Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 95107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
15
Allie
Sabrina James, soon to be Sabrina Tucker, is one of those obnoxiously beautiful women who turns every head when she walks into a room. I’m talking glossy dark hair, bottomless brown eyes, and a perfect body that shows zero signs of having ever carried a child. If I didn’t know her, I’d probably hate her. Or, at the very least, die of jealousy. And not only is this girl stunning, but she’s about to graduate from law school. Ergo, beauty and brains. Some people are just born lucky.
Still, it’s very hard to dislike Sabrina once you get to know her. She’s a ride-or-die type of friend, loyal to the core, and funnier than her aloof exterior suggests.
When she enters the private tearoom, a brilliant smile lights her face. As if it’s an unexpected joy to find all of us here, even though she’d helped plan this.
“I can’t believe you’re all here.” An uncharacteristic note of emotion trembles in her voice. Sabrina is usually cool as a cucumber. Self-assured. She doesn’t get emotional. But I’m pretty sure there are tears clinging to her impossibly long lashes as she clutches little Jamie in her arms.
The three-year-old, meanwhile, is clamoring to get down and not get squeezed to death by her mom’s anaconda arms.
At Sabrina’s request, the guest list was kept small, so our little group barely makes a dent in the large, elegant room. Sabrina’s never been a social butterfly, though. She worked her way through college, then had a kid right before starting law school, which doesn’t leave much time for socializing. Our group today is comprised of me, Hannah and Grace; Dean’s sister Summer; Hope and Carin, Sabrina’s best friends from Briar; and Samantha and Kelsey, two friends from Harvard Law.
But it’s Jamie who captures everyone’s attention. The toddler has Tucker’s dark red hair and Sabrina’s big chocolate-brown eyes. She’s the perfect combination of the two of them, and I have no doubt she’ll be just as gorgeous. This morning she’s wearing a purple dress with a tutu skirt, her hair arranged in two pigtails.
“Auntie Allie!” she shrieks before flinging a pair of chubby arms around my knees.
I bend down so I can hug her proper. “Hey, princess,” I say, using Dean’s nickname for her. Everyone seems to have their own pet name for Jamie. Garrett calls her gumdrop. Logan calls her squirt. Hope’s husband D’Andre calls her snickerdoodle, which I think might be my favorite one.
“Oh my goodness, is that a tiara?” I say, admiring the sparkling silver crown atop her auburn head.
“Ya! Daddy got it for me!” Proudly, Jamie shows the tiara off to the entire group, as we all ooh and aah accordingly.
Then we mill around and chat amongst ourselves until an elegantly dressed hotel employee arrives to announce that tea will be served soon.
“Are you excited, little one?” Sabrina asks her daughter. “We’re about to have tea. Like Alice.”
“Like Alice!” Jamie shouts, because young children don’t come with a volume dial. I don’t think Jamie Tucker has any concept of the word loud.
We all settle around the table at our assigned seats. I’m between Hannah and Summer, with Sabrina and Jamie directly across from us. The moment she settles in her booster seat, Jamie tries to snatch a teacup off the crisp, floral tablecloth on the beautifully set table. Sabrina intervenes like a pro, blocking Jamie’s hand as skillfully as a goalie making a clutch save.
“No, this cup is Auntie Hope’s,” she says, moving the fine china toward the grinning woman with the dark braids. “This one is for you.”
I hide a smile. Jamie’s cup is clearly made of plastic.
“We’re going through a butterfingers phase,” Sabrina explains, catching my knowing smile. “No china for this one. It’ll cost a fortune to replace all the cups she drops.”
As a trio of servers appear to pour our tea, I notice Hannah’s looking a bit pale. I nudge her gently. “You okay?” I murmur.
“I’m fine. Just a bit queasy,” she says. “Not sure wolfing down a fully loaded omelet right before bed last night was a good idea.”
“I think they said one of these is a ginger tea? That’ll help with the queasiness.” I glance at the male server who approaches us. “You said something about ginger? Can we try that one, please?”
“Of course, madam.”
Madam. I don’t know if that makes me feel fancy or just old.
“Smells good,” Hannah says as she brings the teacup to her mouth. She takes a dainty sip. “Perfect. Just what I need.”
Across the table, Jamie adorably mimics Hannah. “Mmmmmm!” she announces, slurping her tea. “Perfect!”
Everyone’s trying not to laugh.
“She actually likes tea?” Kelsey says from Sabrina’s other side, sounding surprised. “It’s not too bitter for her?”
“It’s G-R-A-P-E J-U-I-C-E,” Sabrina spells out, grinning. “There’s no way I’m pumping this kid full of caffeine. Are you crazy?”