Caroline gave her a thankful nod and turned her attention to her tote bag. She dug inside like a less than graceful Mary Poppins, biting her lip as she pulled remnants from the bag.
“This,” she placed a gift bag on the table between them, “is for you.”
She pushed the gift towards Georgia, rested her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands, a condescending smile on her face. “From the man youdidn’tspoon with at the church last week and who you definitelydidn’tmake out with that same night…”
A loud clang sounded behind the counter. Both girls turned at the noise to see Sadie pop up from behind the counter with a large metal spoon in her hand. “Whoops. Sorry, y’all… I uh… I dropped this.” She held the spoon up in the air like a prize.
Caroline turned back to her sister and continued with her verbal assault. “This gift, Georgia Remillard, is from the man who is definitely NOT your boyfriend, but who showed up to your loft last night with a gift in his hand, and who was permitted to stay after hours… after kickin’ your friends and siblings, and your favorite sister, out of your home.”
Sadie raised her hand from the counter silently, caught in the peripheral of both sisters at the table.
Without missing a beat, Caroline deadpanned while maintaining steady eye contact with Georgia, “Lakeland.” Pause. Pause. Pause. “Lovett.”
Sadie’s hand slowly went down and then wisely busied with tasks behind the counter.
Georgia rolled her eyes then, using a tie she always wore on her wrist, pulled her hair into a wild bun on her head. “Ya know, you can be just as dramatic as Ginny sometimes.” She pulled the bag into her lap and peeked inside. “I didn’t kick you out.”
Caroline cleared her throat.
“I didn’tWANTto kick you out,” she clarified. “But Caroline, Ginny saying all the things she said and then Lake showin’ up… and the gifts…”
“Clearly, they’ve all been from him,” Caroline said, eyeing the gift in Georgia’s lap.
“Yeah, they… They have been. Lake’s my Secret Santa.”
“Stupid Hot Santa,” Caroline mused.
Georgia clenched the bag. “Seriously Sweet Santa. But… where did you get this gift?”
Caroline leaned in close across the table, and for the first time in their interaction, she slipped a glimmer of a smile. “He tracked me down at Mama and Daddy’s last night.LATElast night. All disheveled, but still deliriously good looking. It’s unfair, really. He said something about how you might not wanna see him today, but he wanted you to get this gift, andhe’s sorry… blah blah blah.”
She grabbed her sister’s hand. “What does Lakeland Lovett have to be sorry for, Georgia? What did he do to you? Am I about to have to beat down the hottest man to ever grace our parent’s front porch?”
Georgia stifled a laugh, her first lighthearted moment that day. “No. You don’t need to bring down the proverbial hammer. He… He just…”
“He just keeps gazin’ at you with dreamy eyes and spoonin’ you at youth lock-ins?”
“We weren’t spoonin’, but…”
“But the gifts are from him,” Caroline said with understanding.
“Yeah. They are.” She bit her lip in an attempt to hide the bashful smile that threatened to take over. Georgia looked in the bag and pulled out its contents, finding a bag of circus peanuts, peach slices, and a full, preserved magnolia bloom.
A note, in surprisingly lovely handwriting, read simply,
Hope you can forgive me, Peaches. I’m sincerely sorry. Talk soon, please.
-Lake
“So, yeah, the guy obviously has itbad.” Caroline grabbed the circus peanuts and ripped the bag open, shoving the orange candy into her mouth and speaking through a mouthful, “How long has this been going on?”
Georgia slumped in her chair and opened the peach slices. “I don’t know…” She bit into her own candy. “Since high school, I guess.”
“High school! You guess?! Georgia, that’s a long time! And, he was…”
“Oh, I know. He was trouble back then. He was so. much. trouble.”
“The rumors…” Caroline whispered so that they wouldn’t be overheard by Sadie, who’d clearly stopped what she was doing to listen in.
