by Lucy Score
“Okay, fine,” Mitch was unconcerned. “I move that we petition the diner to serve a month-long $5.99 hot turkey sandwich special,” he amended.
“Seconded,” said the poncho lady.
A man in the row behind Gia stood up, his hands were tucked into the pocket of his Blakeley Diner sweatshirt. “Yeah, okay. We’ll do the special. But I’m thinking more like $8.99,” he said, his accent thickly seasoned with Jersey.
A spirited bidding war broke out that ended with Mr. Blakeley agreeing to $7.50 and throwing in a side of sweet corn. “As long as Mrs. Blakeley okays it,” he cautioned the crowd.
Beckett pounded his gavel. “Sold for $7.50 and corn, with Mrs. Blakeley’s approval.”
“If anyone has any questions on how else to appropriately observe November Awareness, please see Fitz from the bookstore since it was his suggestion.” Beckett moved on. “The first item on the agenda is our Halloween carnival. Bobbi, you have the floor.”
Bobbi, the silver dreadlocked proprietress of Peace of Pizza, moved to take the podium. “Okay, Mooners.” Her voice was like a mellow jazz singer and Gia wondered how she ended up in pizza. “We’re finalizing the details for our annual Halloween bash.”
Beverly leaned in again. “We do a Halloween carnival instead of trick or treat,” she whispered. “The kids love it and it’s so much easier on the parents.”
Gia had a feeling Evan and Aurora would enjoy it. Finally, her family was settling into a town where they could know their neighbors and make all those memories that childhood is built upon.
She felt an awareness skim over her. A heat sliding over her skin. Glancing up, her gaze connected with sterling eyes watching her from the stage. Beckett winked at her and she smiled back.
It was a shame he wasn’t hers to explore. She liked Beckett Pierce on principle and in reality. Gia knew from experience how hard it was to find a good, solid man. Not only was he dedicated to his family and his clients, but Beckett put just as much of his time and energy into his town. He had a big heart and a level head, not to mention a spectacular physique and sexy face.
And he would remain firmly out of her reach, Gia reminded herself.
While the council members hustled through agenda items — yes, the carnival would end at nine, no, they would not enforce a Star Wars theme — Joey slid into the empty seat next to Gia.
“What’d I miss,” she whispered, reaching over Gia for Beverly’s popcorn tub.
Beverly gladly shared. “No on the Star Wars proposition,” she said.
“Damn. I guess that means we won’t see the Jabba the Hut costume Big Ben’s been threatening to wear,” Joey sighed, sliding her long, denim-clad legs under the seat in front of her.
Gia offered her some candy, which Joey accepted in her empty hand.
“Do you come to these often?” Gia gestured toward the stage.
Joey shrugged. “When I need entertainment. I wasn’t planning to tonight, but Summer texted and asked me to meet her here.”
“Is she here?” Gia asked.
“Not yet. Said she’d be here right after the meeting.” Joey was quiet for a few moments. “She and Carter were on their way back from the city,” she said, finally.
Summer’s doctor’s appointment, Gia realized. She glanced sideways at Joey, but the only clue to her state of mind was the drumming of her fingers on the screen of her cellphone.
“Any punctuation or smiley faces in her text?” she asked.
Joey swiped the screen and showed Gia the text.
On our way back. Can you meet Carter and me at the town meeting tonight?
“Hmm,” Gia said.
“I know. Jackson’s coming, too. He and Colby were trying to finish up a few things on the farm with Carter and Summer in the city.”
“Are you worried?” Gia asked.
“Let’s go with mildly concerned.”
Gia watched the clock tick down to forty minutes. “Well, you don’t have long to wait before you find out what’s going on,” she said, patting Joey’s leg.
Joey heaved a sigh and shoveled more popcorn into her mouth.
Beckett wrapped up his announcement that the council would be surveying the borough’s sidewalks in the spring to see which ones needed to be replaced.
“Before we get to the open forum portion of the evening, the town council would like to formally recognize Bucky Quan. Mrs. Quan, if you could bring Bucky to the stage, please?”
