The Bloom Girls

by Amy Pine

  She blew out a steadying breath. “I’m not going anywhere, Gabs. Go be with Ethan, and give Miriam my love. I’m opening the bakery Monday morning. How about you, Ethan, and Miriam come for breakfast and we can start talking wedding plans. I think I know a great place you can get a cake.”

  “You’ll make my cake? I mean, I wanted you to, but I was afraid to ask because we haven’t really had a chance to talk about the engagement and…Thank you!” Gabi squealed. “You’re the best, Mom. No matter how many times I screw up, this wedding will be perfect with you on my side.” Then her voice grew hushed. “Ethan’s parents are—they’re not as easygoing as you and Dad are. And after the almost murder today—”

  “Accidental almost murder,” Alissa reminded her daughter.

  “Fine. Accidental. But after making a worst-of-the-worst first impression today, I can’t mess anything else up, you know? I can’t give them any reason to think I’m not good enough for their son.”

  Tears pricked Alissa’s eyes. Damn these hormones. “Accidentally almost killing someone in no way means you’re not good enough. In fact, if you really want to know where I stand on all this, there’s no one good enough for my girl. But I guess Ethan seems pretty okay.” She let out a tearful laugh, hoping Gabi couldn’t hear the sad part. “You really love him, don’t you?”

  She was walking and talking now, batteries in one hand and phone in the other until she made it to her bedroom, where her hot pink, battery-operated friend lay lifeless on her dresser.

  “I wasn’t looking for this,” Gabi said. “For him. But it happened and yeah…I really love him.”

  “Then I’m really happy for you, for both of you.” Alissa meant it.

  “Oh!” Gabi said. “Ethan’s off the phone with his sister. I gotta go. Love you, Mom.”

  “Love you…” But Gabi was already gone.

  Alissa sighed, then unscrewed the battery compartment on the handheld end of her companion and swapped the old out for the new. She pressed the power button, and her hand shook with the sudden vibration.

  “Guess it’s just you and me now, huh?”

  Her doorbell rang right then.

  Startled, she hurried toward the door. Was it a package? She hadn’t ordered anything that she could remember. Then again, random Amazon boxes showed up from time to time because online shopping was so easy she often forgot she did it.

  She could see through the small window on the top half of the wood door that there was no delivery truck out front, but someone was waiting on her front porch.

  She groaned. “Can’t they read the NO SOLICITING sign?” she mumbled as she threw open the door.

  Only Matthew stood there in a navy polo, a pair of well-fitting jeans, dusty work boots—and a bemused expression she didn’t quite understand.

  “What?” she asked.

  He nodded toward the item she hadn’t realized was still held firmly in her grip and grinned. “Is that a vibrating dildo in your hand, or are you just happy to see me?”

  “Oh my God!” she yelled. Said dildo went from savior to hot potato, and her first instinct was to throw it—straight at Matthew.

  He caught it, raised his brows, then found the power button and turned it off.

  “I appreciate the offer,” he said. “But it’s not exactly my preference.”

  His blue-eyed gaze raked over her entire body, so intense she could feel it. Or maybe he was simply looking at her because she’d thrown a sex toy at him, and she was feeling certain things in certain places because of the pregnancy side effect she’d begun experiencing after yoga.

  “Do you want this back, or were you hoping I’d get rid of it?” he asked when she still hadn’t spoken.

  She winced, grabbed the vibrator from his outstretched hand, and shoved it into the waistband of her yoga pants like a concealed weapon.

  “Um…what are you doing here, Matt?” She finally found her words.

  He shrugged. “I talked to Sadie last night, and she told me she was opening this morning, so I took a chance on you being home. Figured we needed to talk.”

  Alissa’s eyes widened. “You didn’t tell your sister about…” She motioned between them.

  He laughed. “That we slept together after Gabi’s graduation? Or that you’re pregnant and sprang the news on me minutes before fainting?”

  “Either. Both.”

  Please say no. Please say no. Please say no.

