Page 67 of Prayers for the Prickly

Never a peck on the lips, we’d melted together until Gregor’s hands in my hair had left me panting, needy, and on the verge of saying to hell with the meeting and demanding my mate carry me back to our bed to fully indulge in all the naughty things we’d whispered to each other the night before. We’d been too tired for more than teasing and the light caresses that had lulled me to sleep.

“Eleven, please, even with snacking, I’ll be in seafood deprivation by then.”

“Then I’ll make it ten-thirty,” Gregor promised before leaving my underwear damp following another toe-curling kiss.

Pregnant sex and all the attention Gregor lavished on all of me, and not just the parts between my legs, was the best sex of my life, and I wanted it, right fuckin’ now, despite the responsibilities waiting for me on the other side of my shop.

I could see the rest of the family already gathered around a collection of tables in the bakery dining room, and I paused to blow out a long breath before I joined them, so I wouldn’t be tempted to give in to my hormones and huff at everyone while glowering at them throughout the meeting.

Seeing Everett looking somber at the head of the table clued me in to how serious this had the potential to be, as well as who’d called the meeting. Aunty Eunice sat to his left, but whether she knew what was going on or not was unreadable from the look on her face.

“So, we’re just missing…” Aunty Eunice started to say when a series of bangs, clangs, thumps and clatters erupted from the kitchen, announcing the arrival of my cousin Iris, who worked behind the counter and occasionally in the kitchen of Ever’s shop. “Glad you could join us, Iris, you were almost on time.”

“I pulled in right behind August,” she protested as she clattered into an empty seat, a hastily attached barrette falling from her hair to land on the table beside her purse.

Aunty Eunice’s reply, her tone dry and dripping with exasperation, came only after she’d taken in Iris’s disheveled appearance, “And yet he still managed to waddle in here first.”

“My purse got tangled in the seatbelt.”

“It looks as if you slept in the front seat.”

“More like the back,” she admitted sheepishly. “I had a little too much at the club last night and decided sleeping in the back was better than waking someone to come get me.”

“I see,” Aunty Eunice said. “We will table that discussion for after the meeting. Now, I believe that Everett has something he’d like to speak to us about, and I for one am curious about what it is.”

“Thanks, Aunty Eunice,” Ever said, chin propped on his hand as he studied everyone with weary eyes.

There were dark circles beneath them, too.

I’d never seen my littermate look so depressed and exhausted. It scared me and made me wish I’d shown up earlier so I could sit across from Aunty Eunice on the other side of him.

“I, um, I’m sorry for getting everyone up so early, but I wanted to explain what would be happening over the next few days so as to cause the least disruption to the other two shops,” Ever said.

“Ohh, are you doing a remodel?” Aunty Clara asked.

“No,” Everett said with a slow shake of his head. “Chocolate Delight will not be reopening. I’ll be removing all of my molds and chocolate making supplies and equipment to leave the space open and ready for the next business, or an expansion of the bakery space.”

“Wait, what?” Aunty Eunice said, coming half up out of her seat.

Well, that answered the question of whether she’d known or not.

“I’m sorry, Aunty Eunice, but I don’t see a way of bouncing back from what happened. It’s been months and I haven’t regained even a fraction of the customers I had. I’ve brainstormed ideas, I’ve reached out to people I know in industry, but in a small town like this, there is no bouncing back from the damage that’s been done to my reputation and that of the shop. I’m not going to continue on and risk putting the bakery and August’s candy shop in jeopardy.”

“That’s preposterous!” Aunty Eunice declared.

“Is it, Aunty? I see the way people still side-eye my shop from the bakery line. I bet they are scrutinizing the food they get and any treats from the candy store just to make sure there is nothing in them. Hell, I still hear people whispering about it. I won’t mess this up for you.”

“Ever,” I began, standing now as well, so I could see him without looking around everyone.

“It’s a done deal, August, I’m going back home with Gram and Gramps after your handfasting,” Ever explained. “I landed a job at Gallery 11 as assistant dessert chef, I’ll learn to add to my repertoire, and the distance between me and Olly should get his mom to chill the fuck out and leave the rest of you be.”

“Fuck her!” I snapped, stomping my foot to emphasize the point and sending a surge of discomfort along my hip and the lower curve of my belly. Okay, best not to do that again.

August, is everything okay?

Okay, so maybe discomfort was too tame of a word, that had actually hurt, and left me breathless and a little clammy.

Yes, I’m sorry if I startled you, I moved too quickly. There’s some drama going on, family stuff, no one’s here causing any issues so don’t come barreling down here. It’s all okay. I’ll explain everything when I see you at 10:30.

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