Gia watched in amazement as a small woman with a jet-black blunt bob carried a bundle of fur to the stage.
“What is that?” she whispered to Joey.
“A rabbit. He was raised by the 4H program and adopted out after the county fair.”
“With the death of his brother Winston last week, Bucky is officially the oldest lop-eared rabbit in Blue Moon Bend. And while our condolences go to Winston’s family, we would like to honor Bucky and his eleven years with this plaque.”
Gia found herself applauding with the rest of the crowd as Beckett presented Mrs. Quan with a small, engraved plaque and posed for a picture taken by the same skinny young man in glasses who had shot her ribbon cutting. Anthony, she reminded herself, Rainbow and Gordon’s son.
“This is the most amazing way to spend a Thursday night,” Gia grinned.
“Now comes the real entertainment,” Beverly said, raising her chin toward the stage where Beckett was introducing the final portion of the evening’s meeting, the open forum.
“I’ll turn the podium over to Bruce Oakleigh for the conclusion of his argument.”
The bearded man stood and gave a formal bow to Beckett and then the crowd.
“Before I begin my conclusion on why it is important for your town leaders to don period powdered wigs, I’d like to recap my previous points.”
The crowd groaned.
“Again?” Joey moaned.
“He’s been arguing this during open forums for the last four months,” Beverly explained. “The last three meetings have been recaps of the points he made in the first meeting. He never gets to the conclusion.”
“The council has to vote on that?”
“No, it’s a town vote. We’re all set to vote yes, because I mean come on.” Joey held up her hands. “Beckett in a powdered wig? But Bruce never shuts up long enough to call a vote.”
“I think I’m in love with this town,” Gia decided.
Bruce argued mightily in favor of powdered wigs, but once again went to the last second with his argument leaving no time for the public to vote.
Beckett looked decidedly relieved as he adjourned the meeting.
As the crowd began to disperse, Joey unfolded herself and stood up.
“I’m going to see if I can find Carter and Summer,” she told Gia. “I’ll see you around.”
“Good luck,” Gia called after her.
She thanked Beverly for the popcorn and the commentary and decided to stop by the stage and say hi to Beckett. Just a friendly hi between neighbors, she reminded herself.
Beckett was trying to pay attention to his conversation with Mrs. Nordeman, but found himself distracted by Gianna as she approached. She was wearing gray patterned tights that ended just below her knees and a hooded sweatshirt. Her hair was piled up in a knot on her head. With siren-red hair, the woman could never blend in in a crowd.
She reached his side just as Mrs. Nordeman wrapped up her complaint about the public library not expanding its erotica section.
Beckett resisted the urge to close his eyes and instead nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll do some research on that, Mrs. Nordeman.”
“Great!” she said, breaking into a smile. “I’ll email you a list of titles for your consideration.” Mrs. Nordeman dashed off, her bell sleeves billowing behind her.
“You look like you have a headache,” Gianna told him with a sunny smile.
Beckett brought a hand to his brow. “Does it show?”
“I’d have a headache at the thought of having to wear a powdered wig, too,�
�� she said, sympathetically. “But if you need any help researching the library’s erotica collection I’m willing to volunteer my services.”
“I appreciate that.” Beckett looked her up and down. “Did you come straight from class?”
She nodded. “Evan’s watching Aurora for me. In fact, I should be getting home to them to make sure she didn’t somehow talk him into letting her destroy the house.”
“I’ll walk you out,” he offered, putting his hand on her shoulder. The words were out of his mouth before he knew they were in his head. The last thing he should be doing is be seen lusting after Gianna in front of the entire town. Willa and the rest of the Beautification Committee would be on them like Mrs. Nordeman and a new erotica novel. After the social media speculation about the two of them, he should be avoiding her like summer school.
“Thanks, but I think you have a family meeting,” Gianna said, pointing at the group approaching them. Summer and Carter led the way down the aisle, followed by a worried looking Phoebe, Franklin, Jax, and Joey.
Beckett tightened his grip on Gianna’s shoulder.
