Husband Stay (Husband #2) (26 page)

I nodded, wanting
to cry again. My emotions were so close to the surface.

“And when they
gave Finn the baby to hold—which he deserved after holding Lizzie’s hand
through all that screaming—I was only excited for him. I stood there watching
him touch those tiny fingers, and…he loves that baby so much.” She started
blubbering. “He loves Lizzie,
and
her baby, and I’m not jealous. I love
them too.”

She clung to me
and I patted her bare back while she sobbed and sobbed, letting out what felt
like a lifetime of anguish. With her history of a deadbeat father who’d run out
on them and her mother who’d been so sick she couldn’t care for her daughters
properly, there was a lot of grief banked up, and it was good to see her
release it.

When Finn came
into the waiting room a few minutes later in his beautiful tux, I handed her
over and she cried on him, and I think he was crying too. But relieved tears,
as if the cyclone he’d feared was just a rain depression.

At last he pulled
back and wiped at his eyes, then he smiled at me. “I was hoping to save the
tears for the wedding. But clearly it’s an emotional day.”

Tell me about
it.

“The wedding?” Jill
took Finn’s dress handkerchief out of his suit pocket and blew her nose on it.
“Does anyone know where we are?”

Shit.
I’d
been so wrapped up in my own situation. “I didn’t give it a thought.”

Finn pulled a
phone out of his pocket. “I’ll ring Fritha.”

“Where are my
shoes?” Jill looked around and I suddenly realized we could be jumping in a car
any moment.

So I grabbed her
hand. “I have something to tell you.”

She looked at me
silently for a second and then said to Finn, “Honey, can you give us a minute?”

Finn nodded and
walked down the corridor, talking softly into the phone.

“What?” Jill had
me by the shoulders again.

I nodded at the
chairs and we sat, then I sucked in a slow, deliberate breath. “I’m pregnant.
It’s Jack’s. He doesn’t want a relationship.”

She sat still as
stone, staring at me while her mind caught up with the rest. Then, “Are you
happy?”

“Delirious,” I
replied, and despite what the future may hold, I couldn’t stop myself smiling.
“I’m going to be a momma.”

Jill was trying to
smile, but, “All the screaming.” She pointed toward the birthing suites.
“There’s blood and pain and—”

“A beautiful
baby.”

She shook her head
but eventually smiled her lopsided smile. “Granted. He is a beautiful boy.
Quality construction.”

I had to laugh.
“And Jack’s baby will be beautiful too.”

“So, to
backtrack,” she said, and held my gaze. “Does Jack know about the baby?”

“No.”

We stared at each
other. “Okay…I’m trying to follow this. Your reason for not telling him is?”

“That I’ve only just
found out.”

“Oh.” She turned
her head to look at me sideways. “So you might tell him.”

“I will tell him,”
I declared, only realizing in that moment that I must. “It’s the right thing to
do. To be honest about it.” She frowned, so I hurried on. “Danny didn’t tell me
about the vasectomy and I’m not doing that to Jack. Imagine how he’d feel a
decade down the track when his son comes looking for him?”

“It’s a boy?” Her
eyes lit up, clearly forgetting the whole
blood and pain
thing.

“No. I don’t know.
It’s too early. But are you listening?”

She flapped a hand
at me. “I get it. It’s obviously the right thing to do, but the reason people
don’t
do the right thing, is because it creates drama. What if Jack wants
custody?”

“What?”
Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around my belly. “Why would he want the baby
if he doesn’t want me?”

“I don’t know.”
Her frown deepened. “You know me, I’m paranoid about everything.” She watched
me for a moment then said, “Look, forget I said that. He might be easy to deal
with.”

It was my turn to
frown. Jack had never been
easy to deal with
. But, “I have to do it. I
have to tell him. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t.”

“Of course,” She
grabbed my good hand. “And no matter what, I’m here for you. Just don’t…rush
into anything.”

Finn walked back
into the waiting room then and Jill looked up at him. “We’re fine, babe,” she
said, then she glanced at me and I nodded, so she added a grin. “But get ready
for more squawking. Angela’s pregnant.”

Finn’s cautious
expression morphed into delight, and he held out his arms for a hug, which I jumped
up and readily gave. “More babies,” he said, and let me go to smile at me.
“Now, if only you can convince
Ms I’m not ready yet
.” He nodded at Jill.
“My life will be complete.”

