AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Summer rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe you won’t admit how you feel. Plus, Killion is so in love with you. We can all see it.” She frowned. “Are you holding back because of me? I think he’s great. He supports you and he’s not intimidated by your success. You can marry him, Mom. It’s totally fine. He would be a great stepdad.”
“No one is getting married.” Erica heard the shrillness in her voice. She consciously breathed and spoke more softly.
“No one is getting married,” she repeated. “We’re not in love. We have a convenient relationship. Nothing more.”
Summer didn’t look convinced. “Uh-huh. Sure. You’re scared. That’s so strange. Nothing scares you.”
“I’m not afraid. I’m not anything. We’re not getting married.”
As if she would ever do that. She also wasn’t in love but repeating that seemed to be belaboring the point.
Summer got off the stool. “So you’ve said. You seem extra weird tonight. Maybe you need some sleep.” Her daughter hugged her. “Night.”
“Sleep well.”
Summer waved, then headed for the stairs. Erica got up, then sat back down again. Married? Married! No and no. There was no commitment, no expectation and certainly no being in love. Not by either of them. She’d been very clear with Killion from the start. She liked what they had and didn’t want it to change, but if he pushed her, she would push back. Hard.
28
Allison paced the length of her bedroom, then turned and walked the other way. She told herself she was fine, to keep breathing. She was imagining what was happening. She wasn’t feeling any pain and she certainly wasn’t in labor. She still had two weeks to go.
“Relax,” she whispered as she walked, ignoring the cramping in her back. “I’m fine. It’s a false alarm.”
She put her hands on her belly. “Stay in there, little girl. You need time to grow more. I know two weeks doesn’t seem like much, but every day is important. Not yet. Not yet.”
She had more to say but a contraction claimed her, reaching across her belly and nearly making her cry. She sank onto the bed and did her best to breathe through it.
“No,” she whispered when she could speak again. “You can’t come early. You can’t.”
“You’ve been quiet since you arrived,” Killion said as he minced a shallot.
“Have I?” Erica ran her fingers up and down the stem of the cosmopolitan he’d made for her that she had yet to taste. “I don’t mean to be. Tell me about your day.”
Because getting him to talk was a whole lot easier than trying to explain what was happening in her head. Normally she was so calm and rational. She thought things through, made plans. She used logic and experience, and if she didn’t feel comfortable with her own knowledge, she hired experts. She was cool, calm and always in control. Until two nights ago when her daughter had oh so casually announced that Killion would make a great stepfather and Erica should marry him.
Since then, she’d thought of little else. The horror of it had started small but it consumed her now to the point where she was nearly frantic. Love? Love? No. Not her, not ever. She’d loved Peter and look what had happened. He’d hurt her more deeply than she had known possible. Worse, she hadn’t seen it coming. She’d been happy and in love and planning the rest of their lives together when he’d already been gone.
She’d been a fool, which she could accept, but she’d also been devastated, which she wouldn’t allow to happen again.
“I heard from Cari,” Killion said, drawing her back to the conversation.
Erica struggled to place the name. “Your youngest?”
“Yes. She and her partner, Melonie, are planning a trip to Seattle. I thought it would be a good time for us all to get together.”
Yes, the infamous and frightening I’d like you to meet my daughters. Scary then and even more terrifying now.
Some of what he said sunk in. “Is Melonie a woman?” Because these days, one was never sure.
“She is.”
“You never said your youngest daughter was a lesbian.”
He used his knife to push the shallots into a small bowl. “I never said my oldest daughter was straight, either.”
“Fair enough.”
His gaze settled on her face. “Is that a problem? The lesbian thing?”