Shit. “Summer’s appointment,” he said half to himself.
Gianna reached up and squeezed his hand. “It’s going to be fine. No matter what it is, she has all of you.”
“Hey,” Carter said, by way of a greeting.
“Hey.” Beckett heard himself respond over the thudding in his chest.
“I should get going,” Gianna said, trying to pull free.
Beckett merely clamped down on her shoulder holding her in place.
“If you have a minute, Gianna, we’ve got some news we wanted to share with everyone,” Summer said. “Including you.”
“Um. Sure.” Gianna darted a glance at Beckett and he squeezed her shoulder.
Carter hauled Summer up against his side.
“So, we got some news from the doctor today and it was a little unexpected,” Summer began.
Beckett felt his heart climb into his throat. If there was anything wrong with Summer he didn’t know what they’d do. It made him feel helpless, useless. The tension hung thick in the air like a fog.
He watched his brother take a deep breath. “We’re pregnant,” Carter announced.
The response was immediate. Beckett was so relieved he doubled over to catch his breath. He felt small Gia’s hand gently stroke his back. His mother gasped in delight and burst into tears. Joey’s jaw dropped.
Jax’s response was the most succinct. “Holy shit.”
“With twins,” Summer added.
“Twins?” Everyone shouted the word at once.
Summer’s face glowed and her eyes gleamed with unshed tears. Carter looked happy and shell-shocked.
“You scared the shit out of all of us,” Joey said, finally regaining her voice.
“Scared? I’m more scared now. We didn’t even know if kids were possible and now twins?” Summer said, the hysteria rising in her voice. She seemed like she couldn’t quite catch her breath. “Oh, my God. Carter! We have to get married.”
Beckett nudged Carter. His brother slyly tapped the front pocket of his jeans.
“I thought you didn’t want to move too quickly,” Carter said innocently.
“Twins, Carter. Twins. Two babies,” Summer yelped. “There’s no slowing down this crazy train.”
“Well, in that case,” Carter began. He shoved his hand into his pocket and started to sink down on one knee.
“What?” Summer gasped. Her hands flew to her cheeks and she shook her head slowly from side to side. “This … I …”
Carter pulled out the ring and held it up. “I bought this weeks ago. The same day that you told me things were moving so fast you just wanted to sit back and enjoy them for a while. But I knew that there was nothing I wanted more than to have you as my wife, my partner.”
Summer pressed her fingers to her mouth.
“I know you wanted to wait, to get comfortable, to figure things out. But honey, the second I saw you, everything fell into place the way it was meant to be. We’re crazy if we put it off a second longer. I may be scared shitless right now, Summer. But there is nothing more that I want in this world than to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to marry you, to have babies with you, to follow dreams with you. Together we can handle it all. Will you be my wife?”
Summer couldn’t answer, she was crying too hard. But so were all the women.
Phoebe was sobbing in utter joy into Franklin’s chest. Joey swiped at a stray tear and didn’t even punch Jax when he leaned in and kissed her on the top of the head. Gia clasped her hands together under her chin and grinned through happy tears as she watched Carter sweep Summer up in his arms.
Thunderous applause rose up and Beckett looked up to see dozens of the town’s residents still standing at the back of the theater.
“We’re getting married!” Carter yelled, gently lowering Summer back to the floor.
“And having twins,” Summer added.
The crowd hooted and hollered all over again.
Carter hyperventilated and doubled over.
“We are so screwed,” Summer grinned, resting her cheek on her fiancé’s heaving back.
A celebration was definitely in order. It was determined that both Gia and Beckett had chilled bottles of champagne in their refrigerators so the party would proceed to Beckett’s house. While Summer and Carter were waylaid by congratulations from the crowd, Gia hurried home to get the kids and the champagne.
She had texted Evan after her class, before the meeting, during the meeting, and then immediately after the meeting. At which point he had replied, Stop smothering. We’re fine.
That had her cracking a smile. They may not have shared blood, but he definitely got his dry wit from her.
