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I push his chest, and he falls back to the mattress. “And Ben will be with you?”
“Probably.” He shrugs.
“I secretly love it, you know that, right?”
“I do. It’s my job to know that.” He touches the small swell of my belly. “Go before I chain you to the bed.”
I step back toward the door. “Love you.”
“Love you more.”
I walk down the stairs, finding Gillian already on the porch. I open our front door, staring at the framed picture of the ultrasound right under one of Emmett and me by the lake that’s on the wall.
“What are you doing? Why didn’t you knock?” I ask.
“I’m cool with you two and all, but I don’t want to hear you going at it. And I don’t want to see Emmett naked.” She has a whole-body shiver. “Ready?”
I grab my purse. “Yeah.”
She takes my hand and squeezes it. “It’s going to be fine. You’re doing the right thing. Please remember that no matter what her reaction is, you aren’t at fault here.”
“Thanks for doing this with me.”
She tightens her grip on my hand. “We’re sisters.”
“Yeah, we are.”
We smile at one another. There’s still some sadness in her eyes. I think she feels guilty for how protective she was and the fact that I didn’t feel I could tell her about what I was going through.
We drive up to Lincoln, and Gillian valets her new SUV outside the lunch place. Standing on the sidewalk, staring at the sign and knowing Parker might be there, makes all the nausea that dissipated on the ride reappear.
“Come on.” Gillian walks in first, telling the hostess we’re here under a reservation.
We’re taken to a small room that is roped off for privacy, and Parker sits at a table facing the doorway. She doesn’t stand and doesn’t look all that thrilled to see us. But she did agree to this meeting, so there’s that.
“Hi, Parker. You remember my sister, Gillian?” I say, taking my seat.
“Yes, hello.” She straightens her back, repositioning herself.
“Hi.” Gillian sits down on the other side of Parker.
“The daddy shower thing is never going to happen now. Chad would never go there again. I’m not sure why you wanted to meet with me, but I hope it’s to apologize.”
I lean back in my chair. “I understand. There’s something I want to tell you, and I wanted to do it face to face, so I’m glad you agreed to meet me.”
Gillian nods.
Parker looks nervously between the two of us. “Your family is really dramatic, just so you know. Spit it out.”
“I’m pregnant, but Emmett isn’t the father.” I press my hand to my stomach, trying to get my nerves under control.
She stills. “And that involves me how?” she asks, but her body language isn’t as defensive as her words.
“I recently moved back to Willowbrook. I used to live in Chicago, but I went through a really bad break-up and moved home. Shortly before my move, I realized I was pregnant, and it was my previous boyfriend’s baby.”
Her demeanor shifts from defensive to something softer, more vulnerable. “Keep going.” She lifts the sparkling water she must have ordered before we got here to her lips, and I notice that her hand is shaking a bit.
“The guy I was dating turned out to be married with kids. I never knew. He told me he lived in Chicago but traveled a lot for work and that was why he was out of town so much. I believed him. I had no reason not to. He was in hospitality, so it seemed legit. One night we were at my apartment, and I woke up in the middle of the night. The bathroom door was shut, but there was light coming out from under it. I thought maybe he wasn’t feeling well, and when I went to check on him, I heard his voice through the door.”
