Southern Roots Boxed Set: A Sweet RomCom Collection by Donna Jeffries

Author:Donna Jeffries [Jeffries, Donna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AEJ Creative Works
Published: 2022-12-17T00:00:00+00:00

17

TARA

“No, the burner in the back,” I snap, wishing I wasn’t so stressed.

Jared simply flips off the front burner and turns on the back one, nothing said.

“Sorry,” I say.

“It’s fine,” he says. “I wish I could be there tomorrow. Alicia says there’s nothing she can do about the baby.” He grins at me, and I relax a little.

“I can’t wait to meet your baby,” I say, thinking about children suddenly. I’ve never thought too much about becoming a mother, but I guess that comes with getting married. Otis hadn’t wanted children right away, and we’d gotten married when I was twenty-two, so I was fine waiting.

Our marriage had only lasted fifteen months, so I didn’t have any kids. Now, when I think about it, my children are all boys who wear smaller T-shirts than their actual size. They have dark hair and eyes, because both me and Alec do, and they all can zip around the kitchen and put together gourmet meals.

The past couple of weeks with Alec have been divine, and we’re not even pretending anymore. I’ve had a few reporters on my stoop, asking me about Alec and if I have any comment about Brett’s prediction that any relationship I forge will only last a week.

I have not had any comments. I’m done giving him fodder to write about. I’m done thinking about him.

Now, I spend most of my time worrying that Alec’s best friend could become his boo, and then I’ll be left to cry into my strawberry shortcake cupcakes.

“That’s boiling over,” Alec says to my right, and I pull myself out of my horrible self-doubts.

“Then get it,” I call to him. “Turn it down. Something.”

“I’m up to my elbows in this steak sauce,” he says, plenty of bite in his tone. I’m using the Saucebilities kitchen to prep all the food for the wedding, which is tomorrow, because while my back yard may be the site for the “wedding of all weddings,” as one reporter called Callie and Dawson’s nuptials, my kitchen is sorely lacking.

It’s not the anything of anythings, and the only reason I said Callie could have her wedding at my house was because she’d bring the awesome with her. She’d set it all up, and she’d pay someone to take it all down. That, and she said my chickens wouldn’t have to move.

“Chef,” Jared says, and I turn toward him. He’s wearing a bright expression that makes my heart sink to the soles of my feet. “She went into labor.”

“Go,” I say, though his departure makes me angrier and more frustrated than I already am. We’ve split our manpower today, because I stupidly booked a librarian luncheon for today, and that meant we couldn’t start the wedding meal prep until afternoon.

Three-thirty to be exact. Jared and Alec have been here since seven, and I made Henry go with me to the library while they scrubbed dishes and got the physical facilities ready for the second round.

“Burnt,” Alec says, drawing my attention from Jared’s retreating form.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.