Fourteen (22 page)

That wasn’t right. I wasn’t a Weller anymore, and I definitely wasn’t Arianna.

“Give me your pen,” I said, holding out one hand as I grabbed the nametag with the other.

“Why?”

“Please?”

He grabbed a pen from his jacket pocket. Ever since he’d gotten his own column a few years ago, he’d taken to carrying one around with him almost religiously. When I suggested buying some kind of electronic device that would make things a little easier for him, he’d immediately shot my idea down by saying that he didn’t trust his brilliant ideas to technology.

I rested my nametag on my stomach—one of the advantages of being seven months pregnant—and scribbled out
Arianna Weller
, writing
Anna Drake
underneath it. I smiled down at it before handing Evan his pen back and pinning the tag to my shirt. I looked at him and grinned.

“Want to explain that?” he asked, sticking the pen back in his pocket.

“I’m not that girl anymore.”

“You’re still you, Anna.”

“I’m your wife; I’ve been that way for six years, and I’m going to be that way for the rest of our lives.” I linked my fingers with his again. “I’m someone different and better thanks to you.”

He stared at me before leaning down and kissing me forcefully. He cupped the back of my head until I stepped into him and placed our hands on my stomach.

“Fuck, I love you,” he said as he pulled away from me.

I smiled, keeping my eyes closed as he rested his forehead against mine.

“I love you too.” I squared my shoulders as I opened my eyes. I looked over at the gym doors and squeezed his hand. “Let’s go in there.”

“There she is,” he whispered into my ear, placing a quick kiss on my cheek before he stepped ahead of me and opened the door.

I took a deep breath and followed him inside, finding that the gym was only half-full of classmates I barely recognized who stood around, talking and comparing life stories with drinks in their hands and dressed to the nines.

I know for a fact that the majority of them still lived in the same town, so the odds that most of the people here didn’t still know each other’s business was very slim. If they wanted to pretend that they hadn’t seen each other in the past twenty-four hours, hey, who was I to call them out on it?

“Oh Jesus Christ, it’s about time.” Ashley popped up at my side and placed her hand on my shoulder. “Kyle was about to go and find you.”

“Told you,” Evan whispered into my ear.

“Shut up.”

“Come on!” she exclaimed, grabbing my arm and leading us to their table.

“Anna!” Christina squealed, jumping up and wrapping her arms around my neck.

I laughed and hugged her back as much as possible. We hadn’t been able to see everyone when we got in yesterday afternoon, having been whisked away by Evan’s parents for some family bonding and sleep to recover from the three-hour drive with a four-year old. Ashley and Kyle had shown up sometime around eight and demanded that we go out to a late dinner with them, declaring that they had first dibs with us for some unknown reason.

Ashley and Kyle had stayed close to home, relocating to Schenectady and starting a joint remodeling business that had taken off very well. Vince and Christina had moved out to California, where Vince was a successful agent and Christina was a publicist for a few relatively unknown celebrities. Our friends had flourished, and I’d missed them horribly.

“Hi!” I squealed back, squeezing her tightly.

“How’s the little peanut?” she immediately asked, bending down to rest her hands on my stomach and place her ear over my bellybutton. “Everything all right in there?”

Evan laughed and kissed my cheek before going over to slap Vince on the shoulder and Kyle on the back of the head.

“Everything is fine in there,” I assured her, plopping down into one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs as she stood.

“How’s the little princess?” Ashley asked, already sitting down and leaning her elbow on the table next to me.

We’d split up the Godparent thing between our friends—Vince and Christina were Macie’s godparents, and Ashley and Kyle were our as-yet-unnamed baby boy’s. All of them spoiled the hell out of Macie as it was, and I was sure nothing would change when our little boy showed up in two months.

“She’s good. Visiting with my dad tonight.”

The relationship between my father and I had improved over the years. I found that we really could get along, and had actually found myself missing his company while I was in college. Evan, Macie, and I talked to him on the phone every Friday night at seven—Thursday nights were
Hell’s Hospital
nights and as much as Evan complained about it, he still sat and watched it with me—and my father and I had gotten along better than we ever had.

Apparently, distance had been the thing we’d needed the most.

“I’d better see that beautiful girl before you guys leave,” Christina said, pointing at me.

“Promise. How’s Calvin?”

“Growing up so fast.” She grinned, her eyes sparking at the mention of her and Vince’s only son.

He was six and an absolute gentleman. Between Christina and her manners, and Vince and his need to teach his son everything there was to know about sports, he was well versed in all things that mattered. Then, of course, there were the superheroes, comic books, and Disney-Pixar movies that every kid loved. When we visited, Macie and he had spent at least half of that time watching movies and then imitating everything they’d seen when it was over.

“I know what you mean.” Ashley laughed. “The twins are almost four and it seems like just yesterday, I was in labor.”

I remembered hearing about all of it. Macie had only been a few months old when Ashley announced that she was pregnant, and it had only taken a few months after that to find out that she was pregnant with twins. Darla and Christine Mahon were the most energetic kids I’d ever known. They’d definitely gotten their personalities and energy from their father, while their looks were all from Ashley. The two of them were going to have their hands full when they got older and started dating, though Kyle had already declared they’d never date, much less get older.

Evan and I were Calvin’s godparents, and Darla and Christine’s godparents were Kyle’s brother and sister-in-law.

“Are we not good enough for you, Anna?”

I looked across the table to see Vince pouting, his bottom lip shoved out so far he could probably wrap it up around his head if he so desired. I laughed and waved him over to me, holding out my arms as he bent down and hugged me.

