It was Valentine's Weekend! Dakota wanted to sleep in, but Fiona had invited her and Nav to brunch. Naturally, she was making the most of a three-day holiday.
"Are you sure you love where you work?" Dakota asked while nursing a cup of coffee while waiting for the rest to come in for an egg bake, biscuits, and a cheesy tater-tot casserole.
"It's good for now. Of course, I don't want to do it forever," Fiona sighed as she put out a fruit salad and veggie tray.
Dakota couldn't resist taking a strawberry. As she bit into it, she asked Fiona if she'd heard from Frankie.
"Not a word."
Fiona was straight-lipped, but then she let a smile slip, "Maybe she's on a honeymoon or something."
Dakota smiled back with a nod. However, she missed those days when the three got together to hangout. But life was busy with her step-brother, Cole, and his girlfriend, Liz. At least Cole got on as a shelver at the library as if it were beneath him, while Liz was subbing at a law office.
"Are you settling in with Nav?" Fiona asked while the guys were out helping Cole with his car. She said she wasn't sure she was ready to be with Matty all the time. After all, she saw him enough.
"And here I thought you would have moved in with him, already, instead of me and Nav."
Dakota sipped her coffee, but an impish grin curled her lips as if she was happy to make the move.
"Well, if I had a younger sibling, I would have done the same thing. You're the best big sister in the world." Fiona teased her.
About then, Liz came in with a dish. She'd made homemade sweet rolls.
"Guys, we've got to get going, you know."
Matty put his hands on both Nav and Cole's shoulders as if they were the three amigos. It was good to have bros. Sadly, he wished Ezra felt the same about them, but since the new job at the University, Ezra had always been a no-show. Still, it didn't stop Matty from inviting him.
"I hear Delia is being quite chatty lately," Matty gave Cole the eye. "You guys spending time with Delia and Han, you know, you guys do anything with them last night?"
This cracked Cole up, "Dude, it was Valentine's Day. I'm pretty sure they didn't need our help." He said on their walk across the parking lot to the Brownstone.
"Yeah, well, you know, we're not all Romeo." He looked to Nav, who just smirked.
"All is good. End of story." Nav informed him. "That leaves you, Matty?"
"Yeah, yeah, it was cozy," he nodded as if he wasn't going to let anything slip, or it might be hell to pay with Fiona. "She's, you know, really into this Friends mode." He shrugged. There was a lot of prepping going on for brunch. But they did have a heart-shaped pizza and binged through Bridgerton. Although he made more fun of it than taking it seriously. Fiona didn't seem to mind.
When they got to the hallway, they saw Han and Delia on their way to Fiona's. Matty was surprised. Could they hold that many people in Fiona's apartment? Delia had a bag of snacks, and Han had an icebox pie with blueberries.
Matty didn't think Han could be that generous. Of course, he didn't really know him, only from comments Fiona had made about Ezra's friend. It seemed so long ago. Maybe Delia was changing him. Perhaps she wasn't as Goth as he thought she was.
