50. Sutton

50

SUTTON

Music drifted out of Cope’s meticulously hidden speakers and into the party. I couldn’t help but grin as I heard the strains of an old-school Tim McGraw song. As if I didn’t have enough proof that Cope loved me, his letting me play my country proved it, even though it was his least favorite kind of music.

Thea bumped my hip with hers. “Now, that is the smile of a happy woman.”

My cheeks heated. “It feels like it would be impossible to be any happier.”

Thea’s eyes glistened in the sunlight. “No one deserves that more than you.”

I pulled her into a tight hug. “Please, don’t make me cry. If Cope sees me crying, he’s going to get very cranky.”

That had Thea laughing as she released me. “Fair enough.”

As I stepped back, I took inventory of the dessert table. Linc had paid for caterers to kit out the barbeque, and while he’d returned to Seattle after the first day of camp, he’d gone all out for the party, even though he wouldn’t be here to enjoy it. But I’d asked if I could handle the desserts, and he’d grudgingly agreed.

Thankfully, Thea and I had gone all out, too. There were cookies in the shapes of pucks, sticks, and little hockey players, complete with the Seattle Sparks logo. But the cupcakes were the real showstoppers. We’d done the hockey player Oreo ones Frankie was so fond of, strawberry-lemonade ones with little, pure-sugar lightning bolts coming out the top, and triple-chocolate ones with all the different players’ numbers on them.

And it was a good thing we’d made a lot because they were going fast. As we stepped up to the table, Frankie turned around, his face full of cupcake. “What’ll it take to get you to dump Reaper and marry me?”

Marcus chuckled and picked up a cookie from the table. “It really would be the smarter play.”

I shook my head. “Stop stirring up trouble, or I’ll ban you from the dessert table.”

Marcus shoved the cookie into his mouth, holding up both hands as he walked away. “I didn’t say a word,” he mumbled around the cookie.

“Smart man,” Frankie called back. “Cause this shit is fire!”

“Watch your language,” Evelyn hissed, walking up as if she had radar for someone breaking her rules.

Frankie’s brows rose. “What’s wrong with fire?”

Evelyn’s jaw clenched. “Not that word, the other one.”

Frankie just looked confused.

“The s-one,” she spat.

“Lady, that’s not even a curse.”

Evelyn glared at me. “This is what you would have our children exposed to? And all this”—she gestured wildly around—“ sugar ?”

I stared back at her for a long moment. “Evelyn, look around you. Everyone’s having a good time…except you. Maybe you just need to relax for a second and try to have some fun.”

Frankie slung an arm over her shoulders and lifted a cupcake for her to take. “One bite. It’ll change your world. ”

Evelyn clamped her lips closed and shook her head, making some sort of noise in the negative.

“Come on, now. A little triple-chocolate never hurt no one,” Frankie cajoled.

“I said—” Evelyn opened her mouth to put him off, but Frankie was faster. He was trying to give her a bite but ended up all but shoving the entire cupcake in her face.

Everyone froze.

Then Thea let out a strangled laugh. I couldn’t help it and joined in. Frankie winced, slowly letting go of Evelyn’s shoulders as chocolate dropped onto her perfect white shirt. “I’m sorry, I?—”

“Oh, my God,” she mumbled around the cupcake. “This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted.”

My eyes went wide, and my gaze snapped to Thea in shock. Thea only laughed harder. “We tried to tell you, and I wouldn’t steer a sister wrong.”

“It’s incredible. What the hell was I thinking? Carob is not the same thing.”

A huge grin spread across Frankie’s face. “She said the h-word.”

“I know,” Thea whisper-hissed.

Frankie threw an arm around Evelyn’s shoulders again, guiding her away from the table. “This is just the beginning. We’re hitting up the trampoline next.”

Evelyn looked up at him with wide eyes and chocolate all over her face. “We are?”

“Damn straight.”

As they disappeared, Thea collapsed into me. “Who would’ve thought all it took to melt the ice queen was Frankie’s charm and one of your triple-chocolate creations?”

I shook my head, watching as Frankie hoisted Evelyn onto the trampoline, and she started…jumping. “Maybe this is the breakthrough she’s been needing.”

“God, I hope so. Otherwise, I worry for her kid.”

I did, too .

“Mooooom!” Luca yelled, running toward me with a water gun. “We’re playing water tag hide-and-seek. You gotta play with us!”

“It’s the best, Miss Sutton,” Keely called, firing a shot in another kid’s direction.

I should’ve said no. I needed to watch the table. I was in a sundress and sandals. But I threw all that out the window. Because my kid wouldn’t ask me to play with him and his friends for that much longer. So, I grinned at Luca. “Where’s my weapon?”

He giggled and handed me a ridiculously over-the-top water pistol. “We have to the count of a hundred to hide, and then everyone’s fair game. Tag as many as you can. Ready, set, go!”

I didn’t wait. I took off running across the field and toward the trees. I could use them to hide. I wasn’t about to embarrass my kid and get knocked out in the first five seconds. I slipped into some forest cover, trying to see where everyone was headed.

Two went by the trampoline, and another three headed into the party, weaving between players, parents, and Coach Kenner. But Luca, my smart boy, went for the hives because he knew most kids would be too scared of the bees to venture there, and he could sneak back around to surprise them all.

A laugh bubbled out of me as I watched him pump a fist in the air. But the laugh caught in my throat as someone grabbed me by the hair and yanked me backward, clamping a hand over my mouth. “Did you miss me, Blue Eyes?”