“You feeling okay?” he asked as he pulled back and bent down in between Christina and me.

“Totally stressed out.”

He laughed and patted my knee.

“That’s not good for the little man in there.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“Fuck ‘em all,” he grinned, standing up again and kissing my cheek. “You’re gorgeous.”

“I tell her that, and she refuses to believe me tonight,” Evan said, matter-of-factly.

I scrunched my nose and stuck my tongue out at him. He laughed and grabbed a chair, pulling it up behind me and draping his arm over my shoulders.

We talked without interruption, Ashley pointing out people such as Brittany Feldman, who had been managing the local hardware shop for the past five years, and Grace Alcott, who had moved out to Hollywood and hadn’t been able to land more than a few commercials here and there.

Steve Forrester, dragging a stick-thin blonde around the middle of the floor, still looked like he had in high school. He’d taken over his parents’ construction business and seemed to think that he owned the world because of it. Adam Laveque hadn’t appeared yet, but his alcoholism had been common knowledge around Collins Point for about four years now, or so I’d been told. Other classmates that I barely knew had stopped at our table to say hello, spouting on about their lives and sliding away when someone else called their name.

“Evan!”

We both looked in the direction when we heard a voice that I’d tried to forget, and I cringed, placing my hands protectively over my stomach as Grace walked up to us. She was carting around a guy that looked like he might’ve just graduated high school, and was doing everything in her power to show off the ring on her left hand.

“Hello, Grace,” Evan said coolly. “How’ve you been?”

“Fabulous!” she said in a sing-song voice, waving her left hand at him.

I looked behind me at Ashley who rolled her eyes. I laughed and looked over at Christina who was mimicking Grace’s hand movements.

“This is Antoine,” she proudly announced, gripping the guy’s hand. “We’re engaged.”

“Never would’ve known,” I heard Ashley mumble.

I pressed my lips together, clearing my throat and looking down at my stomach in an attempt not to laugh at her.

“Congratulations,” Evan said, coughing and grabbing my hand. I looked over at him and smiled, squeezing his hand before I looked up at Grace again. “You remember Anna, don’t you Grace?”

Her gaze slowly shifted as she appraised me. “Arianna Weller?”

“Hello, Grace,” I said through my teeth in an attempt to be polite.

“You still hang around with her?” she asked, crossing one arm under her breasts and jutting a thumb at me. “I thought you would’ve grown out of that years ago.”

“They’re married, half-wit,” Ashley snapped, slapping her hand on the table. “Where have you been for six years? Collins Point is not that big of a town, so don’t be a dumbass and pretend that you didn’t know.”

Christina choked on her drink, fanning herself as she gasped for air.

“Nice to see you again, Ashley,” Grace said dryly.

“I wish I could say the same to you.”

“Well, we have to get going,” Grace said, turning on her heel before any of us could say anything more.

“Damn!” Kyle said, his voice booming. “I thought she was a moron back in high school. She hasn’t changed much, has she?”

“No.” I laughed and saw her smack Antoine’s arm as they stormed over to their table.

We continued talking about all the ways our kids annoyed and amused us, briefly mentioning our careers and pretty much ignoring the rest of our classmates.

Brittany had meekly made her way over to us, being as polite and nice as anyone else. She’d gotten divorced from Steve three years ago, she’d said, and he’d given up the rights to their daughter. The blonde he was carting around was their former nanny, and it was hard to hold a grudge against someone who had to watch her ex-husband troll around the room with someone else.

I made her sit with us, and we spent the rest of the evening at our little round table, sharing stories. By the end of the night, I was exhausted and more than ready to go home as opposed to going out to the dinner we’d promised everyone else.

“You okay, babycakes?” Evan whispered into my ear, trailing his hand up and down my arm.

“Are you going to make that nickname permanent?”

“I’m thinking that I kind of like it, so yeah, probably.”

I laughed, leaning my head against his and smiling when he pressed a soft kiss against my ear.

“We’re here for another couple of days,” he whispered, nuzzling his nose into my hair. “We can go out to dinner with them tomorrow night if you want.”

“Will they be okay with that?”

“They have to be. Plus,” he began, his other hand trailing back to my stomach, “you have a pretty good excuse.”

“Our son is not an excuse.”

“No, but if you’re tired, they’ll all understand. You can’t overexert yourself, baby.”

“I’ve missed everyone.” I pouted, closing my eyes.

He laughed as he kissed my temple. “I know. I have, too. But like I said, we have a few more days. It’s not a big deal.”

I opened my eyes and blinked a few times to readjust to the harsh lighting of the gym.

“What are you naming him?” Brittany asked from her spot in between Christina and me.

I looked over at her and smiled, placing my hand over Evan’s.

He said, “We’re not—”

“I was thinking William,” I interrupted. “After his amazing, wonderful papa.”

He looked down at me, shock clearly written all over his face, and I smiled and placed my hand on his cheek, rubbing my thumb over his chin.

I’d been thinking about it a lot and while he’d already told me that he didn’t want any son of ours named after him directly, I had been sitting on his middle name ever since we found out that we were having a boy. He hadn’t brought up the name issue until recently, and I had wanted it to be a surprise. Being here tonight, it just seemed like the perfect place to tell him.

“You . . .”

“Is that okay?” I asked when he continued to stare at me.

“You are . . .” He chuckled. “You’re perfect for me; you know that, don’t you?”

“Is that your middle name, Evan?” Brittany asked, bringing me out of my private moment with Evan.

“Yeah,” he said, not breaking his gaze with me. “It was my grandfather’s name.”