Page 17 of Forever, Finally

Lily smiled. “Doodoo head?”

“Hey, I can’t swear in front of the kid, right?”

“Absolutely.”

Lily stretched out next to Jake and stared up at the sky. This had been a good day, she thought as she placed her hand on her stomach. She felt safe and a part of something. Right now it didn’t matter that her house was uninhabitable and that she’d made a mess of the majority of her interpersonal relationships. She had Jake and that was saying something.

“Whatever you’re thinking about, stop,” he told her, sounding stern. “It’s giving me a headache.”

“Jenna and Rachel,” she admitted. “And Michael. I’ve messed up a lot in the past year or so.”

“Michael is long gone.”

“I know. I almost never think about him and the whole anger thing has pretty much faded. Looking back, I wonder why I was fooled.”

“Because you’re honest and lead with your heart and he was a guy who took advantage of that.”

“I like your logic.”

She turned toward him and supported her head on one hand. “The Rachel and Jenna problem isn’t so easily explained.”

He glanced at her. “I’m a little flummoxed by it myself.”

Despite the seriousness of the conversation, she couldn’t help laughing. “Flummoxed?”

“It’s a perfectly good word.”

“Sure, if you’re from another century.”

“I’ll have you know, I was born in another century.”

“I don’t mean the one we just had—I mean the one before that.”

The baby relaxed on his chest. He rubbed one hand against her back. “Do you want my advice or not?”

“I haven’t stated a problem yet.”

“Sure you have. You miss your friends and you want to connect with them.”

“Sure, but first I have to figure out what went wrong so I know what I’m apologizing for.”

Jake turned his head toward her and touched her cheek with his free hand. “Does it matter?”

“Maybe not.” Lily considered the question, then sighed. “Yes. I know I overreacted with Rachel. None of it was her fault.”

Jake didn’t answer, which was a real clue that he didn’t agree.

“Rachel didn’t know Michael was the guy I’d been seeing,” Lily said. “Remember? They didn’t meet until the engagement party.”

“She could have said something then.”

“I guess.” Lily was less and less sure about that. “I don’t know what I would have done. For the first time in her life, she acts impulsively and gets naked with a guy she barely knows. Two weeks later she finds out that he’s not only the mystery boyfriend I’ve been talking about, but that we’re engaged. She made the decision to keep quiet. I’m not sure I would have done anything differently.”

“She knew the guy was a jerk. She should have told you.”

“Oh, sure. That works. Like the time I told you that Amber was dating one of the doctors at the hospital and you didn’t believe me? You were furious and we didn’t speak for nearly two months.”

He pulled on a strand of hair. “I’ve apologized for that about four hundred times.”

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