Page 42 of Seven of Hearts

After promising to talk to her in the morning, I made the drive back to Kristin and Will’s house in silence, trying to figure out exactly what I needed to do.

The problem was, I didn’t know what Leah wanted, and I didn’t know how to ask. We were doing things out of order. Usually you knew someone well enough to be in some kind of relationship before having a baby with them.

Did she even want a relationship? DidIwant a relationship? I had never actually been in a serious relationship before. I usually had short-term stints of seeing the same person for a few weeks, then ending things before they got too serious.

A figure was sitting on the front porch when I pulled up to the house. The person was too small to be Will, and given that Hunter and Zoey’s cars weren’t in the driveway, I took a guess that it was Kristin.

When I hopped out of the car and moseyed up the walk, I found that my hypothesis was correct.

“Hey, you,” she said with a tired smile. “I was wondering when you’d be back.”

I shoved my hands in my pockets and made my way up the steps. “Sorry I didn’t join y’all for dinner,” I muttered.

Her smile was kind. The lines around her eyes started to show her age, but they also showed how happy she had been since Will came into our lives.

It was a good look on her.

“That’s all right,” Kristin said as she eased back and forth in the rocking chair. She patted the empty one next to her, silently inviting me to join her. “Did you have fun while you were out?”

“It’s Beaufort. There’s not much to do,” I murmured as I sat.

She propped her elbow up on the rocking chair arm and rested her chin in her hand. “Must be pretty boring compared to Chicago. I was a little surprised you came back so soon. Not that it’s a bad thing. It’s why I always have your room made up. I love it when you come to visit us. I wish you were here more often, but I want you to be happy more than I want you close. I know I’ve only seen you in passing since you got in this morning, but how long do you think you’ll stay?”

I hunched forward, resting my forearms on my knees. “I dunno.”

Kristin cocked her head, but didn’t say anything. She just waited me out like she always did. I swear, my sister had the patience of a saint.

“If it’s cool with y’all, I think I might stick around for a little bit. I need to talk to Will and make sure it’s fine that I work remotely.”

Kristin let out a loud laugh. “You want to stay with us? Done. I don’t work for SolomonTech, but I’ll talk to HR myself.”

“Your husband is the CEO. I think he can make the decision.”

She smirked. “He controls the company. Who do you think controls him?”

I raised my hands in surrender to her logic.

Kristin softened. “Wanna talk about whatever’s going on? I wasn’t born yesterday. I know you’re not here because you felt bad about your birthday party and wanted to have some family time. If you wanted family time, I would have seen you for more than five minutes today.”

“Sorry . . .”

She reached over and squeezed my shoulder. “Don’t be sorry. We all work through our mess in our own way.”

I knew I was going to have to tell Kristin eventually, especially if I planned on staying here longer than the weekend.

“Leah Holloway’s pregnant.”

Kristin nodded. “I know. Kylie told?—”

“The baby’s mine.”

She looked surprised, but not shocked.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

Her brows knitted together. “Why are you sorry, Lo?”

Huh. No one had asked me why I was sorry. They just told me that I shouldn’t feel that way.

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