Page 57 of Inked Obsession

Tension crept up my belly.Please, don’t be my in-laws. I wasn’t ready for a confrontation. I had made no decisions, and I didn’t want to make any. At least, not yet. I hadn’t even let myself think too hard about it.

I swallowed and looked through the peephole. I sighed in relief, and then another form of tension rose as I saw who stood there.

Annabelle, Paige, and Brenna, all in cute dresses, their hair done, and their makeup applied to perfection. Annabelle looked a little pale under hers, though.

“I didn’t know you were coming over,” I said as I moved back to let them in.

Brenna gave me a soft smile and a knowing look that kind of worried me. Paige bounced in, and Annabelle slowly made her way inside.

“Do you want some water?” I asked, and she shook her head.

“No, I just had some ginger ale and crackers. Apparently, morning sickness is going to be a thing during the afternoon, as well.”

I held back my cringe. She didn’t look like she was feeling all that great. “Well, sit down.”

“We’re here to look in onyou,” Annabelle said but let me lead her to the living room.

“How was your trip?” Paige asked as she came back in from my kitchen holding a glass of water for Annabelle.

“I said I didn’t need water,” Annabelle said, and I just rolled my eyes as I moved out of the way so Paige could hand her the glass.

“Drink it and be happy,” Paige said. “You’re having the first grandkids of our family. We are going to baby you. It’s what we do.”

“I can’t wait to see you waddle around,” Brenna said, and Annabelle flipped her off.

“That’s not nice.”

Annabelle just shrugged. “No, because then Jacob will be even more overprotective and overbearing when it comes to you. It’s nice. You guys are just so sweet with each other.”

“You really are. I love how he is with you.”

There was a wistfulness to my tone, and I didn’t know if it had to do with Marshall or Beckett. And that should worry me. But it didn’t.

Paige smiled over at me. “What’s going on in that brain of yours?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, my eyes wide because it really could have been about anything. About Marshall, the trip, the anniversary, my in-laws, or Beckett. Not that I thought they knew. Did they? This was why keeping secrets was so bad. For the stomach—and everything else.

“It’s been a tough couple of weeks,” Paige added, her voice soft.

“And tell us if anything happened on the trip,” Brenna said, and I met her gaze. She winked at me, and I snorted.

“I see you’ve already met with Beckett,” I drawled, and Paige and Annabelle gave each other confused looks.

Brenna winced. “Sorry, I already talked with him, and we said no secrets, and then I didn’t want to pretend that I didn’t know and not bring it up because you said you were going to mention it. And I keep talking really quickly so I’m going to stop now,” Brenna said and then laughed.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. I looked to the two Montgomery sisters who were staring at me, mouths gaping wide.

“You and Beckett?” Paige asked, clapping her hands together. “Where? When? What? Give me all the details.” She paused. Considered. “Maybe not all the details. Maybe small details. Little ones. Not crazy things.”

Annabelle’s smile widened. “I knew Beckett went on vacation, but with you? Well, that’s just a crazy coincidence.”

“Apparently, Eli and Lee know the same person. I don’t know. We’re just going to call it a Montgomery thing,” I said, shaking my head. “Not that it was really the Montgomerys who did it, but Beckett said we should.”

“Beckett said we should,” Paige said dreamily.

I waved my finger at her. “Stop it.”

“Stop what?” Annabelle asked, fluttering her eyelashes. “What happened on this mysterious trip of yours?”

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