Page 18 of The Princess & the Prospect

“I do. This is my sister’s studio. She had so much work on her books that she had to finally give in and rent studio space, plus ask for help,” she indicated the help wanted sign in the window that had drawn me in.

“That’s why I’m here, actually.”

“I don’t understand. Maybe you should back up and tell me how that happened,” she said, indicating my belly. “Then you can tell me why your family is making you get a job while you are in this condition.”

“It’s a long story,” I explained.

“I’m all ears. We aren’t open until next week.” She got up and quickly jogged over to the door and locked it before coming to sit with me once more. “Sorry, that should have been locked to begin with. I’m glad it wasn’t in this case though.”

“Me too,” I agreed. Then I launched into the story of how I met Joker, what I did to screw things up, and how I was heartbroken about having done so when I finally realized I was pregnant. Then I surprised myself by telling her everything else. Absolutely everything from my horror show of wedding to the night after, and my first day in Joker’s house. The subsequent days we’d spent barely talking to one another got lumped in there too, along with the fact that I knew he had to work, but that I didn’t know if that was what he was actually doing with all of his time when he was away or if he was out seeing other women.

Gretchen looked steaming mad by the time I was done. “If Toby were here, he would have kicked that man’s ass and strung him up by his balls until he saw the error of his ways. What the hell was your dad thinking? What are Ever and Deck thinking to keep letting you stick it out there?” She stood and started pacing. “Maybe you should take Ever up on staying with her for a while.” She turned and glanced back at me. “I’d tell you to come stay with me, but I took over the apartment above Permanent Marks after Ever left, so I don’t have much room.”

“It’s okay, Gretch.”

“No, it’s not. You should be overjoyed right now with the blessing you’re carrying, not worried about how you’re going to be able to save money for when the baby gets here.” Her eyes filled with wetness that I could tell she was trying hard not to let fall. Then she sat beside me again. “Have you felt the baby move yet?”

I shook my head no. “The doctor says it should be soon though. I might be able to see the sex at my next appointment, but I don’t think I want to know. I kind of want that to be a surprise, you know?”

Gretchen gave me a sad smile. “I do know. I felt the same way.”

“I’m…” I started to apologize, but she stopped me with the shake of her head and her fingers moving to rest gently on my lips.

“It’s okay. I’ve been in therapy, honey. I’m strong enough to talk about it now, I promise. It still hurts, every day. Between Toby and the baby, I lost a lot that day. It’s going to hurt for a good long while, but I know how to deal with that now. I’m just sorry I wasn’t able to be there for you after. Toby’s probably upset with me that I wasn’t,” she suggested.

“You know that’s not true.”

“Still, maybe if I’d been there with you, this wouldn’t be happening to you.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t want to wish this away,” I told her while patting my belly.

“No, you don’t. And I hope you don’t mind me being around more. I promise, I’ll be the best surrogate auntie you and your baby could ask for. I know you have Ever, but I’d like to think we would have been sisters if…” I reached over and hugged her. I had been the only person in the family who knew about Gretchen and Toby being together. I’d seen them out at the movies one day and had been immediately sworn to secrecy about their relationship. Gretchen had been worried that Ever would hate her if she started dating Toby and the two of them wanted to give it a go to see if it would lead anywhere before telling everyone. I understood and promised to keep quiet, but I also got to hang out with the two of them periodically. I would never trade those memories, because it was during that time that I had finally grown closer to my big brother in a way I had always been envious of him having with Ever.

“You are a sister of my heart, Gretchen. No matter what.” That did it, and the dam broke. Her tears fell, and began to soak through my shirt as we held onto one another and cried over my brother, her baby, and all that she’d lost, as well as the fact that I still counted her as family. “Hasn’t Ever told you the same?”

“I’ll be honest, I don’t talk to her that much anymore. At first, I felt like I was betraying her when I started dating your brother. Then after everything, I couldn’t look at her without breaking down. She started giving me space after about the fourth time, and told me when I was ready she would be there.”

“You haven’t been ready?”

“No, I have been for a while now, it’s just that now I feel like a bit of brat for behaving the way I did towards her.”

“She understands. I promise you, if anyone understands needing to get over hurts in your own way, and your own time, it’s my sister.” I was still sort of floored that I was sitting here speaking to Gretchen, the girl who my brother had been expecting a child with when he was killed and she ended up losing the baby. They had been heading home to tell our parents and my sister about everything during a family dinner that evening. Gretchen and Toby’s romance had not been a secret from me though, and while me knowing about them added depth to my relationship with Toby, it also fostered a surrogate big sister in Gretchen for me. Ever had still been going through some things with our father and the club, and she didn’t want to taint their opinion of me by being around me too often.

“What’s going on?” Another female called out, though she was close enough that it startled me out of Gretchen’s arms. I wasn’t sure how I had missed someone walking up to us.

“Sweet baby Jesus, Beth, can you stop that ninja thing you do? You nearly scared Anna’s baby right out of her,” Gretchen chastised.

“Anna?” Her sister questioned. “Anna as in…”

I watched as Gretchen rolled her eyes at her sister. “Yes, Toby’s little sister.”

The woman, who didn’t look much like Gretchen at all, tossed a hand up on her hip and glanced between the two of us then. “I thought she was a really little sister, as in under age to be carrying a baby?”

“Maybe I should just go,” I said while standing to do just that. Even while standing, Beth’s height was quiet intimidating. She had to be just shy of six feet tall, and while lacking the curves her pixie of a sister had, she was still built like an athlete.

“Oh, no you don’t. Beth, you behave!” Gretchen chastised before she turned to speak to me again. “Please, don’t go. Beth was just caught off guard with you being here, because up until this morning, I had just been saying I still wasn’t ready to see you guys.” I felt guilty at my sudden appearance in her life again knowing that she felt that way. I was about to apologize, but something in Gretchen’s face stopped me. “I’m glad you came by because it proved how silly I have been. I missed you so much, and now seeing you here and talking to you, I think it would have helped me heal a bit more if I had just gotten myself together and come to see you.”

“I’m sorry for snapping, and seeming judgmental for a minute there,” Beth apologized to me, drawing my attention away from her sister. “I can see Gretchen means what she’s saying. I thought maybe you were forcing yourself on her, and I wasn’t ready for her to spiral back down into the dark place we just managed to get her to crawl out of.” She stepped forward and held her hand out to me. “I’m Elizabeth, Gretchen’s sister, but you can call me Beth.”

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