Keeping You (15 page)

“
Next year!” Lark clapped her hands. “Mason and I are going to start trying next year, too! We could have cousins the same age!”

Aria lifted her lightly floured hands in the air, gesturing for her sisters to take it down a notch. “Nothing’s a go, yet. Nash and I are going to wait and see where we are work wise in a year. We’ll make the decision then.”

She returned to folding ravioli, hoping that would be the end of the conversation.

She hadn’t meant to mention something so private in front of her sisters. She and Nash had talked about having another child, but they’d been naked at the time—a condition that had occurred an impressive number of times over the past few days, considering they had full-time jobs and a baby in the house. But the words had just slipped out. She wasn’t as guarded as she had been in recent months. Hell, in recent years. Now that her lie with Nash had become such a wonderful truth, she didn’t feel like she had anything to hide.

Though she did, of course.

She and Nash were both still hiding the real reasons behind their sudden marriage from their families. Living a lie had made things a little awkward when they’d gone to his sister’s house for dinner last Saturday. Aria could see how much Nash hated deceiving Raleigh and Alexandria.

They’d ended up having a great time—his sisters were warm, welcoming people who told hysterical stories about their enormous family—but after they’d arrived home, Nash and Aria had both agreed that they couldn’t keep their secret forever. They decided to tell their families the truth on their first wedding anniversary. They figured that would be long enough to prove to everyone that the marriage was going to stick, and they both hoped to have a happier announcement to make at the same time, something that would take everyone’s mind off of the fact that they had been lied to.

A baby. With Nash.

The thought turned her on
way
more than it should. But there was just something sexy about imagining making a baby with Nash—aside from the actual sex involved in the making, of course.

Making love with Nash was the most spiritual thing she’d experienced in years, and what could be more spiritual than creating a new life together? Just thinking about it was enough to make her chest fill with happy bubbles, and her body ache to be in Nash’s arms, to have every inch of him pressed against her, to feel his breath warm on her lips as he told her he loved her in that special way he had, that way that erased every scrap of doubt she’d ever—

“
You’re humming again,” Melody muttered with a mock glare in Aria’s direction.

“
Sorry.” Aria grinned.

“
It’s all right.” Melody stood and wiped her hands on her apron. “I’m going to step outside and see if the waiters are here yet. You hum until your little heart’s content.”

“
Take your phone,” Lark called as Melody headed for the door. “Get a shot of the venue for our website. It looks gorgeous today.”

“
Got it,” Melody said, grabbing the phone as she headed for the door. “See you two lovebirds in a bit.”

Aria exchanged a loaded look with Lark as Melody disappeared. “You think she’s okay? She’s usually so obnoxiously optimistic.”

“
She’ll be fine,” Lark said. “She’s just having a hard time right now. I don’t imagine it can be easy for her. A few months ago, she had the steady boyfriend and you and I were the ones who looked like we’d never make it to the altar.”

Aria nodded. “Kind of blows your mind, doesn’t it? How quickly things can change?”

“
Totally,” Lark agreed, putting the first tray of baked ravioli in the oven, “and they’ll change for Melody, too. I’m sure of it.” She turned, snapping her fingers the way she did when she’d just remembered something. “By the way, did Nash give you his brother’s phone number?”

Aria shook her head. “No, was he supposed to?”

“
No, I just thought you might have it. I forgot to get it on the paperwork,” she said with a wave of her hand. “But it’s no big deal. I’ll get it from him when he clocks in today.”

Lark had graciously agreed to hire Nash’s younger brother, Nick, for some part time work. The black sheep of the Geary family, Nick was back in Summerville from Atlanta, having been kicked out of his apartment for infractions Aria wasn’t entirely clear on. Although he’d most recently been working as a tattoo artist, Nick had food service experience, and Nash thought working would help set his little brother back on the right track.

As the black sheep of
her
family, Aria could empathize, though she had yet to meet Nick. Besides, she would do anything she could to help Nash out. His happiness was becoming her happiness, and the man himself so much a part of her that she only felt completely whole when they were together. She’d never felt this way before, not even in the throes of her obsession with Liam.

