Page 35 of Forever, Finally

“How many?” the hostess asked.

“Two,” said a voice behind her.

Lily turned and saw Rachel. The second she locked gazes with her friend, her throat got all tight and her eyes burned.

What had she been thinking, letting this woman out of her life? Why had she let the silence drag out so long?

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“Me, too. I was really dumb.”

“No, I was.”

They stared at each other another second, then hugged. Rachel laughed when she bumped up against Lily’s stomach.

“You’ve gotten so big!”

“Tell me about it,” Lily said.

Rachel sniffed, then wiped her eyes. “You’re more than six months along and I’ve missed everything. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. There’s still plenty to experience. And you—” She glanced at her friend’s still flat stomach. “How far along are you?”

“Just three months. Pretty amazing, huh?”

“More than amazing. It’s a miracle.”

Lily suddenly remembered the hostess and turned toward her. “We didn’t mean to keep you waiting.”

“Not a problem. I’ll show you to your table now.”

They followed the petite dark-haired woman to a table in a plant-lined alcove. When they were seated and she had left, Lily leaned forward to study her friend.

Rachel looked as she always had—pretty and full of life. Humor and happiness danced in her brown eyes.

“You look good,” Lily said.

“Considering I just spent the past two months heaving my guts out, I look great.”

The two women laughed.

“You’re okay?” Lily asked. “You’re feeling all right?”

“Uh-huh. Except for the morning sickness, I’ve been terrific. Trying to keep my weight from ballooning, of course. That whole ‘eating for two’ concept is very tempting.”

“Don’t I know it,” Lily said. “There are days I could devour an entire water buffalo. I try to hold back.”

“The water buffalo of the Portland area will be delighted to hear that.”

Lily felt an odd combination of happy and sad. Happy to be with her friend again and sad for all they’d missed.

“I was an idiot,” she said quietly. “I reacted badly.”

“No, you didn’t.” Rachel sighed. “I should have either told you the second I found out the truth about Michael or kept it to myself.” She ran her fingers along the edge of her chopsticks. “It was almost funny, really. For the first time in my life, I met what I thought was a great guy and decided to go for it. One night of casual sex with no strings.”

Lily nodded as she listened, not sure how to react. After all Rachel was talking about Lily’s former fianc;aae. It took her a second to realize that she didn’t care. There was nothing Rachel could say about Michael that would upset her at all.

The realization felt good—freeing, really. Her past was behind her. Now she could focus on her future…and Jake.

---