Page 67 of First Bride to Fall
“Ooh, nice.” Mei-Lin waggled her eyebrows, then got to work selecting items to drop into pastry bags, presumably for the clients at the table who were taking them to-go.
Grant was pretty ready to skedaddle himself. Everyone who worked here seemed to know his business, which was uncomfortable to say the least. He picked up his own pastry bag and the coffee, eager to get back to Nell. “Well,” he said to all the women, “good seeing you.”
“See ya, Grant,” Charlotte said with a cryptic smile.
Misty batted her eyelashes. “Give our love to Nell.”
Grant was almost to the door when he heard Misty whisper to Charlotte.
“Lucky Nell. Now she won’t have to marry Aidan.”
“Mist-y, shush!”
A lead weight settled in his stomach.
Why was Nell lucky, and what did that have to do with her not marrying somebody called Aidan? Grant whirled back around, and both sisters stared at him, shell-shocked. The look on their faces said he’d caught them red-handed. But at what?
His heart hammered. “What’s going on?”
Charlotte pursed her lips, then exchanged an excited glance with Misty. Whatever Misty was giddy about, Charlotte appeared stoked about it, too.
“Um.” Charlotte bit her lip. “We were just talking about—”
“Your engagement,” Misty blurted out, her face bright red.
Charlotte gasped, but it was too late.
Misty had blown the big secret she’d been holding in.
“Mywhat?”
Charlotte widened her eyes at Misty, and Misty winced. “Your engagement,” she said. “When Charlotte mentioned the ring, Nell didn’t deny it.”
Ring?As in, they thought he and Nell were gettingmarried?
Before Grant could blink, they’d scurried around the counter and were racing straight for him with their arms outstretched. They latched onto him with hugs, shielding their hushed conversation from their customers.
“We’re so happy for you,” Charlotte whispered.
Misty squealed softly. “You and Nell—who knew? I mean, we did, of course. But now that it’s official, yay!” She and Charlotte bounced on their heels, shaking Grant in their embrace like a diner milkshake.
Me and Nell? Future husband and wife? No.
Where on earth did they get that idea?
“You’re such a prince,” Charlotte wailed, an emotional mess.
Wait. Was shecrying?
“Yeah.” Misty squeezed him the hardest. “The best.” Her voice cracked, too, and his heart lurched. The room kept spinning around and around as Nell’s coffee sloshed in its cup. He tightened his grip to hang on to it and the pastry bag.
Charlotte and Misty stopped jostling for a moment, and he got his bearings, the café coming back into focus.
“You’re talking about…” He broke out of their hold. “My engagement to…Nell?”
He sent a panicked glance around the café to find Mei-Lin grinning at him. “Congrats,” she said, like she knew all about something he didn’t. Then she pushed her glasses back up on her nose and turned away, handing a newly made coffee to a waiting customer.
“I know we’re not supposed to talk about it yet,” Misty said, “soshhthat we told you we know.”
