Page 158 of The Holy Grail
It was David who answered. “Julian Douglas. In honor of Jules,” he said with a nod in her direction, “and Paige’s father, Douglas.”
Upon hearing that, Jules’ eyes widened, then got suspiciously bright while sharing a long, emotion-filled look with Paige as they both remembered the night at Brews Brothers so long ago … and a deal that had been made in jest.
“I expect you to name your first child after me.”
“What if it’s a boy? Jules isn’t unisex.”
“Okay, your first daughter, then. You can name the rest of your kids whatever you want.”
“A daughter isn’t in the cards,” Paige said softly. “And Julian was as close as we could get to ‘Jules’.”
Jules sniffled several times and wiped at her watering eyes, which were becoming a little red. “Just so you know, I’m not crying,” she told everyone, knowing Evan would be giving her hell later, before grabbing the bottle out of his hand and raising it high in the air to finish the toast. “To Julian fucking Douglas!” she said, then put the bottle to her lips and drank.
Chapter 51
Spilling more tea
PAIGE: You left before I could ask you something.
Jules shook her head with amusement. Paige had actually fallen asleep while everyone else was finishing off the bottle of champagne, but she was making it seem like Jules had skipped out on the sly, when Paige wasn’t looking.
JULES: What did you want to ask me?
JULES: And thanks again for naming the little human you made after me! No one’s ever done that for me before.
PAIGE: You’re welcome.
PAIGE: I wanted to ask about the flirtatious greeting Evan dropped on you when he arrived.
Well, shit.
Jules gave Evan a dirty look across the table, where he was currently eating a bowl of Lucky Charms. Every once in a while he’d place a spoonful of milk on the table in front of Dawn Corleone, so she could lick it up.
“What?” he asked, misinterpreting her expression. “It’s only a little bit of milk. And Mal’s not here to see it.”
“Paige is asking me about the flirtatious greeting you gave me in the hospital.”
“Oh.” He paused for a moment, then said, “God, I can’t believe she caught that.”
“Well, she did.”
“You’d think, after just having a baby, she would’ve been more out of it.”
“Well, she wasn’t.”
Evan smiled. “She’s going to make a great mom.”
“You’re missing the point.”
“Look, I’m sorry she caught me flirting with you—and if we’re being honest, it wasbarelyflirting—but I didn’t mean to do it. I didn’t do it on purpose is what I’m saying. It just came out, because that’s just the way I am with you.”
Jules went back to her phone.
JULES: What are you talking about?
PAIGE: You know what I’m talking about.
JULES: I really don’t.