That’s what it had been. Obsession, not love. She could see that now.

Love wasn’t painful or misery-inducing. Love didn’t make you feel desperate or unworthy. Love lifted you up and made you freer, happier, and better than you were before. It wasn’t so much that she was more whole now that she and Nash were together, but that she felt like the best version of herself for the first time. The way Nash loved her just made her soul shine a little brighter.

Aria sighed. “Isn’t love the best thing ever?”

Lark laughed and threw a wilted leaf of lettuce Aria’s way. “Now you’re grossing
me
out.”

“
I am not! You’re way grosser!” Aria returned the leaf and followed it with a strawberry, laughing as it sailed down the front of Lark’s shirt. “You and Mason give each other googly eyes that are totally barfy.”

She and Lark spent the next several minutes exchanging insults and bits of food, until they both dissolved into fits of laughter.

Because love did that, too. It made you laugh, and smile, and spread rays of happiness around you like sunshine.

Chapter Twelve

Melody hurried outside, shedding her apron as she went, tossing it on an empty serving cart by the door. She’d get it on her way back inside. Right now, she wanted to feel the wind blowing through her thin, chiffon skirt. She needed to cool off after being stuck in the hot kitchen all afternoon.

“
And stuck listening to Happy and Happier, the love zombies,” she mumbled under her breath, which immediately made her feel guilty.

This wasn’t like her. She loved her sisters and she loved love. The fact that her sisters had both
found
love should be wonderfully, inspirationally romantic. She should be twirling through the kitchen, high on happiness right along with them.

She didn’t know why she was feeling so sour inside. Yes, she’d had a string of bad dates, with a string of allegedly “nice” boys. Yes, she’d been feeling lonely and sad and like something important was missing from her life, but that was no excuse for being a grump.

Melody decided to apologize to Aria and Lark when she got back to the kitchen, and immediately felt better.

She picked up her pace, her usual spring coming into her step as she headed up to the staff parking lot.

Lark had hired two extra waiters for the wedding today—a gala affair with nearly five hundred guests—so Melody didn’t have to take her turn as server and could concentrate on helping Aria bring out the desserts. All
twelve
of them
.
This bride’s mother had a sweet tooth and the cash to afford a decadently elaborate spread. It was going to be spectacular, and Aria had promised to make extra dark-chocolate-covered strawberries for the sisters to share when the wedding was over.

That was where Melody should direct her focus. Dessert was definitely something a girl could count on.

The thought of sweet berries covered in chilled chocolate made Melody grin as she reached the staff parking lot to find the regulars—Natalie, Mitch, Manny, George, and Sadie-Lynn—already assembled, nursing their final cigarettes before they suited up. A young, coffee-skinned woman with black hair in tidy braids, who Melody assumed to be the new female server, was locking up her car, but there was no sign of the other newbie.

Lark hadn’t told Melody much about either of the new hires. They had interviewed yesterday, while Melody was in Atlanta taking a French Sauces class before heading out on her disastrous date with Chad, the cheapskate. She only knew to expect two new faces, one male, and one female.

Melody greeted Braids Girl—Lucinda—and then scoped out a good place to take a few pictures. The staff parking lot was on a hill above the venue and there was a great view of the garden and faux Greek ruins. Aria said the fake, crumbling pillars looked cheesy in the middle of the Georgia countryside, but Melody thought the scene was lovely.

She shot some stills of the venue, then a few of Mitch making hideous faces at Sadie-Lynn that Melody knew Felicity would find hysterically funny the next time Melody babysat. She killed as much time as she felt she could, but fifteen minutes later, there was still no sign of the other new hire.

“
It’s cool, the six of us can handle it,” Mitch said, throwing an arm around Melody, treating her to an unwelcome whiff of his onion-y underarm.

