The Belle and the Beard by Kate Canterbary (good book club books .txt) 📕

19

Linden

My brother elbowed my side, saying, "I told you so."

Ignoring him, I finished typing a text message to Jasper. We had a very strict no-phones-at-the-game rule but that existed only because Ash would spend the first half answering emails. It didn't extend to the care and tending of the honey-haired belle I'd left at home with a reminder to be good and stay away from the tools.

Linden: Behaving yourself, Peach?

Jasper: Why start now?

"Do you see this?" Ash called to Magnolia.

I should've known better than to sit between them. After that family dinner, I should've sat clear across Fenway Park rather than subject myself to this assault.

"Ash, I am a land whale. I cannot see anything," she replied. "If you want me to comment, you'll need to spoon-feed me the necessary info. And also nachos. I need you to feed me nachos too."

"Lin is texting," Ash said.

He couldn't have sounded more alarmed if he'd said Lin is riding a rhino.

It was Magnolia's turn to elbow me. "You never have your phone with you. This must be for real with the pretty politics girl."

"Could you two watch the game? For fuck's sake, it's the playoffs. You're gonna give birth any minute and—"

"Yeah, that's the plan. Born at Fenway," she joked. "No better birth story than that."

"Don't make me call your husband," Ash said. "Rob is not on board with that plan."

"Not his vagina, not his plan," she replied.

"Jesus Christ," I muttered.

Linden: What are you doing tonight?

Jasper: I'm not baking anything, if that's what you're asking.

Linden: That's a relief.

Jasper: I'm doing some research. Checking out jobs that might make sense for me.

Linden: Making some lists?

Jasper: You know it.

Linden: Any leads that sound promising?

Jasper: I don't know. There's some get-out-the-vote work that could be really interesting. It's not high profile, it's not glamorous, it's not going to make me rich.

Linden: …but?

Jasper: But it matters, you know? This stuff really matters. It makes a difference.

Linden: Tell me more about it later?

Jasper: All I do is babble out every single thought I've ever had to you so, yeah, I'll tell you more about it.

Linden: I'll hold you to that.

Jasper: You'll also hold me to a tree.

Linden: Any day.

"Maggie, he's still texting," Ash said. "When was the last time he even replied to one of your texts?"

I wasn't the best with phones. They were all too small for my hands and finicky. As much as I could get away with it, I ignored mine, often leaving it in the kitchen or in my truck. I'd removed all the notifications and alerts. I had to go looking for messages if I wanted them and I liked it that way. Jasper though…talking to her was a different story.

"When I asked if you two wanted me to pick out a Mother's Day gift from all of us," Magnolia replied.

I glanced at her. "Did I ever pay you for that?"

She gave me one of those bright-eyed, stiff-lipped smiles. "Nope."

"Sorry."

"You can make up for it by telling us the true story of your very special friend Jasper," she said. "She's, like, famous. How did you—just, how? That's what I need to know. How did this happen?"

"She's not famous because she wants to be." I studied the field for a moment. "That was a bad situation for her. With that senator."

"I mean, that much is apparent," Ash said. "But you have to recognize the humor in it too. She decimated the guy's chances as a presidential candidate and she did it in three minutes. That's pro-level GOAT status."

"It was incredible," Magnolia said. "It was everything I'd ever wanted to hear about those crusty candidates. They try to come off all polite and principled but they're just dirty old men who sit around smoking in their underwear while their staff tells them everything they need to know."

"Yes, and the way she pulled the curtain back on the truth about candidates who are running but aren't in it with any intention of seeing it through?" Ash said. "I'd always suspected that but she just laid it out in the open." He shook his head like he still couldn't believe it. "What's she doing next? She could start a no-bullshit, underbelly of politics podcast or—"

"We're not doing this." I pushed to my feet and filed out of the row. "Nachos?" I asked, pointing to Magnolia. "Anything else?"

"Lin, sit down," Ash said.

"No, I need nachos," Magnolia wailed. "You can sit down once I have a snack. Oh, do you guys think you could get beers and let me be near them? I just want to smell beer. That will be enough."

Ash held out several bills. "Whatever they have on tap but you should know we like Jasper."

Magnolia nodded, her hands resting on her belly. "We do and we're genetically required to ask all kinds of nosy questions because you introduced her to us and—"

"Mom made that happen," I interrupted. It seemed like this was important to note. "She showed up at my place—"

"Oh, god," Ash murmured.

"And Jasper had just stepped out of the shower. So, Mom jumped to every possible conclusion—"

"Wait, are you not sleeping with her? Because that was definitely the vibe I picked up at the house last weekend." Magnolia shot Ash a meaningful glance. "Tell me I didn't imagine that."

My brother shrugged. "All I will say is I told you so."

"You're such a smug bastard," I said.

"Wait. What did you tell him?" Magnolia asked.

"The day Jasper arrived, and she had some difficulty getting into her aunt's house—"

"Ash thought she was a burglar," I added.

"We offered her some assistance," he continued, fully ignoring me. "And I told him to be nice to her."

"You said 'don't be an ass.'"

He bobbed his head. "I advised you to help her out and resist your natural tendency toward being an ass because—"

"Because you helped Zelda and now you're getting married," Magnolia sang. "Awwww. Oh fuck, I'm crying. Linden, dammit, this is all your fault."

"You should get those