Page 88 of The Candlemaker

When I’d named the candle, I’d been angry. Not thinking clearly. I wasn’t trying to commemorate him, I wanted to burn him from my memory. The man who’d dicked and ditched me. So, I distilled his scent, slapped his name on the jar, and lit a match. Unfortunately, by the time I realized it did nothing to help me forget, the sandalwood and cloves were the only things that settled my stomach—and his baby.

In and out. Breathe in and out.After a few deep inhales, my stomach settled, and I was about to put the candle back and straighten, my hand finding its way onto my stomach, always debating if I was starting to show yet or if it was just my imagination.Or too many blueberry scones.

I stitched a smile on my face and returned to the front of the shop. “Sorry about that, Adele.”

“Don’t worry about it?—”

“We had you covered.” Gigi appeared at my side with agrin, and behind her, Lou and Harper were admiring my fall display with Adele and Aria.

They knew. Mom knew. I’d told them first, needing an army when I sat down and told Jamie and Kit. Of course, they were furious. Not at me. I was a grown woman. Twenty-seven. I could bang and baby-make with whoever I wanted. But with Chandler…my growly, protective older brothers had watched my father leave our mother to be a single mom to not only her two boys but also her twin daughters. Jamie and Kit didn’t like men who walked away, especially when the only thing those men seemed concerned about was money.

The scenarios were very different in my mind. My and Lou’s father was a gold digger. Meanwhile, the only money Chandler was concerned about was his own. And to be fair, when Chandler walked away, he didn’t know I was pregnant. Neither did I. I guess between sleeping at the inn and trying to resist him, I’d missed a few days of birth control.

But most importantly, I hadn’t asked for more. Hadn’t expected more. Hadn’t even suggested more. Unfortunately, I’d wanted more. And those wants had bankrupted my expectations.

“Here you go, dear.”Gigi patted my back and took the bag of candles Adele bought over to her.

I rested my elbow on the desk, my stomach making me wary of taking another step farther away from the bathroom.

“How are your parents doing? They must be so proud of you. Big-city lawyer…” Gigi gushed over my old friends,asking about their family and plans for the holidays back in Vermont, and in turn, Adele asked Harper how things were going with her beekeeping, and Aria asked about Harper’s brothers. It was all a good distraction from howunwellI looked.

Lou came over to the desk, not-so-quiet concern in her gaze.“How are you feeling?”

I stiffened, changing hormones making me cling to anger that shouldn’t be directed at her. Not really.

I’d told her first, the pregnancy test was still sitting on my bathroom counter. I hadn’t taken time to process—time to think. The first thing I did was call my sister and tell her she had to come to the cabin right away.

“I’m pregnant, Lou. With Chandler’s baby.”

Everything we’d been through, we’d been through together, and this would be no different.

Except I hadn’t been the only one with a truth to share that night. And what she told me changed everything.

“I’m going to have to tell him, right?”For once, I wasn’t sure what happened next.

“No, Frankie. You can’t.”

“Why not?”

She’d hesitated. Flushed. Lowered her eyes. She was hiding something from me.

“Why can’t I tell him, Lou?”

“Because I paid him.”

“What?”I remembered how clearly I thought I’d misheard her.

“Nox saw the two of you that night of the storm. He was worried; we both were.”

“Worried? I’m an adult, Lou?—”

“Who frequently gets in over her head!”She couldn’t help the way her eyes darted to my stomach.“I’m sorry. I didn’t know…I thought it was all for the inn—you told me it was all to get the inn, and I worried it was too much. So, I told Kit—not everything, but enough to explain why I needed to borrow money.”

At that point, it wasn’t the baby that made me sick.

“At dinner that night, I saw the way you looked at Chandler, and I wanted to protect you. You were doing so much for me, andif he broke your heart in the process…so, I asked him what he planned on doing after he sold the inn, and when he said he was going back to Boston, I told him I was willing to match the offer from Mr. Fairfax.”

All of a sudden, his behavior that night made sense. The way he’d turned guarded. The way he’d hesitated to stay the last night…it was because his business was concluded.

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