  If Sadie knew, it was only a matter of time before Matthew’s parents knew, and if it got back to Gabi before she was able to tell her daughter herself…

  “Are you going to invite me inside so we can have an actual discussion about this, Liss? Or are we going to pass a vibrator back and forth and do this on the porch?”

  “Just answer the one question, Matt. Please. Does. Sadie. Know?”

  She held her breath.

  “No,” he said. “Can I come inside now?”

  Alissa stepped to the side and gave him room to enter. With him came a soft breeze, carrying the scent of fresh-cut grass, something citrusy, and something woodsy as well.

  “Mmm,” she hummed before she could stop herself.

  “Excuse me?” Matthew turned back to face her.

  She slammed the front door shut with her hip, turning the vibrator on again, and yelped as she jumped, then stumbled, straight into her ex-husband’s chest.

  Matthew’s hand slid across her ribs, and she sucked in a breath. He once again turned the device off, made sure she was steady on her feet, then backed away.

  “What’s going on, Liss?” he asked.

  Alissa crossed and uncrossed her arms, trying to come off as nonchalant but aware she was failing miserably.

  She groaned. “You know how pregnancy can have, um, side effects?”

  He nodded. “Like your morning sickness and low blood pressure. It might have been more than twenty years ago, but I remember.” He let out a nervous laugh. “Like it was yesterday.”

  “Yeah. Those things are definitely happening again. But I’m also having some new symptoms.” She shifted in place, one knee crossing over the other, the mere mention of her symptoms reminding her libido why she had been searching for double A batteries in the first place.

  He leaned against the back of the couch. “Like what?”

  Alissa produced the concealed weapon, gave him a nervous smile, and shrugged.

  “Oh?” His eyes widened. “Oh. Do you need to…I mean, should I come back later? Or call? I should have called instead of just showing up, but I officially signed my contract today, and I wanted to tell you first and to talk about us…Not us necessarily but us and the baby. Gabi. All of it.”

  Alissa’s brows furrowed. “Contract?”

  “You remember me telling you about the job, don’t you? It was right in the middle of the pregnancy reveal and you asking me to catch you.”

  She winced. “I sure do know how to kick the drama up a notch, don’t I? Guess you’re going to have to remind me because the driveway portion of the evening is a little fuzzy.”

  He cleared his throat. “The Botanic Garden has an opening for a year-round curator. I applied before I got back in town last week, and…” He shrugged. “They called, I interviewed, and I signed. I’m home, Alissa. For good.”

  “What about Costa Rica? Or was it Hawaii? It’s hard to keep track of where you’re living.” As far as she knew, Matthew hadn’t had a permanent address in at least fifteen years. He was here, and then he was gone. It was a pattern she and Gabi had grown used to. But the botanic garden? That was right here. In Highland Park. Ten minutes tops from Alissa’s driveway to the garden’s parking lot.

  He laughed. “Spent the summer in Boulder, actually. On a research team at University of Colorado. Would love to have been there in the winter to hit the slopes, but it was just a contract position during summer school. They might have something permanent for me next semester, but I can ski in Wisconsin, right?” He raised his brows looking so earnest, so sincere, but they�
�d been here before, too many times to count.

  “Why now?” Alissa said, a question she’d asked at various times throughout the years. A question that always led to the same conversation—that always led to Matthew Bloom packing his bags again. “We don’t have to keep the baby, Matt.” But even as she said the words, she knew she didn’t mean them. Raising Gabi had been hard. So hard at times. But look at how wonderful she turned out—a piece of her and Matthew all wrapped up into one amazing human.

  Her eyes burned.

  “You want to keep it,” he said.

  She nodded, for the first time sure of her answer to the question that had been swirling around in her head since she peed on a dozen or so sticks.

  He took a step toward her. “I want it too. I want to do it right this time. Together.” He grabbed her hand. “Liss…I want to stay. I’ve wanted to come home since that night after Gabi’s graduation. This job at the garden wasn’t a whim. I’ve been in talks with them for eighteen months just waiting for the right position to open up, and when it did, I took it without a second thought. And now there’s a baby and…Don’t you think it might be a sign that this is the right time for—for us?”

