Page 66 of Healing Hearts
“It hasn’t been bad for the town,” I say. “It’s increased tourism, and I saw a Mia Malone shop opened in town the other day. Completely dedicated to her.”
“Yeah,” Maggie says. “That’s Allison Ruttledge and her daughter who’ve put that together. Mia offered to sign some things and let them sell some exclusives to get off the ground, which I thought was really nice. She’s protective of her brand—which she should be. I think Allison and her daughter are hoping to become a hub for anyone who records at Grady’s studio to buy some merch.”
“Not a business plan I’d want,” I say. “Everything all set for the October wedding?”
“On track,” Maggie says. “Grady has the time blocked off, and so do I. Slightly concerned about Lila being the maid of honor and Trent as the best man, but we’ll build that bridge when we have to.”
“I’m sure it’s not Trent you’re really worried about in that scenario.” When Maggie had broached asking Lila to be her maid of honor instead of me, I hadn’t been offended. She and Lila have been like two peas in a pod since they met as kids. Lila’s been as much of a sister to both of us as we’ve been to each other.
“He is not,” Maggie agrees with a little laugh. “Lila is an excellent grudge holder.”
“Well, if that’s it.” I gather my stuff.
“No luck with the fertility treatments?” Maggie asks, her tone light. “I haven’t wanted to ask too much because I can understand it’s a frustrating process at this point.”
“No luck,” I say. “But I’m taking it in stride.” In fact, I haven’t been too bothered the last few months when my period arrived at all.
“Have you thought about moving into IVF?”
“No,” I say, trying to feign nonchalance. “It’s only been a few months.” The reminder that I didn’t even fill out the calendar for July springs to the front of my mind. Trent must be wondering what I’m even doing.
“How’s living with Trent going?”
“Oh,” I say, and I can feel the heat creeping into my cheeks. “Good.”
“You know, it’s weird. Grady says Trent hasn’t even been dating anyone since he moved into your house.”
“It would be a bit awkward for him to bring someone home,” I say, my heart tap dancing in my chest. “He’s just trying to be a good role model for Amir.”
“He could always go to the woman’s place for some alone time.Amirwould never know.”
“Yeah, well, I guess you’d have to ask Trent about that then.”
“Anything you want to get off your chest about your living arrangement with Trent? About these supposed fertility treatments?”
“We’re friends. The treatments are going well.” I rise and press my purse against my stomach like a shield, trying not to appear defensive, even though that’s exactly how I feel.
“You know, it’s funny,” Maggie says, and I can tell nothing is actually funny. “At the birthday party, Trent couldn’t take his eyes off you. He looked atyoulike you were the present he couldn’t wait to unwrap. Weird, right? And then when I came to sit beside you on the couch, whatever you and Trent were talking about was not PG. You turned bright red before Trent spewed some bullshit to cover it up.”
I slump down in the chair across from Maggie again and give her a pained look. “We made a deal.”
“You bought Mullen’s Mechanics for him, and he’s going to father your baby,” Maggie says, tapping a pen on her desk, her expression triumphant. “IknewI was right.”
“It’s a temporary arrangement.”
“So you two are only having sex when you’re ovulating, and the sex is actually really terrible. Is that what I’m supposed to take from that comment?”
“No,” I say, carefully. “That’s sort of the opposite of what’s happening.”
“The sex is amazing and you’re having it all the time?! Emily!” Maggie cackles. “I love this and hate it all at the same time.”
“Why would you hate it?”
Maggie’s smile fades and she takes a deep breath. “Em, I love Trent like a brother, but he’s commitment-phobic. And you are the opposite. Maybe both of you are in a moment of change. Who am I to say? I just don’t want you to get hurt. Or him either. Shit fell apart with Lila pretty quickly, and they didn’t even sleep together.”
“It’ll be fine,” I say. “We have a deal. No matter what, our friendship comes first. Neither of us is going to do anything to screw that up.”
“Which, if you’d kept clear lines—only having sex when you were ovulating, making the sex transactional—then I’d say maybe you stood a chance. But I saw with my own eyes the way you two were ogling each other on the couch. Those were notfriendshipeyes.”
