“And I know it.” She didn’t argue when Avery came back with the stool, but sank onto it. “Thanks. It really looks good in here, Avery. Everything’s coming together just the way you imagined it.”

“Even better. There’s a fan back there. I’m going to get it.”

“Avery, stop. I’m fine. It’s a lot cooler in here than it is out there. I just got a little queasy. It’s passed.”

“I’m walking you to your car when you go, and if you’re not a hundred percent, I’m driving you home.”

“Deal. Now relax. There’s a lot of summer yet to get through. And don’t say anything to Beckett. I mean it.” Clare added a pointed finger. “He hasn’t been through this before. I have. I’d know if anything was off with myself or the twins. It’s just normal pregnant in high summer.”

“Times two,” Hope added.

“Boy, tell me. I’m getting huge and I’ve got months yet. They’re kicking,” she announced, pressing a hand to one side, then the other. “I swear I think they’re wrestling around already.”

“I have to feel,” Avery and Hope said together.

“Wow. Bump, bump, bump,” Hope said.

“It’s great, isn’t it? So lively. It’s worth going a little green. So, mid-August for your first baby,” she said to Avery.

“That’s the word, currently. I’m going to throw the best friends and family night, probably closer to September when I have it all perfect. Just wait.”

“Ryder sent me flowers.”

Avery blinked. “Sorry?”

“No, I’m sorry.” Surprised at herself, Hope tapped her temple. “Where did that come from? It’s working on my head.”

“Is there a problem with getting flowers from a man you’re involved with?” Clare wondered.

“No. I love getting flowers. It was sweet. He’s not usually sweet.”

“He is, under it,” Avery corrected.

“It was an apology, for the most part. Poking in about my work schedule.”

“Ah. Men will do this when it interferes with their sex.”

“No.” She shook her head at Avery, laughed a little. “It wasn’t that, because it’s really not. I guess I’m still making up for lost time, because I’m just fine for that even after a brutal day. Anyway, he sent me flowers. We didn’t even have an argument, not really.”

“Flowers to women are his thing,” Avery told her. “I don’t mean that in a bad way. I mean it’s his go-to. His mom loves flowers, so it’s his go-to.”

“That’s simple then. But . . . there are some other things. I want other takes.”

“I have a take. Avery has a take.”

“Always.”

“Okay. When I thanked him for the flowers, he suggested we go out to the movies.”