  A sign? Signs were for a hopeless romantic who didn’t know any better. Signs were for teenagers who were naive enough to believe love conquered all. Signs were—

  Matthew gave her hand a squeeze, and something pulsed inside her.

  She expected her emotions to take over here, to tell him that she couldn’t trust him yet, that she was prepared to do it on her own like she did before. But instead, the second his skin made contact with hers, her libido grabbed hold of the wheel.

  “I need sex,” she said plainly. “Like, right now. And I’m more than prepared to deal with the situation on my own.” But oh…To have someone please her, someone who knew how and had done so before? How much better would that be?

  Logic would tell her this line of thinking was a big mistake. Huge. But logic left the building the second Matthew Bloom showed up on her porch.

  Matthew skimmed his fingers through the rogue curls that had fallen from her messy bun, and her breath hitched.

  “Alissa…” His voice was deeper and sexier than it had ever sounded in the history of—of ever. “Do you want me to take care of your little situation?”

  She licked her lips, waited for logic to rear its ugly head, and then smiled when it didn’t.

  “Yes.”

  Chapter Ten

  Gabi and Ethan pulled into the small strip of shops, the nearest parking spot several doors down from Take the Cake’s entrance.

  “I can’t believe this place is five minutes from my parents’ house.” He put the car in park and turned to face her.

  “I can’t believe they turned down your invitation for them to join us.” Her heart sank.

  Ethan sighed. “It’s not you, Gabi. It’s me. I promise. I’m sure they’re still processing me coming home early and engaged.”

  Wasn’t her family processing the same thing? Yet they weren’t avoiding seeing Ethan again. She huffed out an unconvincing laugh. “I didn’t realize that you shot your dad in the neck with a high-speed champagne cork and almost killed him. Oh. Wait. You didn’t. That was me. You’re the one who saved his life from your murderous fiancée.”

  Ethan chuckled, but Gabi was still pouting.

  He pressed a palm to her cheek and stroked her skin gently with his thumb. “They just need time to warm up to you. To us.”

  In Europe, they’d made the joint decision to put real-world issues on the back burner and simply enjoy the adventure. Ethan’s engagement had happened on a whim, literally minutes before arriving in Gabi’s driveway, so there hadn’t been time to do the whole family-history part of the relationship. They had so much to catch up on, so much to still learn about each other. Gabi had just imagined it starting out a bit better than her mom fainting upon meeting Ethan and Gabi almost killing her fiancé’s father.

  Gabi kissed his palm. “You think things went well with my parents?”

  He laughed. “Your mom’s reaction was—unexpected. And I was a little worried about your dad, especially when you basically told him we’ve been sleeping together all summer. But I think singing karaoke into kitchen utensils with him really solidified our bond.”

  She winced. “Promise me you’ll forget what an awful singing voice I have and that you’ll marry me in spite of it.”

  He leaned over the center console and kissed her.

  “You’re beautiful,” he said, then kissed her again. “Which means every part of you is beautiful.” Another kiss.

  A hard knock sounded against the passenger-side window, and Gabi yelped. She spun to see a petite young woman with short pink hair in a black tank and yellow plaid pants. Even though she couldn’t see the woman’s feet, she knew they were clad in Doc Marten Mary Janes.

  Gabi’s yelp turned to a squeal. The pink-haired woman stepped away, giving Gabi room to throw open her door, pull her camera out of the way, and then launch herself into Miriam’s outstretched arms.

  “What is the deal with you not doing Shabbat at your parents’ place the weekend I get home?” Gabi asked. “I tried to surprise you, and you weren’t even there!”

  She squeezed her best friend tight even as she chastised her. They’d been texting since their missed connection Saturday night, but this was the first she’d seen Miriam in two months.

  Gabi stepped back, her arms still on Miriam’s shoulders. “Something’s different,” she said. Although everything looked the same, right down to the predicted Mary Janes.

  Miriam crossed her arms and narrowed her hazel eyes at Gabi. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Bloom.”

