Page 22 of The Sweetest Surrender

“Good evening, ladies,” the woman crooned. “I’m Dee-Dee, and I’ll be your server for tonight.”

“Good evening, Dee-Dee,” they both chimed.

The waitress smiled brightly. She went to speak again but paused and tapped her lip with an index finger. “Are you that woman who found the little girl last year?”

Selena let out a breath, happy that the woman wasn’t about to point her out for that fiasco in the Illinois Tribune.

“I actually didn’t find her,” Octavia said. “She saw my house on the news and showed up on my doorstep.”

Octavia was referring to Ayana Bradwell; a sixteen-year-old teenager who went missing for a few weeks around Thanksgiving. A full search party was put together to find the missing girl, but it was Ayana who showed up unexpectedly on the day the search ended.

“That must have been something, yeah?”

“Definitely.”

“How’s she doing now, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Much better.”

Octavia didn’t want to go into detail about Ayana’s recovery. It was a private matter, and it wasn’t Octavia’s place to tell.

“That’s good to hear. Would you ladies like to start off with some drinks?”

“Yes, what would you suggest?”

Dee-Dee shifted on her feet. “Well, I myself don’t drink. Sober ten years strong now.” She smiled.

“Congratulations,” they both chimed.

“Thank you. However, most of the patrons here adore our special, Between the Sheets cocktail. Its orange juice, lemon juice, cognac, and rum mixed.”

“Mmmm, that sounds like my kind of drink!” Selena crooned.

“Oh brother,” Octavia said. “As if you need that.”

“I beg your pardon? That’s exactly what I need. I told you this earlier. Wouldn’t you rather I have the mixed drink instead of the real thing?”

Selena glanced at Dee-Dee. “We’ll take two Between the Sheets, thank you.”

Dee-Dee chuckled. “I’ll be right back with your first round.” The waitress sauntered away.

“Did you hear that? She said with our first round. This must be why there are more women here tonight than men. They all know this is the place to be on Tuesday nights.”

Octavia had to agree. “Let’s get back to the question I asked you.”

“You mean the one about the twins?”

Octavia pursed her lips and glared at Selena. “You know good and damn well I didn’t ask you about no twins.”

“But you do want to talk about them though. Say you don’t.”

Octavia smirked. “They are some cute little bundles.”

“An unexpected.”

“Right! It’s crazy that the doctor had no clue.”

“Do you really believe that?” Selena asked. “They wanted to keep the gender a secret so who’s to say the doctor didn’t know.”

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