Page 86 of The Outline


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“Oh, no babe,” I panned dead back at him. “You’re committed now. Nine months of indentured servitude and pampering all for me.”

Renn put our joined hands on the table. “I’m happy to help with that pampering, guys.” He smiled at Zach and Teddy. “I’ll even make sure Sadie eats her vegetables and gets sleep, doesn’t stress too much. I’m okay leaving the foot rubs to Zach, though.”

I slapped him playfully on the shoulder as Concerned Teddy reappeared, this time speaking to Renn. “And you’re sure you’re okay with this? Your girlfriend being a surrogate?”

“I love Sadie, and I think we understand each other. So much of our relationship is atypical, we’ve learned to trust our instincts.” Renn continued slowly, so Teddy could imbibe his sincerity. “At the end of the day, she deserves to do amazing things, and I get why she wants to do this, why she needs to. The same way she understands why my brothers always come first for me. Because even if it’s complicated, you show up for family.” He brought our hands to his lips. “And Zach is her family.”

Renn placed a chaste kiss on my knuckles as Zach caught my gaze. He glanced subtly toward my boyfriend and smiled at me with approval. Seeing Renn through my best friend’s eyes made me love them both even more.

It seemed fairly settled after that. Zach and Teddy said they wanted to give my offer a few weeks to settle in their minds, so they could figure out if they had more questions, and then they’d start reaching out to their lawyer to see if they could anticipate any legal hurdles. Tentatively, we decided that we might be ready for Operation Fancy Turkey Baster—Zach’s term—as soon as the spring. Assuming Teddy could make it through without letting his doomsday scenarios get the better of him, we weredoing this. The evening felt truly celebratory, making me eager to get home and jump Renn’s bones. But the daiquiris we’d had with dinner had left an impression. I excused myself to go to the restroom.

When I exitedthe stall, three dolls decorating the shelf above the sink captured my attention as I washed my hands. They were supposed to be Day of the Dead-themed mariachis but looked more like creepy Beetlejuices wearing sombreros. The macabre little monsters were hypnotizing.

Which was the reason I didn’t immediately notice her.

But then I saw.

I froze, feet stuck to the floor, as a woman I thought I’d never lay eyes on again stood at the other sink. She was busy holding a squirmy toddler, trying to coax the boy into putting his fingers under the faucet. When she peered up, her startled eyes met mine in the mirror.

“Sadie?”

Her expensively dyed hair was the same as ever, gathered in the type of fussy updo that only wealthy women in their sixties and seventies could get away with. The beige linen pants suit she wore had been tailored perfectly to her still-trim figure, and she’d apparently kept up with the procedures that softened the lines on her face. Nothing had changed—except instead of a designer purse, she carried a diaper bag.

“Mrs. Montgomery,” I acknowledged Henri’s mother flatly and glanced at the giggling toddler in her arms. The one with Henri’s eyes.Oh my God. This is him. This is Henri’s son.

She looked at me expectantly, like I was supposed to say more, but I had no words. If Henri’s mother was here, if Henri’s son was here, then he was probably here as well. I rushed past the woman as she stuttered, intent on reaching my table and telling Renn we had to get the hell out of there. Now. I could explain later.

But I wasn’t one step out of the restroom, in a small nook that had once upon a time housed a pay phone, when I ran headfirst into Henri.

Head. First. Into. Henri.

Henri.

He was there. Somehow. Standing in front of me. Reaching to steady me.

Henri. Not a voice in my head. Not an apparition. In the flesh. In the alcove at Rosita’s, gaping at me.

He startled as I bounced off his chest, both of us blinking hard and shaking our heads in disbelief as we realized who we were seeing.

“Holy shit…Sadie?”

I regarded him with his amazing suit and golden fake tan. Put together as always. Meanwhile, I looked like precisely what I was—someone who’d spent the evening having fruity drinks and heavy conversation. My cheeks were red from the alcohol, not to mention I’d had to grab my decidedly unsexy Chester’s Coffee Shop fleece from the car to fight the restaurant’s arctic AC, so my cute little dress was covered.

My knee-jerk reaction was to wonder what Henri thought about my appearance.

Fuck that shit.

I straightened and made to bolt past Henri at the same moment he grasped my wrist. “Wait…please.”

“Let go of me.”

He dropped my arm instantly, but implored, “Please.”

Mrs. Montgomery—her name was Cecelia, Cece to her friends, but in all eight years I’d known her, she’d always been Mrs. Montgomery to me—came out of the bathroom, hastily drying the boy’s hands with a paper towel.

“Sadie, I’m so glad you’re here. Henri said you might join us.”

Huh?This woman had never had two kind words to say to me the whole time I’d lived with her son. She had sent me articles to “improve my fashion sense” and had once insisted I see her hairdresser because my highlights made me look like a “harlot.”And why would she think I’d be joining them?I looked at Henri, who turned to his mother.