Millie
“WHAT’S THIS?” DRU ASKED, THE tone of her voice causing me to look up from tarts I was finishing up for tonight’s event.
It took me a minute to realize what she was talking about, as she waved a piece of paper in the air.
“Oh, it’s a last-minute tea party for a little girl,” I replied, trying to sound like it was no big deal.
“No shit, last minute,” my twin exclaimed, one hand on her hip, while she used the other to shake the paper at me. “I don’t have time for this. Literally, don’t have time. Why did you say we’d take this on, Millie? You know we’re jam-packed for the next four days.”
“I know that, I do, and I don’t expect you to do a thing. I’ll take care of it.”
“You’ll take care of it.”
“Yup,” I said, then grew wary when Dru narrowed her eyes at me. My sister never missed a thing.
“Why, Millie?” she asked as she stalked toward me. “Why, after a year of cooking and baking, like the genius you are, but not crossing over into event planning, management, or budgeting, will you be taking over this event on your own?”
Shit, I need to get her off the scent . . .
“Because,” I began as my mind raced. Although I was the oldest by two minutes, my twin always seemed to know what I was going to do before I did, and I didn’t want her to read anything into this tea party. I was only trying to help out a father and his daughter who’d had a rough time. That was it . . . no hidden agenda here. “I know how busy we are, and I also know that when I’m done with the food, you and Tash will still be busy pulling off another successful event. So . . . when the man came in needing help with his daughter’s birthday, and I could see how desperate he was, I figured it wouldn’t kill me to step out of the kitchen and pull off this small event.”
Dru was watching me closely, so I continued my verbal vomit.
“Plus, this may gain us new clients and give us a chance to branch out in a new direction. I can handle it, Dru, promise.”
“But, we’d decided months ago that we weren’t going to do children’s parties.”
“True,” I said with a nod, wishing I’d hear the sound of a customer entering the building so I could get out of this situation. “But, it’s a tea party, which we’ve done in the past. So, although it’s technically for a child, it’s not exactly a children’s party, at least not in the sense that we’d spoken about. No piñatas, or cartoon characters . . . and, we have supplies in the back already, so, really, it was a no-brainer.”
“A no-brainer, huh?”
“Yup.”
“And, did this Jackson have anything to do with your sudden interest in stepping out of the kitchen?” Dru asked as she looked down at the event sheet, then back up at me.
I felt the blush rise up from my neck, and watched Dru’s lips turn up as she grinned victoriously.
Busted.
“Tell me,” she demanded, so I did.
“Oh my Gosh, Dru, you wouldn’t believe it. At first, I thought you and Tash had sent him in here to trick me or something,” I admitted, grabbing a towel to wipe my hands as I crossed to her. “Tall, crazy tall, with a runner’s body and brown hair that’s short on the sides, but kind of floppy on top. And he had dimples, and glasses . . . It was like he walked out of the pages of my sixteen-year-old self’s diary.”
“Wow,” Dru replied, then took in my face and asked, “So, what’s the catch?”
“Married,” I admitted with a frown. “I mean, he said his wife walked out and left him and their daughter, Kayla, a year ago, but, he was still wearing the ring.”
“Ouch, that’s terrible. For them, I mean, and for you. I’m sorry the man of your dreams walks in and he’s already taken, but, if it’s been a year, it must be really over, right? Maybe he just forgot to take it off.”
I knew Dru was trying to see the bright side of things, and wanted me to be happy, but I wasn’t sure that I should go there.
“I don’t know,” I replied. “It seems like a pretty complicated situation. I’m just going to do my best to give that little girl the best tea party she’s ever seen. She deserves it. I can’t even fathom our mom ever willingly leaving us.”
“That’s cause it wouldn’t happen,” Dru said with a sad smile. “But, you’re right, it should be about the girl. I’ll take you in the back and show you what we have on hand for a tea party. You should be set, all you’ll need to do is make the food, set up, and clean up, and it should go off without a hitch.”
“Thanks, Dru. I know it puts us in a tight spot, but I wouldn’t have agreed to it if I didn’t believe I could pull it off.”
“I know,” my sister said with a smile as she threw an arm around my shoulder. “You’re such a softy.”
“Am not,” I argued, even though I knew I totally was.
“Yeah, right. I’ve known you for almost all of your twenty-eight years, so I consider myself an expert of the subject. This Jackson guy was lucky that it was you he ran into and not me or Tash. Maybe it was fate,” Dru suggested with a nudge of her shoulder.
“Stop.”
“What? Mom always said she’d make sure we’d find our perfect partners, even if she had to meddle from the other side. Maybe she sent Jackson your way.”
“You’re ridiculous,” I said, shoving her softly as we walked into the back room.
Dru just laughed, but her words played over and over again in my head. And, despite my rational brain telling me that getting involved with Jackson would be an unwise decision, my heart welled with something that felt a lot like hope.