The Christmas Cottage Ever After by Samantha Chase

Author:Samantha Chase
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2015-07-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 1

“You’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?”

“You’re looking.”

“Looking at what?”

“The bump.”

Ava rolled her eyes. “You are almost eight months pregnant, Lacey! Stop calling it the bump!”

Smiling, Lacey ran a hand over her rounded belly. “Doesn’t change the fact that you were staring at it. What’s up with that?”

“Why can’t you just call it a baby?”

Now it was Lacey’s chance to roll her eyes. “Because your brother is making me crazy! When I refer to it as a she, he reminds me that we could very well be having a boy. Then he gets suspicious that I’ve had some secret ultrasound he wasn’t invited to and that I actually know the sex of the baby! I don’t know who’s going to be more of a handful when I give birth, the baby or your brother!”

“So because you can’t say anything gender specific, you’ve decided it’s better to call it ‘the bump’?” Ava asked. “That’s just weird.”

“No, what’s weird is watching an intelligent, grown man trying to wrap me and everything around me in bubble wrap so I don’t get hurt.”

Ava had to agree on that score. “He loves you and he wants to make sure you’re okay. I think it’s sweet.”

“Oh, it is, and believe me, I love him more every day because of it. I just wish he’d relax a little bit.”

“Ean doesn’t know how to relax. You’ve known him your whole life and you married him. Clearly this can’t be news to you?”

“It’s not,” Lacey sighed, “but it’s exhausting, too.”

Ava would have been worried, but Lacey’s tone held nothing but affection. As much as she might be griping, there were no two people more in love than the expectant parents. It was enough to make a person sick.

“So, you invite a pregnant woman who cannot have caffeine to a coffee shop,” Lacey began as she inhaled deeply. “This must be important.”

“He’s getting married.”

“Who?”

“Mason.”

Lacey was glad she wasn’t drinking anything because she surely would have spit it out. “How did you find out?”

“I ran into him.”

“Where?”

“Here.”

Knowing Mason wasn’t here at the moment, Lacey still couldn’t stifle the urge to look around. “Is this the first time you’ve seen him?”

“Since the wedding?”

Lacey nodded.

“Yes, it is,” Ava replied, finally taking a sip from her own now-cool latte. “It’s weird because we used to come here all the time, and to not run into Mason once in eight months seemed unusual.”

“Was he alone or was he with…her?” Lacey asked cautiously.

“Geez, you don’t have to be so dramatic, Lace. I was in line and Mason walked in, alone, and it was a little bit awkward but we got our drinks and sat down and that’s when he told me.”

Lacey waited to see if there was going to be more to the story, and then got tired of waiting. “And?”

“And what?”

“Talking to you is painful sometimes, Ava, you know that?”

“Her name is Melissa. She’s a paralegal at his firm. They met three months ago.” Funny, but it didn’t even bother her to say those words out loud.

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