Page 65 of Baby, Be Mine

Now, sitting here on this patio, I realized I’d been happier in the last week than I had been in the last two years of college.

I peeked over the edge of my carrier to check on Adriana. Most of it had definitely been because of her, but Crescent Cove was definitely a big part of it too. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed Clint and having a community.

But it was different from growing up with the looming shadow of my father in Clintondale. Him being the mayor of the small town meant people were always in our business, but also, my dad was forever looking for a photo opp with one of us.

His huge, perfect family.

And while we didn’t have a massive amount of dysfunction, we’d all grown up in the public eye and that had its own set of problems.

Here, no one knew who I was.

Sure, I was being talked about right now but a water birth on a sixty-five-foot barge was going to take some time to simmer down. Eventually, something equally noteworthy would happen and people would forget about me.

In Clintondale, not so much.

I couldn’t even get away with breaking curfew with all the eyes that had been on me. Would Jared and Gina’s kids feel the same?

The Chief’s kids were a bit different than the mayor’s kids, but not by much.

The conversation flowed between Jared and my brother and Gina knew just how to make Kitty feel at ease which often wasn’t the case with new people. My sister-in-law saw things through a slightly different lens than other people.

It always made our conversations lively, but sometimes people didn’t know how to react to her. Gina had a natural affinity with people, which let me relax.

I glanced through the patio doorway to where Mason stood talking to a patron. I stood up. “Mind watching bean?”

Kitty shook her head. “No problem.”

“There’s an extra bottle in the diaper bag if she wakes up.”

“Got it.”

I shifted the carrier to my chair so she could keep a better eye on her. Thankfully, my kid continued blissfully napping while conversations and clinking dishes were the soundtrack to the early evening.

My bladder made itself known, which caused a detour before I went to see Mason. I slipped into the bathroom and sighed at the wrinkled state of my dress. I loved the boba wrap for carting Adriana around, but it left me a melted mess in this heat.

I took care of the most pressing concern first and when I opened the stall door, I found the dark-haired woman from earlier leaning against the counter with her arms crossed.

“Hey.” I smiled, hoping to diffuse the woman’s bitch mode that was obviously set on level thirteen. “Gillian, right?”

Her heavily shadowed icy blue eyes narrowed. “Lisa, right?”

“Emma,” I corrected.

“Right. Sorry.”

She definitely wasnotsorry. Quickly, I washed my hands and raked my fingers through my hair. There was no use. The heat of the day had volumized my already big hair.

“Is this supposed to be an intervention, or are you warning me off your turf?”

Gillian’s raisin-colored nail tapped against her forearm, but she didn’t say a word.

“Oh, are we going with intimidation instead?”

She didn’t blink, just stared at me.

“Okay, well, good talk.” I grabbed a paper towel to dry my still damp fingers and tossed it in the bin. When my hand was on the handle of the door, she finally spoke.

“Don’t get comfy here, Emma.”

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