“
No, I can suit up and help out. I don’t want y’all to be slammed, and it’s Lucinda’s first day.” Melody wrinkled her nose and discreetly began to breathe through her mouth. She couldn’t believe she had ever thought Mitch was cute. His body odor was seriously out of control.

She made a mental note to convince Lark to have a talk with Mitch about his crystal deodorant. Melody knew Mitch was a hard-core, save the planet hippie, and she loved him for it, but really, there were some sacrifices that had to be made in the name of personal freshness.

As she spun on her heel to retrieve her uniform from inside, an enormous mechanical roar came from the bottom of the hill. The ungodly noise had all seven of them turning as a group in time to see a decrepit MG Midget in desperate need of a muffler rumble up the hill. It stop-started its way to the parking area, sputtering and coughing and threatening to die several times before finally pulling to a shuddering stop beside Lucinda’s VW bug.

A moment later, a boy with dark brown hair spiked up all over his head like an unruly hedgehog emerged from the driver’s side and began strutting toward them.

The sun caught him from behind, accentuating his wide shoulders, narrow hips, and long, long legs. The man had enough swagger for five Mick Jaggers.

“
Oh my, who is
that
luscious little dumpling?” Manny asked beneath his breath.

“
I’m assuming he’s the new guy.” Melody frowned.

New guy was admittedly easy on the eyes, but he was fifteen minutes late and the cocky expression on his face practically oozed defiance. He was the poster child for Does Not Play Well With Others, and a far cry from Lark’s usual, easy-going hires.

What in the world could her sister have been thinking?

“
Hey.” New guy jerked his chin at the assembled company by way of greeting. “I’m Nick.”

“
You’re late,” Melody said, sliding out from beneath Mitch’s arm.

Nick shrugged, his eyes skimming over Melody to take in the rest of the staff. “Looks like we’re all still standing around anyway, right?”

Melody’s frown deepened. “We’re still standing around because we were waiting for
you
.”

“
Sorry.” Something about his smile made Melody feel like a cat that had been stroked the wrong way. “I’m sure we’ll still have plenty of time to wait on rich people today.”

“
Dude, Melody is, like, our boss,” Mitch said in a whisper that was ridiculous considering Melody was standing right next to him. “Or, like, the sister of our boss, which is almost like our boss.”

Nick’s eyes returned to Melody, flicking up and down with a bit more interest, his attention arousing a strange mixture of nerves and awareness that only served to irritate her even further. Melody knew she was pretty, but she wasn’t the type of girl boys like this one paid attention to. She was wholesome and sweet, the girl most likely to be mistaken for a kindergarten teacher. Bad boys were as repelled by her as they were attracted to tattoos, of which this boy had
several
if the ink peeking out beneath the sleeves of his white t-shirt was anything to judge by.

“
So, you’re the one who married Nash,” he finally said, his eyebrows lifted in obvious surprise. “Never took Nash for a cradle robber, but…whatever works for you two.”

“
That’s my
other
sister,” Melody said through gritted teeth. “And I’m twenty two. That’s hardly fresh out of my cradle.”

“
Sorry again, my mistake,” Nick said with a mocking laugh that made Melody see red.

Crimson red, the color of blood, with bombs shaped like Nick’s smug, spiky head exploding inside of it.

“
You’re fired.” The words were out of Melody’s mouth before she realized she was going to say them.

Or remembered that she didn’t
technically
have the power to hire or fire anyone. Lark owned the business. But Lark was her sister before she was her boss, and Lark would never tolerate a jerk talking to Melody like a dumb, blond, baby bunny.

“
What?” Nick’s green eyes lost the crinkle at their edges, but his smile stayed firmly in place.

“
I said, you’re fired,” Melody repeated, standing up a little straighter. “Get back in your piece of crap car, and leave. Now.”

“
I thought you needed the help,” Nick said, still
smiling.

Argh!
Melody wanted to punch him right in his shiny, white teeth, an urge that was so intensely unfamiliar it made her head spin, and her words breathy when she said, “Please. Leave. We won’t be needing your help today.”