The phone immediately chimed with a second text. Oh, and last night was fun. I want to kiss you some more. Still want to go to the beach?
His texts made her smile.
“What’s happening over there?” Evelyn asked, grinning at Gigi. “I haven’t seen you light up like that in a long time.”
“Just a friend.”
“Hmmm. A friend or a friend?”
“I’m not sure yet, but he’s adorable, sweet and makes me laugh.” Gigi shrugged. “So far, it’s nothing more than that.”
“Those are three very important things.”
“It’s nothing. Just some late-summer fun before I go back to LA, and he heads home to New York.” Even as she said the words, Gigi felt a pang of sadness at never again seeing Cooper or his gorgeous face, which was somehow still gorgeous even with half of it looking like ground beef. “How long does it take to find out if you’re pregnant, anyway?”
Gigi’s thoughts wandered back to how this news could change everything for her as well as Jordan. Although she’d known for months now that the likelihood of Jordan returning to LA after falling for Mason was low, Gigi had held out hope, nonetheless. She wanted things to go back to “normal,” or what passed for normal since the show had become a huge hit, and the two of them had rocketed to the kind of fame that had to be experienced to be fully understood.
A sinking feeling overtook her at realizing she’d be heading back to LA alone. Nikki and Jordan would be staying here with the men they loved and starting new families with them.
Gigi swallowed the huge lump that lodged in her throat and made her eyes fill. Ugh, she would not cry. She couldn’t recall the last time something upset her or moved her to the point of tears. She wasn’t a woman who cried the way others did, and she refused to start now.
Jordan came out of the bathroom carrying the stick, a dopey smile on her face.
“Well?” Gigi asked.
“Positive.”
Evelyn let out a shout of happiness and wrapped her granddaughter up in a big hug. “I can’t believe you’re going to do this to me! I’m too young to be a great-grandmother!”
Gigi watched the scene unfold with a surreal feeling of detachment. Yes, she was happy for Jordan, Mason, Evelyn, Nikki and everyone who’d be excited about the baby. But she was crushed for herself and felt like an ass for worrying about how it would affect her when she ought to be celebrating her friend’s big news.
“Congrats,” she said when she finally got the chance to hug Jordan.
“Thank you. I think.”
“You’re going to be a wonderful mother, honey,” Evelyn said.
“You should call Mason,” Gigi said.
“I was going to tell him after the party tonight.”
“You’ll be a wreck if you don’t tell him before.” Sometimes Gigi felt like she knew Jordan better than she knew herself. “Call him and ask him to come by so you can tell him now.”
“He’ll know something is up if I call him when he’s on duty. I’ll text him and ask him to come by.” She sent the text and then glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. “Thank goodness I took your advice to have the party catered, Gram. If I had to cook after this news, I’d make a mess of it.”
“You’d make a mess of it even if you hadn’t found out you were pregnant,” Gigi said.
Evelyn pointed at Gigi with her thumb. “What she said.”
“You two think you’re so funny.”
“Nope,” Gigi said. “We just know that cooking isn’t one of your talents.”
“I’m going to have to learn. You guys. I’m having a baby.” The look of wonder on Jordan’s pretty face was adorable, and Gigi’s heart swelled with love for the woman who, along with her twin sister, had been the best friend Gigi had ever had. They had no idea what they’d given her. No idea at all.
Though she’d planned to be long gone by the time Mason arrived, Gigi was still at Eastward Look when the tall-as-fuck fire chief came into the house, walking in like a member of the family. Which he was after the summer he’d spent with Jordan.
“Hey, babe.” He zeroed right in on Jordan with the laser focus that made Gigi envious of her friend’s relationship, not that she wanted that crap for herself. Not even kinda. But she couldn’t help but be moved at the way Mason’s face lit up with joy at the sight of Jordan, and he didn’t even try to hide it.
That’d certainly never happened with Brendan or any of the other guys Jordan and Nikki had dated. Until they met Mason Johns and Riley McCarthy, and Gigi had gotten an up-close view of two relationships that set the gold standard.
“Could I, um, talk to you outside for a minute?” Jordan asked him.
“Everything okay?” Mason asked, peeling his glance off Jordan for a second to look to Evelyn and Gigi.
But they weren’t giving anything away.
“Yes, everything is fine.”
He held out his hand to her. “Lead the way.” As he followed her like the besotted fool he was, he nodded to them. “Ladies.”
The sliding door slid closed behind them.
Evelyn nudged Gigi toward the door to watch.
Jordan looked up at him, and a second later, he let out a loud whoop and lifted her right off her feet into a bear hug.
Safe to say Mason was happy.
“I’m going to go,” Gigi said to Evelyn. “See you tonight?”
“I’ll be there.”
Gigi squeezed the older woman’s arm.
“Hey, Gigi?”
She turned back. “Yes?”
“You’re going to get your turn, too. I just know it.”
“I don’t want all that.” She gestured toward the deck, where her best friend had just told her boyfriend their lives were about to change forever. “That’s not for me.”
“Don’t be so sure.”
“I’m very sure, but thanks for the kind words.”
“Love you, kiddo.”
It was all she could do not to completely lose it when Evelyn said that to her. “Love you, too.” More than you’ll ever know. Before she lost her composure in front of Evelyn, she hurried out the door and got into her car, appalled when tears filled her eyes. What the ever-loving fuck was her problem? Her best friend was deliriously happy after surviving a hideous marriage to a man who hadn’t deserved one minute with Jordan, let alone years of her life.
So why did Gigi feel so completely lost?
Chapter 10
Jordan looked up at Mason, her mouth dry and her heart pounding. As well as she knew him, she wasn’t completely sure how he would take the news of an unplanned pregnancy.
“What’s the matter, honey? You’re scaring me.”
“Nothing’s wrong. At least I don’t think so.”
He placed his hands on her shoulders. “Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out.”
“I, um, it seems that I’m, ah… pregnant.”
Mason stared at her in complete shock for a second before he let out the loudest whoop in the history of whoops and swept her right off her feet into one of the hugs she’d become addicted to in the months they’d been together. He gave the best hugs. “Oh my God, babe. This is amazing!”