Page 87 of Worth the Risk
“The usual reminder that she is never to date athletes.” He smiles at our daughter. “I’ll be back soon. Be good for your mommy and protect her from pinecones.”
“It was one time!” I protest.
“Yeah, and it knocked sense into you,” he teases before ruffling our daughter’s hair.
I wave a hand at him to get out of here, and exhale loudly, because even chaotic, life feels perfect lately.
* * *
After heading to town,checking on my boutique where my staff was packing a bunch of orders, I went to the general store to pick up a salad at the deli counter and chatted with the old ladies from the knitting club who reminded me that there is a Lake Spark festival coming up. By the time I got home, I was ready for a long walk, so I put Gracie in a baby carrier and did my usual round up to the viewpoint and back.
But to my surprise, as I approach the house, I notice that April is parked on Spencer’s driveway next door, and she is opening the trunk of her car.
“April?”
She looks at me as she swings a suitcase out of the back and her new beagle dog jumps out too.
“Oh, hey.”
“Uhm. Think you parked at the wrong house. I wasn’t expecting you. I mean, it’s great, I just need to change the sheets in the guest room.” I look down at my daughter, fast asleep.
April brings her hand to her hip and looks at me awkwardly. “I’m not here to stay with you.”
“Right… then what are you here for?” Now I’m just confused.
April smiles tightly then bites her lip. “I’m… going totemporarilylive with Spencer.” Her hand comes to cover her face, as if she doesn’t want to see me and would rather hide.
Which makes sense because I’m puzzled and don’t understand. “As in my neighbor? The guy you hate? Wait, the guy who you actually call the asshole baseball player?”
“Yep.” She pops the P with her lips.
“Why?” I ask blankly.
She nervously laughs. “Fun story. Or not. Remember your baby shower?”
“Of course.” I smile because it was amazing. It was more a party for Hudson and me. We did a gender reveal, had lunch at the Dizzy Duck Inn, ate cake, and Drew even made Hudson play ridiculous little games. It was a bigger event than our own wedding, which was a handful of people on the dock at the back of the house, a few weeks after Hudson proposed. “But what about the baby shower?”
She motions with her fingers to indicate size. “I might have made a teensy-weensy mistake with Spencer, and the man forgot to use the delete button. So, I need to hide out here in case the press figures it out.” She speaks at the speed of light, but I heard a few keywords there.
When my jaw that went slack returns to normal position, I speak. “Oh my God!” I’m shocked but totally in a good way, well, minus the leaked-video part.
Her dog Pickles makes a whimpering sound, as if he agrees with me.
April waves at me. “Howdy, neighbor.” She smiles weakly.
“We arenottelling Hudson the specifics of this,” I state.
“Please don’t,” she agrees.
I shake my head, but as I register everything, then a smile grows because I could kind of… see her and Spencer together.
“Oh, hey there, roomie,” I hear Spencer call out as he appears to walk slowly with a swagger down his driveway.
April’s face turns stiff, and she holds up her middle finger to him, but her eyes stay fixed on me. Her nostrils flare before smiling sweetly at me. “You’ll be my alibi if a hot baseball player turns up at the bottom of Lake Spark?”
My grin doesn’t fade. “I shouldn’t highlight the fact that you just called him hot, should I?”
She grumbles as she starts her march in the direction of her new temporary home, but I have a feeling it might not be temporary at all.
My phone vibrates in the pocket of the carrier, and I’m quick to pull it out to see a message from Hudson that he landed and already misses us. Glancing between my phone and a disgruntled April walking away, I chortle a laugh. They’re the reminder that the best risks may just turn into something well worth it.
