Page 35 of Lakesides and Longing

“Oh my goodness, woman, you look like you are about ready to pop,” a petite brunette said. “Just like the first time we met.”

Tess groaned and sank onto her chair, and Paige took the seat next to her.

“How did we get away with not seeing you pregnant?” Tess asked.

The woman just grinned and winked. “Who’s this?”

“Oh, sorry. My manners were lost in your rudeness.” Tess grinned. “This is Paige, Lukas’s sister.”

“I’m Bethany. I’m married to Jaime and have a stepson and a three-year-old daughter,” she said. Then she pointed around the table. “That’s Anna. She’s Hayden’s wife. They have two-year-old twins.”

“We’ve met,” Anna said. And they had, briefly. But Anna had always been a little chilly around her. She suspected it had to do with her history with Hayden, but that was minor.

“Okaaay,” Bethany said. “Moving on. There’s Liz. She and Adam don’t have any kids yet, but she owns like three auto shops. Someday she’s gonna be richer than all of us, except her hubby.” Liz blushed but didn’t respond. “And Mia joined our ranks last year. They’re expecting, but obviously not as soon as Tess.” Bethany looked around the table, and her eyes landed on an empty chair. “Where’s Jessica?”

“Probably puking her guts up. Pregnancy hasn’t been nice to her,” Tess said.

Bethany gaped at her, and Anna giggled. “Wait, Jessica’s pregnant?” Liz asked.

“Why is that so funny?” Paige asked.

“Because Jessica and Conner have been together the longest, but they still aren’t married and swore they weren’t having any kids. They had dogs and live in Dubai.”

Paige raised her eyebrows but didn’t say anything. She wondered what other things she’d learn about this group before the weekend was over.

Lunch was fun. She liked getting to know the women, and Bethany was quickly becoming her favorite. After eating, they wandered the shops.

“Oooh, we should get our tarot cards read.” Anna pointed to a tiny shop tucked in between a few others. This was new, and so Paige hadn’t seen it before. When she was growing up, there was no psychic on the island.

“I’ll pass,” Tess said and nearly everyone else agreed with her.

“I’m down,” Paige said and stepped toward the shop. Anna stiffened but didn’t say anything else. She and Anna ducked into the tiny space where someone was already getting their cards read.

They waited, and Anna stood by with her arms crossed. Paige didn’t like this tension between the two of them. She thought about all the things she’d learned about the girls since she’d arrived.

“What’s it like raising twins?” Paige asked.

“Busy.” She hesitated like she wanted to say something else but didn’t. If Anna gave her the cold shoulder all weekend, then this wouldn’t be any fun.

“Have I done something to upset you?” Paige asked.

Anna pursed her lips. “No. Not really. It’s just Hayden rarely talks about women he dated in the past, but he talks about you a lot.”

“Hayden and I never dated.”

“That’s not because he didn’t want to. Plus, he kissed you.”

Paige snorted. “Yeah, when were like fifteen.”

Anna picked at her nails and still wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Look, it’s just you were the one Hayden wishes he had dated, but didn’t because of Lukas. He’s never said it directly, but I know he wonders what if he had.”

This was news to her. At some point she’d had a crush on him too, but that was high school. Paige shook her head. “He’s like a brother to me and that kiss was years ago when we were stupid kids. He probably had a crush on me because there were a total of four girls on the island our age. I had a crush on him too, but that was a long time ago. And it doesn’t even matter. I’ve only been around you and Hayden a few times and when we are all together, he never even looks at me. His eyes are always on you.”

Anna chewed on her bottom lip. “Okay. I’m sorry I’m being all jealous. I’ll work on that.”

“You don’t have to apologize. If you don’t want to talk to me, I can hang out with the rest of the girls. We don’t have to be friends.” But she really hoped she didn’t. She wanted all these women to like her.

Anna nudged her. “Nah, we gotta stick together now. No one else will get their cards read. I bet they tell us we’ll become the best of friends.”

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