Page 29 of The Wish List
“Of course. One of the few useful skills my career has given me.” Freya had turned to Beth at that point. “You don’t have to be nice or polite, and you damn sure better not buy them a wedding present or a baby shower gift.”
Beth had felt her face heat with embarrassment. She’d been planning to send over an arrangement from In Bloom, the local florist, as a way to show she wasn’t fazed by her ex moving on.
“Greg and I are divorced, but we’re still friends,” she’d told her sister. “No hard feelings.”
“Sure, sure,” Freya had agreed. “Let me be clear, Beth. He is no longer your responsibility. You get to move on. I’d advise you to pretend he doesn’t exist. Whatever works for you is all that matters.”
“He’s still one of Mom’s doctors.”
Freya’s glossy mouth thinned. “Despite Greg helping with Mom’s care, you don’t owe him anything. He’s a well-paid doctor. That’s his job.”
“We’ll deal with him,” Trinity had added. “We’ve got your back.”
Beth thought about those words and the fiercely protective look in Freya’s eyes as Greg and Lucy had walked by. How long had it been since someone had taken Beth’s side? Maybe never. That was the problem with being hyper-competent. She was always in the role of caregiver.
She would have expected pain from seeing her ex-husband and his new fiancée together, knowing he was going to have the family with Lucy that Beth had tried so hard to give him.
She felt only a vague sense of relief, plus a healthy dose of gratitude for her sisters. It felt good to be reminded that they were all adults and that Freya and Trin were plenty capable of offering support. Beth needed to work on taking it.
“Oh, my gosh, is that Mrs. Jessup?” Freya’s voice was hushed as a float passed with a jolly Santa and a very sexy Mrs. Claus waving from atop it. “She didn’t look like that back when I had her for World History in high school.”
“Her husband left her for another man a few years ago. She reinvented herself.”
“Reinvention in the form of dropping fifty or so pounds,” Freya clarified.
“She didn’t drop any weight in her chest.” Trinity whistled appreciatively. “She looks like she could be a geriatric Rockette with that short skirt and low-cut sweater. She’s going to catch her death of cold in that outfit. Who’s her Santa?”
Beth shook her head. “I don’t recognize him with the beard and stuffing.”
“Bill Williams,” Declan offered as he came to stand next to Trinity along with Shauna’s twins. “He owns Champions.”
“The old bar down the street?” Trinity asked.
“Yup. I’m helping him update things while I’m in town.”
“Cool. We need to go for a drink,” Freya said, making space for Timmy and Zach to move to the front of the sidewalk. “It was the one place that wouldn’t take my fake ID in high school.”
“What’s a fake ID?” Zach asked as he waved to the next float rolling by. Several teenagers dressed as elves tossed candy at the crowd.
Freya glanced at Beth and mouthedhelp me.
“You’re on your own,” Beth told her sister with a wink.
“Not fair,” Freya complained. “I just gave a verbal smackdown to your jerk-face ex. Boys, look.” She pointed toward the sky. “I saw a shooting star, or maybe it’s Santa making a trial run so he could check out the parade.”
“Did your ex-husband give you trouble tonight?”
Beth could feel Declan’s powerful gaze on her.
“No, but we saw him with his new girlfriend, now fiancée, based on the hardware she was sporting.”
“Soon to be baby mama,” Declan supplied, surprising Beth with the humor in his tone.
“Pretty much. Freya reminded me that Greg no longer has any meaning in my life.”
“Is that true?” Something in Declan’s tone gave Beth pause.
“Yeah,” she answered, turning to look at him. “It is.”
