Page 15 of Samuel

“Sorry, Mommy. I wanted to say hi to Aunt Daisy and Sunny!” Katy must have finally registered Evie standing there, because her eyes dropped to Evie’s belly and she squealed in delight. “Is there a baby in your tummy?!”

Before Evie could answer, Abby knelt down and turned her daughter to face her.

“Katy, that’s not something we ask people, okay?”

“But her tummy looks just like Aunt Grace’s, and she has a baby in there.”

“Bodies can come in all different shapes and sizes. It doesn’t always mean there is a baby.” Abby stood back up, extending her hand out to Evie. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay. I love being pregnant and I don’t mind that I look the part.” Evie smoothed her hand down over her belly. “Hi Katy, I’m Evie. I work with your Uncle Sam. And you were right, there is a baby in my belly.”

“Can I say hi to her?”

“I’m sure she’d love that.”

The little girl bounced over and placed both her hands on Evie’s tummy.

“Hello in there! When you come out of your mommy, do you want to be my friend?”

Evie’s heart melted. “I’m sure she would love to be your friend.”

“You’re having a girl?” Abby asked.

She nodded. “I don’t have her name picked out or anything. I’ve just been calling her Jellybean this whole time.”

“I LOVE jelly beans!” Katy giggled.

“You guys going to stop into Sprinkles before you head home?” Daisy asked.

“We can try to. Depends on what time I get everything packed up here. John promised me we would go over morewedding details this afternoon. I’m convinced he’s not going to be done with the wiring and AC install for the barn in time, but he swears he will be.”

“Do you want to try something else?” Emma, the incredibly sweet and very enthusiastic owner of Sprinkles, placed down another plate of treats in front of Evie.

“I couldn’t eat another bite, I swear. Everything is so delicious, but I’m afraid if I eat something else, I might burst.”

Emma laughed. “Sorry, I tend to go overboard when trying to feed my friends. I’ll box these up and you can take them back to share with Sam.”

“Oh, I don’t think that will happen. But I’d love to buy some and take them back with me.”

Emma gave her a questioning look, but seemed to think better of what she was about to ask. “No payment necessary for friends. It’s just one of the amazing perks of putting up with me.”

“I’d take another cookie.” Jackson, who she learned was a local firefighter and married to Daisy’s cousin, Grace, said as he reached over to the plate. Emma slapped his hand away.

“Sorry, handsome. Can’t have you stealing from a pregnant lady. I’ll make sure Grace gets a to-go box too.”

A man in a dark blue three piece suit cleared his throat as he walked up to Emma.

“Sprinkles. I know I did not just hear you call another man ‘handsome’.”

“You know you did. Knock it off. Evie, this is my fiance, Sebastian and our daughter, Addie, is the cutie pie with the ballerina bun sitting over on that stool.”

Evie wiped her hands on the napkin in front of her,praying she didn’t have any frosting on her face. She stood, holding out her hand.

“Oh, Mr. Montgomery. It’s so nice to finally meet you. Thank you for covering my salary at the Red River Ranch.”

“It’s my pleasure, Evie. And please, feel free to call me Seb. Everyone else around here does.”

“Besides, I like being the only one to call him ‘Mr. Montgomery’.” Emma kissed his cheek and Evie watched their eyes meet. Oh yes, those two were very, very much in love.

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