Page 18 of Forever, Finally

“And I’m okay with it. My point is, this sort of news isn’t easy to tell or hear. Rachel got scared and kept quiet. The real problem came when she told me right after Michael dumped me. I wasn’t in the mood to handle it graciously.”

“You know she only told you to make you feel better.”

Lily nodded. “She had the best of intentions and I completely freaked out. Then I wanted Jenna to take my side. Apparently Rachel was also pulling on Jenna, which caused her to disappear rather than handle the tension. What a mess.”

“You’re smart,” he told her. “You know how to fix this.”

“So I should stop worrying about what I’m apologizing for and just say the words?”

“Sounds like a good start.”

Lily agreed. The plan made sense. It was time to act because the hospital was big enough that she never ran into her friends. But what she didn’t tell Jake is that she was scared. What if she called Rachel or Jenna and they both wanted nothing to do with her? They’d been friends for so long. Living with the hope of a reunion seemed easier than living with certain rejection. Still…

“I think it’s time,” she murmured.

“I agree.”

Smiling, she pushed herself into a sitting position. “Great. So you’re going to hold this over me forever, aren’t you? That you were right?”

“I wasn’t just right. You were…” He paused expectantly. “Come on. You can say the W word.”

“Wrong,” she said with a laugh. “Okay. I was wrong.”

“Music to my ears.” He handed her the baby and stood. “Come on. Rob should be here any second. I want to see the look on Catherine’s face when she sees the car.”

Lily held out the baby. When he took Emma back, Lily pushed herself to her feet. As they walked in comfortable silence, she thought about all the years she’d been coming to Jake’s mother’s house. To the happy celebrations and warm family times. She’d opened presents with them, helped stuff the Thanksgiving turkey and had handed out candy on Halloween so Nadia could go out with her grandchildren. She’d been made welcome and she never wanted to leave. But how much longer would this all go on?

“What happens when you get married?” she asked abruptly.

Jake stopped and stared at her. “What are you going on about?”

“I’m here all the time, but when you get married your wife won’t want me hanging around.”

“Why would she care? You and I are friends. Marriage isn’t going to change that.”

“I’m not so sure.” Lily couldn’t explain the aching feeling she got inside when she thought of Jake marrying.

“Would you have thrown me out of your life if you’d married Michael?” he asked.

“No, but that’s different.”

“How?”

Jake looked faintly annoyed as he spoke, and she realized she couldn’t tell him the truth—that there was no reason, only a faint feeling of dread.

Just then a blue minivan drove into the driveway. As if sensing an impending surprise, children came running from all over the property. Nadia led Catherine out of the kitchen.

“What?” her daughter asked. “Mom, I was in the middle of doing the dishes.”

“So, you’ll finish them later. I think Rob is here.”

“I told you, he had to work today. There was an out-of-town client who…” Her voice trailed off as her husband stepped out of the minivan.

Like all the Stone women, Catherine was petite, dark-haired and lovely. Right now her perfectly shaped mouth hung open. Eddie, her oldest son, raced up and grabbed her hand.

“Look, Mom, it’s Dad and he’s got a new car. Is it for us?”

Rob, a tall blond man with an easy smile, shrugged sheepishly. “Hey, honey.”

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