Page 115 of The Strawberry Patch Pancake House
‘Okay, okay, I get it.’ Iris swatted her cousin away and emerged from her blankets. ‘I’m up.’
‘I’m leaving ginger tea in your kitchen!’ Isabel called as she hustled inside. ‘It’ll help with nausea!’
‘And call me if you need anything at all,’ Kira said, giving her a hug and kiss on the cheek. ‘It’s up to you, babe. Whatever you want to do.’
‘Thanks,’ Iris whispered through her refreshed tears.
‘Love you.’
‘Love you, too.’ Iris hugged Kira and Isabel again on their way out the door and locked herself in the bathroom as Bex began her trumpet practice for the day. Maybe the shower would drown out the noise.
Decisions needed to be made sooner rather than later for more reasons than one.
ChapterThirty-Six
Afew days later, Iris somehow found herself at the monthly meeting of the Dream Harbor Book Club. Well, actually, she knew how she got there. Isabel had come over and physically lifted her from the couch and insisted that she get out of the house and now here she was listening to Linda and Kaori debate the appeal of ‘the single-dad trope’.
The single-dad trope.
Somebody kill her now.
‘Sorry!’ Isabel mouthed from across the circle. She apparently hadn’t had time to read this month’s book and had no idea it featured a sexy single dad.
‘I don’t know, I still don’t see the appeal,’ Linda said, leaning back in her seat. They were in mismatched chairs in their usual corner of The Cinnamon Bun Bookstore. It wasn’t a Sunday so there were no actual cinnamon buns to be found but Iris would swear the whole place smelled like cinnamon sugar and she could really go for a gooey treat right now.
‘Kids aren’t sexy. I really don’t need them in my romance novels,’ Linda went on.
‘Agreed,’ Nancy said with a nod, and if Iris was a retired kindergarten teacher she probably wouldn’t want kids popping up in her romance novels either.
‘Yeah, but there’s something about the juxtaposition of a strong, masculine man cradling a baby in his arms that just does something for me,’ Kaori argued.
Isabel and Jacob practically purred in agreement and then burst out laughing.
And now Iris had the very unhelpful image of Archer holding a baby flashing through her mind. Seeing him hug Olive was bad enough, but what would he look like rocking a baby?Theirbaby.
Okay, maybe she understood the appeal.
‘What do you think, Iris?’ Jeanie asked, turning toward her, and the whole group followed suit. She hadn’t told anyone else about the pregnancy, but if anyone could figure it out it was this crew. Iris felt their stares boring through her.
‘I … uh … I didn’t read the book.’
Jeanie smiled. ‘That’s okay. I was just wondering in general if you like kids in romance novels.’
‘I personally don’t think a baby epilogue is required for a happy ending,’ Isabel chimed in in a valiant attempt to save her.
‘That’s different than the single-dad trope, though, don’t you think?’ Jeanie asked, pulling her gaze back to Isabel and Iris breathed a little sigh of relief.
‘True,’ Isabel agreed. ‘The baby epilogue implies a couple can only be happy if they bring a baby into the mix, whereas the single-dad trope is more about a hero who is nurturing.’
‘Unless we throw breeding kink into the mix,’ Jacob said with a grin.
‘Oh God, breeding kink has way too much semen talk for me!’ Kaori nearly shouted and Hazel’s head shot up from where she was working behind the counter.
‘Guys, please, keep it down,’ she whispered, wide eyed. ‘There are kids here!’
‘And how do you think they got here, Hazel?’ Jacob asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively. ‘Semen,’ he stage-whispered, and the book club cackled in delight. And Iris knew she was safe. This meeting had officially gone off the rails. But as she sat back in her worn out armchair, pulling another saltine cracker from her bag, she noticed Nancy and Linda watching her with knowing smiles.
She felt the panic rising in her chest. She hadn’t made up her mind yet. She hadn’t told Archer anything. She couldn’t have the whole town knowing her secret.
