek. “The results aren’t in yet.”

“I don’t really care about the results,” he said, then he whispered. “All I care about is you. When can we get out of here. I’ve been thinking about our date all day.”

“I can’t go anywhere until I find out if my mom’s pie is in the running or not.”

“Yeah, and my mom entered her cranberry sauce in the contest. You may be here awhile… best laid plans and all that shit,” Sami said.

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