“I try, but all that paperwork is enough to send a man crazy. Anyway, surely you got the email HRH sent out about the meeting being held in the town hall. It’s all about the facility that’s been bugging you.”
“It doesn’t bug me, I just want to know what’s in there,” Noah defended himself as they started across the street and fell in beside Willow, who was waddling, and Buster, who was hovering.
“How’s Annabelle and the baby?” Noah asked her.
“Doing great. She and Christie aren’t coming today, but Ethan has to take notes.”
“I like the name,” Noah said. “Me and Faith will call round tomorrow and see them.”
Willow rubbed her belly. “Nothing to worry about with me, Noah. Remember, I was born in a field. It’s in my genes that I can give birth anywhere.”
“Let’s go for a hospital bed this time,” Buster added, looking pale.
“You just take it easy, Willow. Lots of rest.”
“She’s not Samantha, bud,” Cubby said from beside him. “She’s Willow, just like Bran is who she is, and the same goes for Annabelle. Most women handle childbirth with ease—”
“Spoken like a man who never had to pass a large baby out of their—”
“Okay, all men present get the point, thanks, honey.” Buster cut her off.
“I’m just saying, is all,” Cubby whispered so only Noah could hear. “You need to understand not everyone is a bitch like her.”
“She wasn’t a bitch, Cubby. There’s a lot more to what happened you all don’t know about. We were both in the wrong.”
“Well as you never told us what that ‘lot more’ entails, we had to form our own opinions. You came back a broken man, and she’s got to have played a part in that.”
“I was not broken,” Noah lied, entering the hall. “And why do you and everyone else feel like they can discuss my past like it’s daily news all of a sudden.”
“You discuss ours, and we think it’s time you moved on now. All this brooding Heathcliff shit is getting old,” Buster said, unrepentant that he’d been listening in.
“Wuthering Heights, seriously? She’s got you watching that now?” Cubby asked the baker.
“He cried when Heathcliff went to see Catherine in her coffin,” Willow said.
“It’s a classic,” Buster defended himself.
“Whatever, now shut up,” Noah said as Ethan waved to them from a seat up the front. Beside him were Macy and Billy. In front were the McBrides. Buster nudged him in, and too late he found himself seated beside Lani and Mrs. C.
“Hello, handsome.” Mrs. C looked around Lani, who was trying to ignore him.
“Hello, sweet cheeks, looking gorgeous as always,” Noah replied, because it was expected of him.
Lani made a noise.
“What?”
“What?” She didn’t look at him, just said the word out of the side of her mouth. Her cap was pulled low, and the short curls were showing underneath. She wore the ever-present baggy jeans and top. On her feet were the sturdy heeled boots.
“You made a noise.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Fine, whatever.” He wasn’t arguing with her. “How’s the hand?”
“Healing, thank you.”
Noah wondered if Mrs. C had managed to get her to stay in the room above the Howlery. He been furious when he saw her Bronco pulling out of that unused track this morning. He’d known instantly she’d slept in her car but managed to control his anger enough to tell her it wouldn’t be happening again. He’d then called Mrs. C on his return trip to Howling. He felt no shame in it, and Mrs. C’s outrage had assured him she would do what she could to get a roof over Lani’s head.
