“Warn me? I’m not Maggie. I don’t have some imaginary issue with these people I’ve never even met. But will I have to dress up like I’m in a wedding?”
“Probably.” She smiled, tamping down the burn in her gut that she had every time she thought about telling Maggie how she and Nolie had spent this month.
“I can be there on Friday afternoon,” Anthony said, pulling her back into the conversation. “Would that be okay?”
“Yes! Of course. Nolie’s in our room, but we’ll get her an air mattress. She’ll be over the moon, Anthony. She’ll be so happy. I am.” She swiped a tear, just accepting that they flowed constantly now. “And we’ll keep working with her, of course! Tessa isn’t done, I’m sure, there’s more to?—”
“Crista,” he whispered, cutting her off.
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
The words squeezed the air out of her lungs. So much that she couldn’t even respond.
“I really do, Cris. I’ve been hard on you and all you’ve done was care about her. I’ve been demanding and scared and…” His voice cracked. “I love you so much. You’re an amazing mother.”
She closed her eyes and held her breath, the only way she could keep from bursting out a way too premature announcement. She wasn’t even remotely sure how she felt about the possibility, so there was no way to balance his reaction.
“I love you, too,” she managed. “It’s been a really stressful time with Nolie and Maggie…”
“Yeah, Maggie. Too bad she’s so dead-set against keeping that house. You might be able to talk me into giving up the cash just so she’d have a second place to go. Or we would.”
She flinched. “You’ve had enough, huh?”
“No, no. I love her, and I know you two are close, it’s just that sometimes we need a break from having her…witness our life.”
He was so right. And if there was a baby? Oh, boy. A mess of stress.
“Well, if we end up keeping this house, it would be a nice place for us to escape as a family,” she said. “Nolie loves every grain of sand and every ray of sunshine.”
He chuckled. “That kid is too much, isn’t she? Passed! Look out, third grade, here she comes!”
His voice rose with joy, and it lifted every cell in her body. Once again, she had to fight the temptation to tell him her news, but she just closed her eyes.
“I can’t wait to see you, Anthony.”
“Oh, I’ll be there. And I’ll wear a tux for that thing. I’ll do it for Nolie. I’d do anything for that kid. And you.”
She squeezed the phone, wishing she could hold him. “I know. You’re a wonderful father and husband.”
“I’ll be better, Cris. I promise.”
“And I’ll be less emotional,” she countered.Just maybe not for…eight more months.
But she didn’t say a word, just promised that she and Nolie would FaceTime him tonight.
Would she tell him then? No. If she was pregnant, she’d tell him in person when he came down. She wanted to be with him when he found out.
It was only when she hung up that she realized how much she wanted that test to be positive.
For reasons only she knew, Tessa was still reeling after yesterday’s…situationwith Crista. It wasn’t that Crista was having some possible pregnancy symptoms, although that did kind of throw Tessa off a bit.
No, it was the fact that yet another person had told her what a great mother she would have been. No one understood why that stung. And she was so tired of carrying her secret around. Maybe she’d tell Kate when she came in next weekend. Maybe she’d tell the whole world. Maybe they’d stop reminding her of a decision she could not undo.
For the past two hours, she’d been able to put the emotions on a backburner while she and Lacey had a long and incredibly productive meeting at Lumière. After it ended, they stepped into the sunshine of Miramar Beach, riding high from how much Akari loved the plans for the fashion show event.
Lacey darn near skipped over the cobblestone sidewalk with untethered joy, as exuberant as Nolie would be.
