Page 100 of Love Lessons

Another sigh from him, and I braced myself. I knew the next words out of Owen’s mouth could affect the entire trajectory of our friendship and professional relationship. “I used her as a distraction after Sarah rejected me. I was—I wasn’t good to her.”

My grip loosened on the steering wheel. “Oh.”

“I didn’t handle it well,” he slurred. “She—she was just there when I was feeling lonely and I just wanted someone who could, you know...”

I closed my eyes in a long blink, thankful he didn’t finish that sentence. “I’m sure you’ve apologized, right?”

“Multiple times,” he said quickly. “She should hate me.”

“Well, she doesn’t. She actually holds you in pretty high regard.”

The backseat fell silent. I caught a glimpse of Owen’s face in the rearview mirror as I drove beneath a streetlight. He was lying on his back staring up at the ceiling with his hands resting on his stomach. “She deserves someone good—like you.”

I chewed on my bottom lip. “She’s Finley’s teacher. And if people find out we’re seeing each other, she’ll probably get fired.” I glanced over my shoulder at him. “She will absolutely kill me if Sarah finds out. You can’t say anything.”

“I know,” Owen said with a grunt. “I tell her everything, though.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. “Well, not this. Okay?”

He moaned, and all I could do was pray he’d forget everything about this night.

Except for taking a nap in a bed of leaves—I’d never let him forget that.

Desperate for a subject change, I asked him, “How are you feeling about being married in a week?”

Owen sighed, and I swore I could hear the smile on his lips when he said, “I... can’t believe I get to call Sarah Lavely my wife.”

“You are a lucky man, cousin,” I said, turning the volume back up a little. “Sarah’s a great person.”

“She’s the best person,” he said with a yawn. He was quiet for a while, and I decided to let the man try to rest. I turned the music up some more and sang along as we neared the Woodvale city limits. And then, just when I thought he’d drifted off to sleep, I heard his voice from the backseat. “I just wish—just wish I could fix it for her.”

I stopped singing. “Fix what?”

“‘Dim-diminished ovarian reserve,’” he answered, like he was quoting something—a medical report, from the sounds of it. “It’s the technical term for a low egg count.”

I turned the music down again. “Oh. Are you saying Sarah can’t get pregnant?”

“She can. It’s just going to be—” He paused for a long, deep inhale, pushing the breath out with the word, “Hard.”

“Aren’t there treatments for that?”

“We’re researching all our options. It’s all so new. There’s so much information out there. It’s overwhelming.”

“Yeah, I bet.” I peered into the backseat, struggling to see his face in the darkness. “You know, Kristin and Spencer did IVF and now they have two kids.” According to my mom’s gossip, our cousin struggled with infertility for years before having twins.

“I know. I told Sarah to reach out to her, and she’s going to.”

I had to wonder if Owen would have been telling me any of this if he hadn’t been inebriated. “That’s good,” I said, trying to sound upbeat.

The road curved, and Owen groaned again. “Can you slow down? Actually—” He attempted to sit up, clutching his stomach.

“Do you need me to pull over?”

No response. And that was enough of an answer for me to pull off the highway onto a gravel side road. The car barely came to a stop before Owen was tumbling out of the backseat. I unbuckled and hurried out of the car, too, just to ensure he didn’t roll down the slope into the ditch—which was a possibility.

Owen stood at the edge of the grass with his hands on his knees and proceeded to throw up twice. Then, he lowered himself to a squatting position and buried his head in his hands. I quickly maneuvered myself in front of him in fear he might roll forward. With my hands in my pockets, my arms clinging tightly to my side in the cold November air, I asked him, “You good?”

“She’s going to be devastated if it doesn’t work,” he answered, his voice muffled by his hands. I struggled to find some comforting words—what could I say? His body trembled as he continued, saying, “I just want to see her become a mom.”

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