  Gabi’s mouth fell open. “You had sex!” She quickly snapped a photo of her friend before Miriam had a chance to reply.

  A throat cleared behind her, and Gabi spun to see Ethan standing with his hands shoved in the front pockets of his jeans, his biceps taut against the sleeves of his T-shirt, and the word sex still lingering in the air.

  Miriam raised her brows and nodded toward Ethan. “I’m guessing this is part of your surprise?”

  Gabi hadn’t told Miriam about Ethan yet. Just as she’d been afraid to tell her mom—afraid to admit how quickly she was falling for him—she’d kept her whirlwind romance from her best friend as well. What if she’d jinxed it? Or worse…What if Miriam had reminded her that Gabi didn’t believe in things like jinxing or signs? Between the two of them, Miriam was the hopeless romantic while Gabi had always been the skeptic.

  “You didn’t deny my speculation.” Gabi shifted the focus back to her friend.

  “Nor did I confirm it.” She strode past Gabi and held her hand out to Ethan. “I’m Miriam. And I’m guessing you’ve heard a lot more about me than I have about you.”

  Ethan shook Miriam’s hand, but his puzzled gaze fell on Gabi. “You didn’t tell your best friend about us? I told Colin about you after that first night at the pub.”

  Gabi let out a nervous laugh. “We agreed to live in the moment and not—you know—think about the future. So I kept you my dirty little secret until—well—now.” She moved so she was standing between them and placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

  “Mir…This is Ethan Harris. My fiancé.”

  Miriam let loose one giant incredulous belly laugh, but Gabi didn’t join her.

  “Oh my goodness,” Miriam said. “You’re serious.”

  “Why wouldn’t she be serious?” Ethan looked at Gabi. “Why wouldn’t you be serious?”

  Gabi linked an arm through each of theirs. “We need coffee and pastries before this goes any further. Come on.” She urged them both toward the sidewalk and then to Take the Cake’s entrance. The bakery’s name was painted in a whimsical white font over a pink circle, and the day’s specials—because Gabi’s mom liked to change up the menu to keep patrons on their toes—were scrawled up and down the windows with washable chalk markers.

  “Y
our aunt’s hand lettering is amazing,” Miriam said.

  “Yeah. Sadie’s great.” Gabi pressed a kiss to Ethan’s shoulder. “I’m so excited for you to meet her.”

  Ethan responded by kissing her softly on the top of the head. “Me too.”

  The three of them pushed their way inside, a bell chiming overhead as they opened the door. Gabi grinned when she saw the line of people at the counter, her mom and aunt in perfect rhythm as they filled orders and moved patrons along.

  “The place is doing really well, isn’t it?” Miriam asked.

  But Gabi was already lost behind the lens of her camera again, capturing the thriving business her mom had built from the ground up, her dream for years that she hadn’t been able to realize while raising a daughter by herself.

  “I’ll grab a table while we wait for the line to die down,” she heard Ethan say from over her shoulder, and she nodded, still snapping photos, trying various angles and playing with the natural light pouring in from the front windows.

  “I can see you’re in a zone,” Miriam said, and Gabi paused to peek out from behind the lens.

  “Sorry, but I haven’t seen the place in months. I can’t believe how much it’s taken off since I’ve been gone. I feel like I missed so much.” She raised a brow at her friend.

  Miriam countered with a raised brow of her own. “A fiancé? You hid a fiancé from me?”

  “You’re going to love him.” Gabi grabbed Miriam’s hand. “I mean, you have to love him because you are the most important person in my life who isn’t related to me by blood.”

  Miriam leaned close and stood on the tiptoes of her Mary Janes. “Bloom, I’m the most important person in your life. Period. And Dreamboat better know it.”

  They found Ethan at a four-top wooden table against the wall to their right, the one painted with a mural of vibrantly colored cakes—every kind you could think of and ones you’d never heard of—against a pink background.

  Aunt Sadie was a genius with calligraphy, but Gabi’s mom was the true artist, whether it was molding fondant or re-creating her original recipes on a drywall canvas.