Despite the irony of the impulse given what she’d done recently, Reagan wanted to slug Mark. “I don’t blame you.”
“And yet I have to do what’s best for Lucy. If he’s really as sorry as he says, I don’t want to rip our marriage apart. Before all of this happened, we were happy. At least, I thought we were.”
Once again, Reagan tried to come up with a way to make the situation less upsetting. “Is there any chance the baby could be someone else’s?”
She shook her head. “From what he’s told me, there isn’t. Once the baby’s born, we’ll get a paternity test before we start paying child support, of course. But when Francine and her husband Allen split up six months ago, he moved to Arizona, where he’s from. I doubt she’s been with anyone else. As her best friend, I think she would’ve told me.”
“How does Mark explain what happened? What kinds of words does he use?”
“He says it didn’t mean anything to him. That being a father can be a heavy responsibility, and coming home to the same woman every night can seem confining. He was bored with his life and intrigued by having a ‘different’ experience—and she was there to provide it.”
“Bored?” This came from out in the living room.
They both looked over to see Serenity returning to the kitchen, and Lorelei immediately approached her. “I’m sorry,” she said.
Serenity waved her words away. “I overreacted earlier. It’s not a big deal. Let’s just forget it.”
“I can’t. What I did was completely uncalled for. I don’t even know why I picked that fight. I was just...angry and wanting to strike out.”
“I can understand why. Once I got upstairs and started to calm down I realized how much what we were doing here—” she gestured at what was left of the memorabilia Reagan hadn’t yet packed away “—must’ve stung. I’m sure it was a trigger for you. Like I said, let’s just forget it.”
Lorelei’s troubled expression didn’t ease. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather Lucy and I left?”
“And go back to Mark early?” Serenity said. “No! It’s bad enough that he said he was bored with his life. Even if there’s some way he could spin that to make it sympathetic, why didn’t he wear a damn condom when he was with your best friend?”
Reagan caught her breath at the mention of birth control. If she was pregnant, everyone would say the same thing—they would marvel at her stupidity and carelessness.
She was tempted to explain how an accident could occur, wanted to say that maybe the encounter was completely unexpected and happened too fast. But she was afraid that would reveal too much about her own situation.
“Claims he did,” Lorelei said. “He doesn’t know how she wound up pregnant. But that’s another reason I think they’ve been together more than once. I don’t see it as very likely that she got pregnant the first time they had sex, not if they were using a condom.”
Reminded of her encounter with Drew, Reagan’s stomach muscles tightened. Once was all it took, especially without birth control—which was what frightened her.
“Did she supply it?” Serenity asked drily, intimating that Francine might’ve wanted to sabotage Lorelei’s marriage by getting pregnant.
Lorelei grimaced. “I don’t know. Those were details I didn’t want to hear so I didn’t ask.”
“Well, I heard what you said to Reagan as I was coming down the stairs, and I’ll be honest. I don’t like what he’s had to say so far. There’s been nothing to make me believe he’s truly repentant.”
Reagan jumped back into the conversation before it could seem strange that she’d fallen silent for so long. “I agree. I feel like absolute shit for doing what I did. Where’s his contrition?”
“His explanation sounds like he’s only thinking of himself and not accepting any responsibility for what he did,” Serenity agreed.
“So I should leave him.”
Reagan was afraid to go that far. “If you do split up, does he have a good job? You once mentioned—in a text or something—that he works for a defense contractor, but I have no idea how much that pays.”
“He’s a propulsion engineer for an aerospace company. He has a good salary.”
“Then you’ll get enough child support?” Serenity cut in.
“Who knows? If we divorce he’ll also have another family to support.”
Serenity picked up the wineglasses and started to wash them. “He’ll have to support the new baby either way. It’s not worth staying with him if you’re going to be unhappy.”
“I’m not convinced I’ll be any happier if I leave him,” Lorelei said with a frown. “That might only make my life worse—because anything that hurts Lucy hurts me.”
A knock sounded at the front door.
When Serenity looked as though she couldn’t imagine who it could be, Lorelei said, “I bet that’s your neighbor, bringing back the shovel. I saw him clearing the walks earlier when I was out with Lucy.”
“Oh, right. Of course. Thank God I’ve showered,” Serenity muttered and, after setting the wet glasses on a dish towel, went to the door, leaving Reagan alone with Lorelei.
“I know you’re sorry for what you said to Serenity—”
“I am,” Lorelei broke in, but Reagan lifted a hand, indicating that she wanted to finish.
“But I owe you an apology. I feel terrible that, like Mark, I’ve given you a reason to distrust me.”
Lorelei seemed taken aback by her apology. “That’s really nice. Especially because I believe you.”
As they exchanged a smile, Reagan felt better than she had in over a week. Maybe everything was going to hell back home, but Lorelei’s response gave her hope that she might have the chance to redeem herself in her new sister’s eyes. As unpracticed a sibling as she was, she might still get the hang of it.
When Serenity came back into the kitchen, she had a funny look on her face—one that suggested she was both surprised and amused.
“Was it him?” Lorelei asked. “Was he bringing back the shovel?”
“Yeah. I left it by the front door, in case he needs it again.”
“So...what’s up?”
“He wanted to clear our walks, too, but by the time he finished his, he was too exhausted.” She smiled. “He obviously comes from warmer weather. If you’re not used to snow and haven’t done a lot of shoveling, you think it’s going to be much easier than it is. Just with what he’s done so far, he’ll probably be too sore to walk tomorrow. But he feels guilty about not being Superman and helping out the ladies next door so he’s invited us over for dinner.”