Page 99 of Maximum
“What do you mean?” I laughed. “I just told Fleur that I couldn’t live without her and she took pity on me, that’s all.”
Fleur shoved at my shoulder with a wide smile as River held out her hand with excitement. “Is it my turn now?”
“Lumi, I’m gonna give the phone to River, she’s already planning the wedding and she has a question for you.” I handed over the phone and went to help Noah finish the food as River and Fleur spoke to Lumi, who was still on speaker.
Before dinner was on the table, the women had confirmed that Lumi would be more than happy to lend her dress to Fleur for our wedding.
“Tell her that we want to tell the others ourselves,” I called out to River before taking a seat at the dinner table with Noah.
“Maximum says that you can’t tell the others. Nathan doesn’t know and neither do Liv and Charles. Tell Damian that he can’t tell Kit, or she’ll tell Liv. Maximum wants to tell them himself.”
Lumi and Damian both promised before the call ended.
“We should celebrate. I have a good bottle of champagne in the basement.” Noah was halfway to the door when he paused. “Oh wait, honey, you can’t drink so what do you want instead?”
There was something in his words and the way his eyes went to River’s stomach that made me blurt out, “Wait. Are you pregnant?”
River flashed red and her hand flew to her collarbone as she looked to Noah with blameful eyes.
I pointed to her. “Your whole face is turning red. Oh my god, sis, you’re pregnant, aren’t you?”
River’s shoulders lifted to her chin level and she spoke in a high-pitched voice. “We were going to tell you today, but now that you have good news, I don’t want it to be about us.”
Fleur opened her arms to River. “Oh, stop. There can never be too much happy news. Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” River and Fleur hugged, and I had to wait my turn to hug my little sister.
“How far along are you?”
“Ten weeks.” River’s broad smile made her large brown eyes sparkle.
“Sounds like we have a lot to celebrate today. Come sit before the pie turns cold.” Noah gestured for the women to sit down and then he looked at me. “Did you want champagne, or do you prefer wine?”
“Wine.”
“Me too,” he said.
We ate the lovely dinner and chatted away about River’s gallery, Fleur’s plans for the farm, my current project for the family foundation, and Noah’s dog training facility.
“Have you started hiring yet?” Fleur asked Noah.
“No, but I’m going to in a month or two.”
“Let me know if you want some recommendations. I’ve trained some talented people.”
“You mean that?” He put down his fork and swallowed hard. “I’ve been struggling with how to ask you, but I didn’t want you to fear that I’m stealing workers from you.”
That made Fleur laugh. “Do I come across as the possessive type?”
“No, but it would be pretty disrespectful to reach out to your canine team and offer them jobs after all you’ve done for me.”
“Why? People only stay at the farm for a period of time, anyway. To make it easier for you to pick, I can tell you who the most talented animal communicators are. If you can provide a paying job for some of my students, then I think everybody wins.”
“But can you do without them?”
She chuckled. “Ehh… not to burst your bubble, but after you left, the farm still stands. Obviously, we miss you but I’m fortunate enough to have a waiting list of people who want to come and study with me. On Monday someone is moving into your old room. That’s how it works at the farm. It’s rare for anyone to stay for more than six months and once I feel they’ve learned all I can teach them; I encourage them to go and use it in the world.”
“That’s brilliant. If I can, I’ll only hire people trained by you. That way I know they have the best education.”
