Much to Cheryl’s chagrin, her mother wasn’t always the polite southern belle she’d been raised to be. No, with age had come feistiness, and Ms. Georgia was a woman who spoke her mind no matter the situation or the surroundings.
"It's fine. Amelia wouldn't have wanted you to cancel your plans," Mary Elizabeth said.
"Well, I left a gift for her in the foyer. Please give it to her and give her my best."
Tessa smiled at the woman's gesture and held up an empty glass. "Of course. Mimosa?"
"None for me," Cheryl said, going on to greet the others in the room. "Orange juice has been bothering me lately."
"I'll take one. Make it a double," Georgia said with a wink.
"Hadley sends her apologies as well," Cheryl said.
"You've talked to her?" Tessa asked, knowing Cheryl was concerned as to why her only child hadn't visited from Raleigh for nearly a year despite it only being a two-hour drive.
"Briefly. She says the kids are involved in absolutely everything, and she doesn't want to miss out since an empty nest looms," Cheryl said.
"Well, we can certainly understand that," Mary Elizabeth said. "Can't we, ladies? We've all been there."
"I would've held on to Zoey's legs as she left for college if I wasn't so afraid she'd kick her way free," Tessa offered as a joke. "Let Hadley enjoy what time she has left with her baby girl under her roof. I'm sure they'll be here once summer comes and things settle down after graduation."
"Exactly. One last hurrah and all of that," Mary Elizabeth said.
"So what were you two girls discussing when we walked in?" Georgia asked from the chair where she now sat. "You both looked awfully serious."
Mary Elizabeth shot Tessa a teasing look and ignored Tessa's head shake.
"Tessa keeps running into Bruce, and it's giving her the flutters."
"What's this now?" Cheryl asked, eyes going wide before narrowing shrewdly.
Tessa felt her face heat like a schoolgirl. "That wasn't nice," she said to MeMe. "And I'm not gettinganything," she said to the others. "I simply mentioned that in the last little while I keep running into him. Even though I’ve only run into him a handful of times over the years.”
“Maybe it just means you’ve both stopped avoiding one another. It’s about time,” Rayna Jo said, joining the conversation as she moved to greet Georgia.
“Yes, well, the focus today is on Isabel, remember?” Tessa desperately tried to steer the conversation away from her first husband and back to something less personal. At least for her. “I just happened to spot Isabelkissingher friend yesterday evening as I left.”
“Really?” Mary Elizabeth asked, a frown pinching her eyebrows together above her nose even though a sparkle entered her gaze.
“There’s definitely something going on there,” Tessa added. She felt a little guilty for throwing Izzy under the bus, so to speak, but desperate times and all of that.
"Let's hope we find out more today then," MeMe said. "He did make a good first impression, didn't he? Very mannerly, well dressed... Oh, a mother can only hope. Especially given the ones she’s brought home before."
"The party's here," Michael called out as he and his fraternal twin, Logan, entered the house.
Greetings were returned from throughout the room, but Adaline separated herself from her husband's side and moved to greet her sons.
Handsome men, both of them.
As they made the rounds, the boys greeted Georgia and complimented her before helping themselves to drinks.
"So, we hear you know Everett," Mary Elizabeth said to Michael. "Tell us everything."
Michael had just taken a sip of his drink and smiled as he shook his head at them while lifting the glass and a single finger to point toward the door.
"I've got a better idea," he said after he'd swallowed. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"
Isabel feltevery eye in the room lock on them the instant she and Everett walked into the kitchen area. She took a breath and pasted on a shaky smile, determined to get through the brunch and out of there as quickly as humanly possible.