“Marry her first,”
I replied. “It’s confusing if you get it out of sequence.”

I’d tried for a
bantering tone, but Finn’s kind eyes gentled in concern. “Is Jack Davenworth
the father?”

“How did
you
know
his name?” Why was everyone else more curious about his background than I was?

Finn shrugged.
“You girls are family,” and Jill slid in beside him to wrap an arm around his
waist. “I wanted to make sure he wasn’t some creep.”

Jill arched a
brow. “And you didn’t tell me…?”

“Because you’re a
blabbermouth.” He kissed the top of her head.

She grinned at me
before saying to him, “Then you’d better marry me, because that blabbermouth
gene is rare, and we want to make sure it doesn’t die out.”

Finn blinked in
surprise then he pulled her away and his frown was a mix of excitement and
uncertainty. “Are you saying…you want babies?”

I felt very much
like an intruder then, so I said, “I’ve got someone to say goodbye to,” and I
headed to the nurses’ station where Collie and I exchanged phone numbers. I
wasn’t sure why, but I wanted to keep in touch.

She was clearly
moved by that and came around to give me a hug. Then Jill and Finn and I were
on our way back to the wedding where everyone had already eaten. Jill and I had
snacks while the resort beautician repaired our tear-smeared makeup, and Finn
filled his parents in on Lizzie’s status so they could phone her mother in
London and organize to drop off a gift from Lizzie—a lock of baby hair—on their
way home to Miami.

When all that was
done, finally,
finally
I could stand with the women who meant more to me
than my own family, watching Jill wholeheartedly give herself to Finn—
for
better or for worse
.

I could have felt
sorry for myself, or wished that it was Jack and I. But there was no room in my
heart for grief. I was too happy. My Jill was finally committing to a man who
would be nothing but good for her, and she’d agreed to babies.

It was every wish
I’d ever had for her come true. So of course I cried again, but somehow I
managed to pull myself together to perform the bridal waltz song. It was Finn’s
choice—an Elvis number that had apparently been his own parents’ bridal waltz,
and I loved that nostalgia.

Watching them
waltz around the floor, gazing into each other’s eyes was a fabulous
distraction, and when the bridesmaids and groomsmen joined in, I wasn’t the
least bit surprised to see Nick, who scrubbed up nicely in a retro tux,
watching Louella and her partner very closely. Definitely something going on
there.

Fritha was teamed
up with Finn’s very serious cousin Benedict, an academic who’d flown over from
England. They were an odd match—he in his ultra-conservative tux and Fritha
flouncing about barefoot in her rainbow bridesmaid dress with her red curls
miraculously still holding in an updo. What made that pairing
very
interesting
was the dagger eyes Brittany was sending Fritha’s way.

Little-sis was
teamed up with a last-minute ring-in—courtesy of her abrupt arrival—Sieu’s
younger brother Jai who was struggling to keep his gaze off her breasts which we
all hoped wouldn’t pop out of her very low-cut neckline. Brittany, however,
appeared to be interested in the bookish Benedict, and looked none too pleased
that Fritha was chatting away to him.

That was a
surprise. I hadn’t thought of Benedict as someone who would be attractive to a
shallow boy-band fan like Brat. Although, he was certainly handsome in an
Oxford rowing team, quality-tailoring kind of way. She was eyeing him up as if
he was dessert and I couldn’t help thinking
that
would be an odd match.

When my song
finished and the DJ took over, I allowed my own partner to escort me to the
dance floor. The cast made me feel awkward, but the worst part was that being
held by another man—however impersonally—made it impossible to stop thinking
about Jack.

I was booked to stay
the weekend with the girls after Jill and Finn headed out for their honeymoon
in Finland—Jill wanted to see the Northern Lights, so they were staying in a
resort with glass igloos in
Finn-Land
which she thought was hilarious.

Whether the Aurora
appeared or not, I was sure they’d have a good time holed up in their cozy
digs. But as the evening drew to a close and we hugged them goodbye, I knew I wasn’t
going to stay and socialize. First thing in the morning I wanted to go home and
work out a strategy for finding Jack and telling him about the baby.

