The Best Thing (Stevens Book 8)

Chapter 12

Beth watched the crowd from the second floor of Aunt Laura and Uncle Davis's apartment. It was the annual Stevens birthday party for all of the cousins. The party was always planned for January because Beth, Mave, Alistair, and Agatha had all been born within a month of each other in February of the same year, and both Fiona, who was born five years previous, and Poppy, who was born eight years after Beth, had December birthdates.

The crowded room below was mostly family. However, the odd friend did manage to snag an invite like Katherine, who was currently entering with Wyatt on her arm. Beth felt her stomach dip and roll as she looked down at him from above. He was wearing a suit without a tie as if he had just come from the office. His hair had been cut recently, and he needed a shave. The music was loud, and Beth watched as Wyatt leaned down to hear something that Katherine said.

Beth's eyes stayed glued to him as he was introduced to others in the room, including her parents. She wished she could hear what her mother was saying, but whatever it was made Wyatt smile. That was a good thing, right? Mave caught him next and pulled him towards the bar, talking a mile a minute.

The door opening caught Beth's attention, and she watched as Alistair pushed through the door carrying a large square object wrapped in brown paper. Generally, they all exchanged gifts before the party, but Alistair had been running late.

He was caught by Agatha, who they called Aggie, as soon as he entered. They exchanged a greeting, and then Aggie pointed up towards where Beth was waiting. Alistair looked up at her and grinned before he waved her down, pointing to the brown wrapped package. As much as Beth wanted to stay in her perch, she couldn't pass up the chance to hug Alistair. It had been over a year since they had seen each other.

Beth raced down the stairs and threw herself into Alistair's arms as he motioned for someone to turn the music down. Beth could feel they were the center of attention, and she felt her face grow hot because of all of the attention.

"Were you hiding again, Bethy?" Alistar asked as he pulled her close.

"You know Beth hates parties, Alistair," Mave called as everyone looked at her. "You know she also hates being the center of attention, just look at those red cheeks."

"Shut-up Mave! You're just jealous because he brought me a present and not you!" Beth shouted, turning her attention back towards Alistair. Alistair's attention had been caught by something on the far side of the room, and Beth followed his gaze, noting that it had landed on Katherine. 

"That's Katherine. I'll introduce you later if you like." She whispered in his ear, which drew his attention back to her. He gave her another squeeze then handed her the package. "You did get Mave a present, didn't you?"

"You hear that, Mave! You're a brat, but your sister still wants to make sure you got a present too!" Alistair shouted across the room to her. Alistair had a British accent like his father, Beth's Uncle Bryce. He, like Bryce, had been raised primarily in England since he was the future Earl of Pennington.

Mave stuck her tongue out at him, and then they both grinned at each other as Mave made her way across the room and joined the hug. "What did you get, Beth?" she asked. Alistair was the best gift giver. He was like his father, always watching and learning about a person, but he had his mother's knack for making everyone around him feel special. It was one of the reasons he had always been a hit with the ladies.

Beth grinned as she started to rip the wrapping paper off of the object in front of her. She was like a little girl and was enjoying the moment, forgetting that everyone was watching her. When the paper was off, and she could see what it was, she started to cry. "Alistair." There were no words.

He had given her a large frame with matted photos of Elizabeth and Doug when they were young and in love. It was the two of them at parties and events, a young Elizabeth and Doug smiled at her from so many angles.

"Where did you get them all?" Beth asked as Alistair cupped her face with a smile and pushed his thumbs up under her large glasses, wiping the tears from under her eyes.

"I've been going through Grandma's room at the house. She surrounded herself with photos of her children and grandchildren and put these in a book under a shelf. I found them and talked it over with the family, and as the historian, we all felt they belonged with you."

Beth nodded as she traced a photo with her finger. "You look so much like her, Beth." Mave smiled as she looked over at her sister. Beth reached out and grabbed Mave's hand, squeezing it. They fought like mad, but they always knew what the other one was feeling.

Alistair motioned for the music to be turned back on and the party started back up as Beth hugged Alistair once more. Then he helped her take it upstairs to a bedroom where it would be safe. They spent a good half hour in the room getting caught up with each other before someone from down below yelled cake.

As they left the room, they bumped into Katherine, who was sitting on the stairs watching the party as it happened around her. It was the perfect time for an introduction. "Katherine Randolph, this is my cousin Alistair Stevens. Alistair, this is my roommate, Katherine."

Alistair reached out and took Katherine's hand in his, giving her a charming smile. "Beth's roommate, lucky you. She's a bit of a neat freak if I remember correctly. You'll never need to wash a dish." It amazed how much he looked like Uncle Bryce. The only difference was that Uncle Bryce rarely smiled.

"I grew up with Mave, it was a skill developed out of necessity," Beth joked in an attempt to break the ice.

Katherine took his hand but didn't have much to say for herself, which was odd. Generally, she was never at a loss for words.

"Cake!" Uncle Davis called again, and Alistair gave Katherine a nod as he escorted Beth over to a long table that held three cakes, with Katherine rising and following them at a discreet distance.

The only cousin, not present, was Fiona since she was in Texas at the ranch. Mave and Beth flanked on cake, Poppy and Aggie another, and Alistair had one all to himself.

"I can't do this by myself!" Alistair insisted as he looked to the left and then right for help.

"Here, Katerine will help," Beth insisted as she pulled Katherine out of the crowd and placed her across from Alistair.

"She came with Wyatt!" Mave softly hissed, still under the impression that Katherine and Wyatt were a thing. "That's cheating!"

Beth shot her a look as Alistair looked at Beth. "Wyatt, The Wyatt that everyone was talking about last summer?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes!" Mave hissed again.

Katherine's cheeks were turning red.

"Come on guys, stop whispering, we want cake!" Beth's mother, Alice, shouted across the room.

"On the count of three!" Davis instructed.

"Wait! We have to sing happy birthday!" Cassie shouted as the usual Stevens chaos reigned supreme.

The crowd started to sing as Mave leaned over and whispered something to Aggie, who nodded.

When the song was over, Davis started the count down, and Beth looked over at Alistair who was watching Katherine, while she stared the cake, her cheeks still red.

"I guess this means Wyatt is free," Mave said to no one in particular before she blew out the candles. Beth wanted to stomp on her foot.