Pregnant.
I stared at them while Bree jumped up and down next to me like a kid in a candy store, giving me her picks for girls’ names.
“Jade is so cute. Willa wouldn’t even think of using it, though I don’t know why. Something about Aiden not liking it, but whatever. Oh! Jagger is cute for a girl too! I’ve always loved the name Jackson for a boy. Oh wait, we can’t do that because then he’ll be called Jack, and you’ve got the dog and Hunter’s dad, and yeah…”
I picked up one of the tests and placed my other hand over my stomach. Bree continued to spit out name after name.
Pregnant. I’m pregnant.
Hunter’s baby, our baby, was growing inside of me. I rapidly blinked as I tried to hold back my tears. I finally lost the battle and a loud sob slipped free.
“Okay, so maybe Peace isn’t a good name, but you don’t have to cry about it!”
I shook my head and covered my mouth. When I spoke, my words came out all mumbled. “I’m just so happy.”
Bree stared at me like I’d lost my mind. “What? You miss your nappy?”
Shaking my head, I tried to speak again, but I couldn’t stop crying.
“Okay, you’re freaking me out. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone smile while they’re crying. Gotta say, it’s creepy as fuck, Arabella.”
I grabbed Bree and pulled her into my arms, crying even harder. She wrapped her arms around me, and we slowly sat down on the bed.
“Shhh, it’s okay, sweetie. Are you happy? Sad? Scared? Talk to me.”
Drawing back, I wiped my tears. “I’m for sure not sad, but I am scared.”
She took my hand in hers. “It’s going to be okay. Take a deep breath in, hold it for a few seconds, and blow it all out. I learned that bullshit in yoga.”
I sniffled. “You do yoga?”
“Did yoga. There was a hot guy going to the yoga studio below my condo. I signed up and took four or five classes before I realized he took the class because his wife taught it. Turns out all those times he smiled at me, he was actually just being polite to the crazy woman who kept gawking at him all through downward dog. Ugh…seeing them together made me sick.”
Laughing, I asked, “Why did it make you sick? That he took the class because his wife taught it?”
She nodded, then shrugged. “Fine, I thought it was sweet. But if you tell Candace I said that, I’ll deny it.”
I laughed and decided I needed a bit of a distraction from my big news. Squeezing her hand, I asked, “Why did you really leave Boston?”
She chewed on her lip nervously. “Will you keep this between us? I’m not really ready to tell the girls about Luke.”
I nodded. “Of course, I will.”
She blew out a breath so hard it made her lips vibrate. “Okay, here goes. I met someone great. Really, really great. And things didn’t work out and…I ran. And when I say I ran, what I mean is, I gave up my entire life and sprinted like hell back to Boggy Creek.”
“Why did you run?”
Chewing on her lip, she said, “Do you know who Luke Walters is?”
The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it. “I don’t think so, though it sounds kind of familiar.”
“Neither did I. Two Christmases ago, I made a deal with one of the partners at the law firm I worked at. He’s a member of the Lakewood Country Club just north of Boggy Creek. He arranged for Aiden and the guys to stay out at the country club and golf and all of that before Willa’s wedding. In exchange, I agreed to be his son’s date for the office Christmas party.”
I scrunched up my nose. “Why was he arranging a date for his son?”
“Right? I thought it was weird, too, and I chalked it up to him most likely not being very good-looking or maybe newly divorced. My boss never really talked about his family at all. Honestly, I didn’t even know what his wife’s name was until I’d worked there for almost a year.”
“Was the son not good-looking?”
She laughed. “He was hot as hell. Tall, brown hair, and eyes so deep brown they almost looked black. And he had a body…Lord, his body should be illegal. He looked like a younger version of Gene Kelly, and I really love Gene Kelly.”
“He was a jerk, then?”
Shaking her head, Bree replied, “Nope. He was a gentleman all the way. He’s a fellow lawyer; or rather, he was a lawyer until he changed jobs.”
“What does he do now?”
Bree pulled out her phone and typed something in. She turned her phone, so I could see it.
“The Time Before Us? It’s a movie. Does he work for the studio?”
“Something like that.” She clicked a few more times and then turned her phone again.
A picture of a handsome guy who looked exactly as Bree had just described was smiling back at me. I read the caption, looked at the guy again, went back to the caption, and then lifted my head toward Bree. “He’s an actor?”
“Yep,” she said with a pop of the P. “A rather good actor. I hadn’t heard of him before because, honestly, I don’t really watch movies or TV. At least, I didn’t until I quit my job and moved home. Now my mother has me addicted to the damn Hallmark Channel, and we have a countdown on the fridge for that Christmas in July event. Apparently, they play all Christmas shows the whole month.”
“Oh, I love the Hallmark Channel. All three of them. Movies and Mysteries and Hallmark Drama. Christmas in July is my favorite!”
Bree rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it. All I do these days is pop some popcorn, put on my PJs, sit on my ass, and power watch the Hallmark Channel. I’ve seen some of those movies so many times, I can practically recite them.”
“Yikes.” I grinned.
“Then, of course, you have Greer, who’s started my reading addiction. Did you know you can totally get horny as hell reading romance novels?”
“I did, as a matter of fact. I’ve read a lot of them these last ten years.”
Bree jerked her head up and looked at me. We both started laughing before she dropped back onto the bed. “Ugh, why does it all have to be so complicated?”
Dropping down next to her, I took her hand in mine. We both stared up at the ceiling. “What happened?”
“Ohhhh…we hit it off. I mean, sparks flew between us the night we met. I’ve never had that sort of reaction to a guy before in my entire life. We laughed, we drank—a lot. Laughed, danced, drank, and danced some more. We ended up leaving together and got a room in the hotel where the Christmas party was being held. It was, without a doubt, the best sex I’ve ever had in my entire life. He was…he was…perfect.”
“Okay, then what happened?”
She drew in another breath and quickly let it out before she went on. “We woke up the next morning, and I was starved. I suggested we go for breakfast, he suggested we order in. Let’s just say it didn’t take long before he finally told me who he was. Then I panicked, of course. I mean, he’s kissed Scarlett Johansson, for Christ’s sake.”
She started to laugh.
“I was so stupid. When he first suggested sneaking into the back of restaurants, or constantly meeting him at different places, it should have been a clue, but it was all so amazing. I really loved being with him, and I didn’t want our relationship going public any more than he did.”