“Gabe and I are engaged!”
The women in Lori’s living room exclaimed in surprise as they jumped up to hug Megan. Sophie smiled and gushed along with everyone else as her friend gleefully showed the group of women her new diamond engagement ring from Gabe. But even through all the laughter, the joy, Sophie remained numb. Cold all over as the conversation went on around her in a buzz.
Of course she was happy for her good friend and her brother. Sophie was absolutely thrilled that they were about to embark on a new life together as a family, along with Megan’s seven-year-old daughter, Summer.
But right now Sophie wasn’t able to feel much of anything at all.
Lori jumped up off the couch in her living room and came back from the kitchen with a bottle of champagne. “Time to celebrate!” She held a smaller bottle of sparkling apple juice in her other hand for Chloe, who was looking more gorgeous than ever with her baby bump.
Lori filled a glass for everyone as they all sat down. The five of them—Lori, Megan, Nicola, Chloe and Sophie—had begun to have these girls’ nights a few weeks before Chloe’s wedding. Sophie loved spending time with a group of women this amazing. On paper, they didn’t necessarily make the most sense: a choreographer, a CPA, a pop star, a quilter, and a librarian. And yet, they were totally in tune with one another.
“To Megan and Gabe!”
Sophie reached for her glass and was just raising it to her lips when she stopped and quickly put it down. The sweet, bubbly liquid splashed out against the rim and onto the coffee table.
“When did he ask you?” Nicola asked. “We need all the deets, right, girls?”
Megan blushed. “Actually, he asked me at Chloe’s wedding.”
Everyone blinked with surprise. “But that was, let’s see, how long ago was it?” Lori paused to calculate.
“Two and a half months,” Sophie said, the number burned like a hole into her brain.
“That long?” Lori turned on Megan. “Why didn’t you tell us that night?”
“We didn’t plan on keeping it a secret for so long, I swear.” Megan looked at Chloe. “Gabe took me out into the vines and dropped to one knee. He told me he’d been carrying the ring around for weeks, that he wanted everything to be perfect when he asked me.” Megan couldn’t contain her glow. “He had already asked Summer if he could be my husband. And her daddy.” She sniffled and giggled at the same time. “The two of them are already keeping secrets from me. I’m in such big trouble from here on out,” she said, but it was clear to all of them how happy Megan was, not only to have finally found the love of her life, but also to have a true partner and father to help raise her daughter.
“That is ridiculously romantic,” Lori said, “but you still should have told us. Right, Soph?”
Sophie nodded, hoping her smile looked natural. “Right.”
“It was your day,” Megan said to Chloe. “And then I guess we were enjoying keeping it to ourselves for a little while.”
“No problem,” Chloe said, “just as long as you tell us the second you get pregnant.”
Sophie choked on the breath she’d been taking. Her eyes immediately started watering as she fought to breathe normally.
“Sorry, the champagne must have gone down the wrong pipe,” she said before jumping up from the couch and heading for Lori’s guest bathroom.
Ten weeks, two days, and fifteen hours; that’s how long it had been since those hours in Jake’s arms when he’d given her more pleasure than she’d ever dreamed was possible...then disappeared in the middle of the night.
It also happened to be exactly enough time to figure out that her period wasn’t missing because it had always come at random intervals or because she was stressed out over work.
No, there was a much more scientific—and shocking—reason why she was so late.
She was pregnant.
Standing in front of the oval mirror over the sink, Sophie stared at herself and tried to see if she looked different yet. But the hollows beneath her eyes, the increased prominence of her cheekbones—neither of those things had anything to do with the baby growing inside her.
No, those were the result of nothing more complicated than self-pity.
How, she’d asked herself a thousand times in the eight hours that had passed since she’d taken a half-dozen pregnancy tests—one from every manufacturer on the market—had it happened?
She already knew the answer to that, of course. Jake had used a condom, she remembered that clearly. But evidently there was a reason for those disclaimers on condom packages.
Despite the shock of seeing that blue line over and over and the word PREGNANT on that one test that clearly believed a word rather than a double blue line was a better way of presenting the life-changing news, it wasn’t lost on Sophie just how ironic it all was.
She was Nice!
The only time she’d ever let herself do something crazy, the only time she’d ever thrown caution to the winds to take what she so desperately wanted, she ended up totally paying for it.
How many lies had she told herself, all because she’d wanted that night with him so badly? The list was ridiculously long, but yet again she made herself go through each bullet point, knowing it was the perfect way to remind herself of the truth.
Lie: If she loved Jake enough, he’d eventually love her back.
Truth: She could spend every second of the rest of her life showering him with love, and he’d never love her. Oh, he’d like her, all right, just as he liked the rest of the Sullivans. But love wasn’t something Jake McCann was ever going to sign up for. He’d even told her that straight to her face.