Page 90 of Beau Pair
“I would hope so with the amount of money you’re making them,” Gordon comments.
Our order arrives a few minutes later, and before the waitress even has a chance to set Mama’s plate down, she asks for more butter for her pancakes.
“What is this dollop? What am I supposed to do with that?”
The waitress apologizes and goes back to the kitchen.
“Mama, you’re not supposed to have greasy stuff, remember? What would Doctor Jones say?” I tell her.
“Doctor Jones ain’t here, though, is he? If he cared, he would be,” she replies, and I raise an eyebrow.
“And whose fault is that?” Gordon asks her.
“What are all y’all looking at me like that for? If he loved me, he’d have followed me here,” she says.
“Umm,” I say, and cough, “Mama, he offered, and you turned him down.”
“Oh,” she says, pursing her lips. “I forgot you knew that.”
I shake my head while the rest of the table laughs.
Mama Hadlee moved to New Harlow six months ago. She sold the farm, packed up her stuff, and left her old life in Salem Springs and came to the big city.
One would think she’d find it hard to give up her life after so many years in her small town, surrounded by people she knew since she was a baby. But Mama was born for city life. She lived in France most of her twenties and thirties and only ever moved back to the States because my dad wanted to, and they thought they’d have a better chance of becoming a family if they were home.
She’s thrived since she came to New Harlow. Bought a nice house in the city center, filled it with her favorite wines and books, and joined enough clubs to put all four of us to shame. She has more friends than we all have combined. And don’t even get me started on how often she travels.
“Where are you traveling next, Mama Hadlee?” Dolly asks her as we all dig into our food.
“I’m heading to Nova Scotia for a week with my book club,” she says, finally satisfied with the amount of butter on her pancakes.
“I’d love to know what kind of book club goes traveling together,” Zoe laughs.
“Don’t get her started. Please,” I beg my friend. Mama is very protective of her clubs.
After we’re done, Mama catches a ride with Zoe and Dolly, who also live in the city center, and we head back to our home so I can get back to work. I’ve got shipments to coordinate, new designs to finalize, and a team meeting to organize. Life doesn’t get any weirder—or better—than this.
As I sit there on my laptop, trying to do all my work for today, my eyes wander around the room. At Gordon peeling potatoes in the kitchen, preparing his delicious gnocchi for dinner tonight, on Regina, my mannequin, who’s now mainly sitting as part of the decor between the dining room and the living room, and finally settling on the portrait on the wall over the couch.
Tru gifted it to us for Christmas, after posing for hours in front of their camera until they got a good enough shot to work with. Elsie was smack dab in the middle with Gordon and Dolly on either side of her. But both of them wanted us in their portrait too. So, Zoe was standing over Dolly and I was standing over Gordon.
As beautiful as the picture was, the paintings Tru made for both our houses were the prettiest things, a dreamy representation of our quirky, perfectly imperfect family unit.
It’s strange and sometimes overwhelming, but it’s our family, and we all couldn’t be happier together. No matter what, we make it work. For Elsie, first and foremost, but for ourselves too.
It’s crazy the kind of things life has in store for you without your knowledge. And I wouldn’t change anything for the world. Except, maybe I’d have got a haircut before posing for Tru.
“How’s it going, baby?” Gordon asks me, and hands me a glass of sweet tea, homemade by him.
“Good. Perfect,” I tell him, and he raises an eyebrow with an amused smile.
“What?” he asks after a few moments of me staring at him.
“Have I told you how much I love you, lately?” I ask him.
Gordon takes my hand and gets me off my chair to take me in his arms.
“Hmm… actually, it’s been a few hours. I was starting to think you forgot.” He smiles.
My heart misses a beat as it often does in his presence. I will never get bored of this. This feeling of beauty and love and happiness this man gives me.
“I’d never forget. I love you, Mr. Davis. Every day more than the last one.”
Gordon gives me a deep kiss and squeezes my butt before he pulls away.
“I love you too, Baby Beau.”
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