When she opened the front door, Gia found both her kids alive and well and engaged in a heated argument.
Aurora was in the middle of explaining exactly why her bedtime was too early for a kindergartner while Evan was passionately suggesting she take it up with her mom because he wasn’t “falling for her cute crap.”
Her heart still full, she wrapped them both up for a hug before demanding to know why Aurora had ignored her bedtime.
“Well, Mom, I was jus’ telling Van that it’s not fair that I hafta go to bed at eight,” her daughter said earnestly.
“I tried to make her go,” Evan said, giving a shrug of his skinny shoulder.
Gia released them to inspect the house. “Well, I see the roof is still attached. The walls are still standing.” She sniffed the air. “I don’t smell any gas leaks.”
Evan and Aurora waited, watching her for her reaction.
She crossed her arms and let them sweat a little bit. “Evan, good job tonight. Aurora, we’ll talk about a later bedtime at another time. For now, I need you guys to get your shoes on.”
Evan looked down at his pajamas. “But, we’re dressed for bed.”
“We’re running over to Beckett’s for a few minutes.”
“Yay! Bucket!” Aurora charged up the stairs in her little pink elephant pajamas on a quest for shoes.
Her brother was not as easily convinced. “Why are we going to Beckett’s?”
“The Pierces are celebrating some good news and they invited us over.”
“Summer and Joey, too?” He tried to look disinterested.
“Yep. Both of them.”
“I guess we can go. For a little bit.” He started up the stairs and paused. “Are you mad that Roar didn’t go to bed?”
Gia shook her head. “You did a great job tonight — as long as you did your homework.” She gave him the evil eye until Evan nodded. “Good. You being so responsible really helps me out.”
“It’s not your job, you know.”
“What’s not my job?”
“Taking care of me. You don’t have to.”
“Of course I do, Evan. It’s illegal to let your kids live in cardboard boxes and fend for themselves. Trust me. I looked it up
.”
Evan shook his head and pretended he wasn’t smiling. “You’re so weird.”
“Where do you think you get it, kid?” she called after him as he hustled up the stairs.
Evan changed out of his pajamas into jeans and a button down, confirming to Gia that he was suffering from a massive crush on both Summer and Joey. She hoped he wouldn’t be too devastated by Summer and Carter’s announcement.
Guilt drove her to let him have a soda — a decision she knew she’d regret — for the toast. Aurora toasted Summer with apple juice and bounced from Pierce brother to Pierce brother showing off the “efelants” on her pjs.
Beckett’s living room was overflowing with happiness and people. Gia ducked out into the hallway to catch her breath. It was a beautiful, overwhelming thing to see so many people so happy.
Summer stepped out of the kitchen, flushed and happy. She raised a finger to her lips and beckoned to Beckett’s rarely used parlor off the stairs.
Gia followed her in and Summer grabbed her hands.
“I just wanted to thank you for being here, Gia,” she said in a rush.
“Thank you for inviting us to be part of the celebration,” Gia said, squeezing Summer’s hands.
“I have an ulterior motive.” Summer’s cornflower eyes were wide.
“And what’s that?”
“I am scared to death,” she confessed. “I don’t know anything about parenting. I didn’t think it was possible, let alone probable. What am I going to do with twins?”
Gia put her hands on Summer’s shoulders and took a deep steadying breath. “Deep inhale,” she ordered. Summer took a gasping breath.
“Summer, you’ve had less than a day to digest this amazing news. You have nothing to worry about. You and Carter are good people. The best. You are responsible, healthy, fun, kind, generous, smart people. Your babies are the luckiest unplanned kids in the world.”
“See? This is why I need you. You’re going to be my new best friend, okay?” Summer said, her eyes still huge. “I need you to show me how to be a mom.”
Gia did laugh then. “I will be here to help in whatever way I can, but you’ve got this. You’re going to be amazing.”
“At best I hope to be mediocre to average and not emotionally scarring,” Summer said. “And with your help, I think I can get there. You’re an incredible mom. You have all this stuff figured out already. You can help me catch up.”