Page 60 of Call It Love

“Looks like come early November,” she said, a smile tugging at her lips, “we’re having a baby.”

The reaction was instant. Cheers rang out, and chairs were pushed back as everyone jumped from their seat to hug Reid, Bristol, and Lexi.

Only Trey and I stayed in our seats. I knew why I did, but Trey was family, although he seemed a lot quieter than the boisterous rest of them.

Eventually, when the excitement settled and everyone returned to their seats, Trey stood and made his way over to Reid. He shook his hand firmly, then gave Bristol a gentle hug. “Congratulations,” he murmured.

I waited until Bristol’s eyes finally met mine across the table. “I’m truly happy for you both. Congratulations. Here’s to your good health.” I lifted my glass of mimosa as a toast.

“Here, here,” several people said and clinked glasses.

Everyone returned to eating, but I slowly pushed what remained on my plate around with my fork.

Chase saw me and raised his eyebrows, but I gave him a subtle shake of my head. “I’m fine,” I mouthed.

He didn’t look convinced, but he let it go. He probably assumed it was from the earlier drama.

For now, I’d let him think that.

Chapter 20

Chase

Everyone had left.

Bristol had given Anna a decent goodbye—warm enough to be genuine but also carefully neutral. Cam had only nodded, but at least that was progress.

Minor miracles.

Afterward, Anna sat on the porch, staring off into the distance, but she didn’t seem to be focused on anything.

The silence between us wasn’t the comfortable kind, the kind that was a shared peace. This was more brittle, like something would crack if either of us breathed too loudly.

I cursed myself. I’d handled everything like shit.

I knew my sisters might be lukewarm about Anna being in my life, but I didn’t expect the outright hostility from Cameron. We had always been close. It could be the twin thing. Sometimes, we felt each other’s emotions a little too much. I knew her feelings toward Anna didn’t come from nowhere. We were all protective of each other. It didn’t take a professional to understand that at least some of it came from our mother leaving us when we were young. And with a father whose job took him on the road a lot, we dependedon each other. But deep down, I suspected her attitude also came from her own place of hurt. She’d also lost a friend when Anna disappeared without a word. Bristol felt it too, but not as sharply.

After I hustled her outside, I’d made it clear to her that it wasn’t any of her business. She pushed back at first but reluctantly agreed—only for my sake—that she’d try to be civil when Anna was around.

My apology to Anna hadn’t been perfect, but I thought she’d accepted it. I thought she felt better after I made it clear to everyone how I felt about her. But something was still weighing on her. At least she hadn’t retreated to her cabin, which I took as a win.

I sat beside her, careful not to crowd her. I couldn’t imagine what was going through her mind. Maybe the brunch had been another trigger for her time with Mason. Maybe she was revisiting old ghosts.

Either way, we couldn’t keep skirting the past. If this was going to work, it was time to lay all our cards out there. No more secrets.

I shifted slightly, resting my elbows on my knees as I took in the view.

“Pretty day,” I said, trying to think of the right way to plunge forward.

Anna hummed softly in agreement but didn’t speak.

“I’m sorry that things got so dicey today. I screwed up. And I can’t tell you how sorry I am. I never meant for you to feel as if you aren’t part of our family.”

Anna exhaled slowly, then finally brought her eyes to me. “But I’m not.”

Her words hit me in the heart. “Maybe not officially, but you are.”

“Iusedto be. Cam’s feelings aren’t withoutwarrant.”

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