Page 2 of Seeing You

“I don’t know…”

“Just…text her. You know she’s already awake. That woman gets up almost as early as I do!” Laughing, Billie shook her head. “You’re very lucky to have such an awesome mother-in-law.”

“Don’t I know it.” After another sip, he put the mug down and pulled out his phone. “Speaking of mothers, have you heard from ours?”

Groaning, she turned and pulled the pan of croissants from the oven. “She was in here yesterday telling me how she ran into Iris’s mother at the grocery store and how much she was gushing about the upcoming wedding.” Another groan. “Thenshe yammered on about how lucky they are and how much she enjoyed planning all of her kids’ weddings. Well, except mine. Ugh…I swear, we just had two weddings in the last year, why is Mom carrying on about Iris’s? And why the dig at me?”

Slowly, Levi got to his feet and stretched. “First, because you and Iris have been friends since the second grade, and it’s her not-so-subtle way of reminding you that you’re not married.” He shrugged. “We all know she’s not going to be happy until all her kids are married with babies.” Grinning, he winked at her. “And I’m the favorite since I’ve accomplished both. For the next few months, she’ll be all over Ashlynn, and don’t even get me started on how she’ll be if Chloe announces she’s pregnant sooner rather than later.”

“You think that’s going to happen? Like a honeymoon baby?”

“Maybe I’m crazy, but…she and Ash are twins. They do almost everything at the same time. It just seems logical that they’d be pregnant at the same time.” Looking at his phone, he shrugged. “Cora’s going to come in, so I need to get back to the house.” Pausing, he reached for his coffee. “Or should I stay until she gets here? I really didn’t do anything…”

That was probably a good thing, she thought. Explaining everything to him would have taken more time than she had to spare.

“Go,” she told him. “I’ll be fine. Cora will be here soon enough and if we don’t get everything set up before we unlock the doors, people will understand. No biggie.” Turning, she put the last tray of muffins in the oven before wiping her hands on her apron. Now would probably be a good time to get the coffee going out in the main area, so that’s where she headed. “Tell Jade we’ve got everything covered, Levi, and give the boys a kiss for me.”

Her brother followed her out, and she felt him hovering.

“What?!” she snapped after a few moments. “God, I can feel you staring at me!”

“It just occurred to me that maybe I was a little harsh in there. I don’t want you to feel like I was putting you down or being too braggy. I have a feeling you were inwardly rolling your eyes at me.”

Turning the first pot on, she moved on to the next. “I wasn’t. I swear. You’re not saying anything I didn’t already know. It’s annoying as hell, and Mom is just being Mom, but…sometimes it just bugs me. I’m already not looking forward to this wedding and now I know Mom’s going to be harping on me about it.”

“Why aren’t you looking forward to it?”

Walked right into that one, didn’t I?

Busying herself with the coffee station, she pretended she didn’t hear him.

“Bill, come on. Eventually you’ll have to turn around and face me. Why aren’t you looking forward to it? I thought you and Iris were good friends, and her fiancé is a great guy. I’ve worked for him on some promos for his legal firm.”

“You know how it is, Levi,” she said when she finally faced him. “People wonder why I’m not married, or how I could have given up a career in finance to come home and bake for a living. I hate that look of pity, plus…” Tears stung her eyes and she cursed herself for showing weakness like this. “When is it going to be my turn?”

“Aww…Billie, don’t,” he said, even as he came over and hugged her.

“I try not to let it bother me, but sometimes it does. All the weddings and babies and…they’re never mine.” Pulling back, she wiped her face. “I don’t begrudge anyone their happiness, but sometimes it just sucks that it never happens for me. And then Mom with the way she is…”

“Okay, okay…now that I know this is a thing, I’ll talk to her. Don’t worry. I’m on it.”

“Levi, you don’t have to do that. I’m a grown woman and I can fight my own battles.”

“But this isn’t a battle you need to fight. Mom needs to be a little more sensitive.” Pausing, he reached for his coffee again. “I’m gonna say something, and I swear I’m not trying to be a jerk, so don’t freak out on me.”

“Oh God…”

“You work so damn much—too much, actually. If you’re really upset about not, you know…having someone in your life, you need to do something about it. It’s not going to happen by hiding away here at Books & Beans. You have an assistant now; why don’t you start taking some time off and…having a life outside of this?”

He wasn’t saying anything she hadn’t told herself a million times, but that didn’t make it any easier to hear.

“Like I said, not trying to be a jerk,” he reiterated.

“You’re not, and…I get it. I know that I work too much, but this was my passion after years of staying in a job I hated.”

“You were brilliant at it, though. But I understand. And after the breakup…”

“Don’t,” she snapped. “Just don’t, okay? That is so not the thing I need to think about while we’re talking about weddings and babies and…”

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