Before that, I had
to tell my girls, so I asked them for a minute in the reception room where we’d
been waiting for Jill—before Lizzie’s emergency had interrupted. As soon as we
arrived there and I shut the door, Fritha started babbling.

“How totally buff
is Bennie? Did you see that upper body? I think it’s all the rowing.” Frith was
practically licking her lips, and with a few glasses of wine fueling her, I
wondered how I could bring the conversation around to
By the way, I’m
pregnant
.

“Brittany looked
interested in him.” Louella took a lipstick out of her purse and touched up her
creamy red pout in front of a wall mirror “She’s probably propositioning him as
we speak.”

“I tried that.”
Fritha flapped a hand. “He’s celibate.”

Louella looked at
me in the mirror. We’d all heard about creative
thanks but no thanks
lines,
designed not to hurt anyone’s feelings. But celibacy? That would be a first.

Louella snapped
her purse closed and turned to me. “You have something to tell us?”

Fritha snorted.
“You in a hurry for something? Is that bodyguard of yours warming the bed?”

Louella gave her a
look that would have frozen vodka.

“Then can I have
him?” Fritha was oblivious to insult, as usual. “There’s nothing more tragic
than a bridesmaid who can’t get a fuck at a wedding.”

Louella sighed and
transferred her attention to me. “Angela?”

It was time to
fess up.

“I’m pregnant.” And
before Fritha could jump into the gap, I added, “And I’m happy.”

“Jack Davenworth?”

“What!” Fritha
gasped belatedly, then she launched herself at me like a spindly projectile,
enveloping me in a rainbow hug.

“Yes,” I said to
Louella, over Fritha’s shoulder. “But he doesn’t know.”

“Are you going to
tell him?”

“Of course she
is!” Fritha laughed. “How else can she marry him?” Then she pulled back and
grabbed my hands, her expression growing earnest. “You won’t make me wear pink
to the wedding? It looks shit with my hair.”

“There is no
wedding.” She frowned immediately and I squeezed her hands to lessen the blow.
“He dumped me. I’ll just be letting him know what I’m doing. Then I’m Suzi
Solo. Me and my mini-me.”

“But you said…you
fucked him yesterday.”

I swallowed down
embarrassment, but Louella wasn’t frowning in disapproval. She was pulling a
necklace out from beneath the neckline of her gown. It had a pendant on it that
she squeezed three times.

“Is that…?” I
shook my head.

“A security
device,” she confirmed.

Ten seconds later
there was a knock at the door.

“Enter,” she said,
and when Nick came in, Fritha promptly forgot about who I’d been sleeping with
and started working on her own social calendar.

“
Hello
,
Nick,” she cooed, fussing with her updo and managing to get a ring stuck in it.

He didn’t even
look at her. His attention was all on Louella who said, “Jack Davenworth. Can
you track down his whereabouts?”

Nick nodded and
left.

The moment the
door was closed, Fritha whined, “
Ange?”

I helped her disengage
her ring, but a segment of hair came down with it.

I wasn’t sure what
to do. “I think it all needs to come down.”

“Letting your hair
down,” Louella said quietly. “There’s a metaphor you
don’t
need.”

“I
do
need that
man.” Fritha scattered hairpins across the reception room floor in her hurry to
leave. Then she gave me another too-tight hug, poked her tongue out at Louella—looking
remarkably like a rainbow scarecrow—and said, “I’ll be back.”

“I’ll be asleep,”
I warned her, but she just waved as she went out the door, probably thinking
she’d see me in the morning. If she managed to find a man, however, I doubted
she’d surface before noon. And I was certainly hoping she wouldn’t bring him
back to the bedroom we were sharing.

With a shudder, I
turned to Louella. “I’m tired. It’s been a long night.”

She stepped
forward and patted my arm, a rare gesture of affection. “I want you settled,
Angela.” She was serious again. “I need you girls living steady lives.”

You three are
my life raft... Don’t let yourself sink…because I’ll drown without you.

“I’ll be fine.”

I said that
because I wanted it to be true, but the future was so big, so full of
responsibility and
work
—raising a baby—my mind couldn’t encompass the
whole thing. It would only let me look at one step at a time. “First I’ll tell
Jack. Then I’ll get myself organized in plenty of time for the birth. I’ve got
money coming in.”