Page 81 of Bound Hearts

She asked for the model planes I made with him when I was a kid. I mentioned it once. Sutton, with her full heart, has now hung them in the nursery.

Because she knows how to fill my soul.

23

SUTTON

“Thanks for letting me stay here,” I hiccup as I sit up on the bed in the guest room of Savannah and Julian’s weekend home in Everhope. Savannah sits on the edge of the bed next to me fluffing pillows, because apparently, I’m a fragile piece of glass. “I needed to escape the city, and since my parents sold their house, I didn’t really⁠—”

Savannah is quick to touch my arm to stop me, her face sympathetic. “You’re always welcome here. You know that. Need anything? More tissues?”

I use the back of my hand to wipe away a few lone tears that drip down my face. “No, it’s okay. I think I’m finally taking a breath.”

The entire drive out of the city, I was in a quiet comatose state. Savannah just let me be, didn’t attempt to prod me for information or what I’m feeling. Real friends do that; they wait patiently.

A soft knock captures my attention, and I see Elodie at the bedroom door. “I heard you might need a team while you bawl your eyes out.”

She isn’t wrong.

Being alone isn’t going to help me right now. At least not to process thoughts logically.

Elodie comes to join us, and I have to ask the obvious. “You came out to Everhope, too?”

She shrugs. “I was going to come anyway. My parents need help clearing out the garage, and they always want to see Lola,” she lies, but I appreciate that she made the trip.

Looking between them, I might as well dive into it. “What the fuck? My mind is twisted, and I can’t seem to understand how this is all a pure coincidence. He needed a baby by the end of the year when he turns thirty-eight, and look…” I use my hands to display myself. “He is having a baby by the end of the year.”

Both of my friends wince as I explain.

“He didn’t get you pregnant on purpose,” Savannah says, firm in her conviction.

“The odds of his suspected plan actually working in his favor are small,” Elodie adds.

Sighing, I’m frustrated with myself. “I don’t believe I’m pregnant on purpose, but the way his brother said it all freaked me out. This is like the perfect piece of the puzzle for them all. Still, I love Foster. I do.” I nip my lip between my teeth. “I get to see sides of him none of you do, but it doesn’t change the fact that he missed telling me this very crucial information. And he even believes that he could be capable of twisted games.”

Savannah awkwardly scratches the back of her head. “That is true, and to be fair, this is a twisted situation, so you get the award on that front for things that have happened to us in the last year, but… it’s Foster.”

“You have every right to be pissed. This isn’t a little white lie or lack of information sharing. It’s a big thing. More than. But if you established that you’re not pregnant on purpose, then focus on the lack of communication. At the end of the day, he is your husband, and you two are welcoming a child into the world soon. You owe it to yourselves to work through this,” Elodie shares her words of wisdom.

I look at her with my eyes swollen from this shitshow of an afternoon. “You do the Lord’s work, you know. Delivering the perspective that makes sense and is valid.”

She smiles proudly and flicks her hair behind her shoulders. “Why, thank you.”

“He says he didn’t want to stress me out, which is why he didn’t tell me, but that plan sure as hell failed. Why couldn’t he have thrown this little detail in months ago?”

“Would you have still reacted the same if he had?”

I purse my lips and take a few seconds to think about it. “No. Maybe. I don’t know.”

Elodie begins to drag over the throw blanket from the end of the bed. “Look, he fucked up, and he knows it. Lesson learned and trust to probably be re-earned.” She starts to tuck me under the blanket as though it’s natural.

She’s been in complicated situations; if anything, she can relate more than Savannah could. “You and Hayes, it was a coincidence.”

Elodie nods with a soft smile. “Very much so. What are the odds of him ending up working at our company? Or that he walked back into my life? Coincidences do happen, Sutton. More than you think. Sometimes we can give credit to that. Not everything happens from our own doing.”

“Well, this is one hell of a fluke,” I comment, but more lightheartedly than anything. Perhaps, I’m calming. “I wish he had told me.”

Savannah gawks at me. “Well, he didn’t. Can’t turn back the clock, so we have to think forward. I’m going to play hard ball now.”