Read Online Bikini Season by Sheila Roberts - Free Book Online Page B

she still said, “Yes I do.”
    â€œI think your mom would have found a way to have the champagne and the shrimp and the salmon. And the band.”
    â€œBut she wouldn’t have wanted me fighting over all that with my fiancé.”
    â€œYou’re right. She’d tell you to keep the band and find a different fiancé.”
    His words knocked the breath right out of her.
    He gave a shrug and got up. “Forget I said that. It was a shitty thing to say. You know I’ve always been good at putting my foot in my mouth. Thanks for the coffee,” he added, and left her there, wishing she had flattened him with her car.
    What did he know about what her mom would have done? What did he know about anything?
    Erin left the coffee shop intending to go home, shower, call Adam and get her head on straight—get both their heads on straight. Instead, she found herself on her aunt Mellie’s doorstep, holding out a box of vanilla tea, her aunt’s favorite.
    â€œHi, there. I was just thinking about you,” said her aunt, hugging her. “Come on in. Let’s have some of this. You know you don’t have to bring me something every time you stop by.”
    â€œBut I like to. You’re my favorite aunt.”
    â€œAlso your only aunt,” Aunt Mellie teased.
    â€œFavorite even if I had a million.” Erin stepped into the entryway and was greeted by the faint aroma of lemon, her aunt’s favorite candle fragrance. She followed Aunt Mellie into her big kitchen and parked on a barstool at the granite counter, swiveling to look at the lake, framed by a big picture window. Even on a gray day, it was beautiful. In fact, Erin decided she liked it best on days like this. It was fun in the summer to see people out playing with their boats and Jet Skis or lazing around on those colorful blow-up mats, but on a drizzly day like this when the lake lay quiet she found it settled something deep inside of her. It had been fun living in the city, but she’d missed this.

    Aunt Mellie, who didn’t know the meaning of the word “fat,” set a plate with freshly baked scones in front of her. “How are the plans for the wedding coming?”
    Erin moved the plate out of reach. “Rotten. I can’t fit in to my wedding dress.”
    Aunt Mellie patted her arm. “Well, you’ve got an aunt who is the queen of alterations, so not to worry,” she said, but she kindly took the plate away, replacing it with a cup of steaming water, the box of teabags, and a pottery dish filled with packets of sugar substitutes.
    Erin opened a vanilla teabag and dunked it into her cup. She could feel her aunt watching her, but she kept her gaze on the darkening water in the cup.
    â€œYou know, everyone gets nervous before her wedding.”
    Since when did her aunt turn psychic? Erin occupied herself with pulling out the teabag, putting it on the saucer, watching the stained water pool out around it. “I’m not nervous, I’m just stressed.”
    â€œYou’re planning a wedding single-handed. That’s enough to stress anyone.” Aunt Mellie paused a moment, then added, “Remember, I’m here to help. Free labor.”
    Erin smiled at her. “I think you’re doing enough with the free rent.”
    Aunt Mellie shrugged. “That’s not much, not for my favorite niece.”
    â€œAnd your only niece.”
    â€œFavorite even if I had a million,” Aunt Mellie quoted back to her.
    Just like Brett was her favorite nephew. She and Uncle Jake had three kids of their own, but they’d had no problem adding Erin and Brett to the mix. Aunt Mellie had sometimes even treated Mom as if she were one of the kids. It had been hard on Aunt Mellie to lose her baby sister, and her blond hair had frosted over during Mom’s final battle with lupus.
    She leaned on the counter and cocked her head at Erin. “So, what’s really bothering you,