Page 152 of Need You Now

Seth chuckles, some of the tension easing out of him. “Okay, okay, I get it.” He drags a hand through his hair, squeezing the back of his neck. The last thing Sal and Luke need are two kids taking up residence when they got one on the way. “Nah. I don’t know what we’re gonna do, but she and I gotta talk.”

Luke arcs a brow. “Yeah?”

Jace laughs, a red Solo cup in his hand. “Shit, I know that look.”

All Seth can do is grin. He blows out a breath, then laughs. Letting it all out, his heart, his thoughts, his plans. “I wanna buy her a ring, man. A house. I wanna do every goddamn thing I called you an idiot for.” He softens. “Before Sal.”

Luke nods. Smiles. “You wrote her a song.”

“Yeah, I did.”

Luke studies him for a long moment. “You should put it on the album.”

Seth blinks at him. “Hell, I should.” He grins, his stomach doing a happy flip. “I gotta play it for her first. Fuck. It scares the hell out of me.”

Luke tosses him a shit-eating grin. “That’s how you know you’re doin’ it right.”

***

Lacey groans as she enters the nursery, hefting the stack of diapers on top of the changing table. “There,” she says, exhaling and dusting her hands. “That’s the last trip.”

“And now,” Sal says as she slowly lowers herself into the cream-colored rocker, “to never move again.” A tired but happy smile spreads across her full lips. “I live here now. I will become one with the chair.”

Lacey laughs and fans a quilt over the edge of the crib.

Lifting her eyes, Lacey scans the familiar room. The nursery used to be her old bedroom. But now it’s fit for a baby. Sal and Luke’s baby. With a dusty terra cotta accent wall, a cowskin rug, and framed pictures of musical instruments, it’s adorably countrified.

Glancing toward the window as she crosses the room, the farm looks endless, covered in glossy snow and deer tracks.

“Tell me you had fun,” Lacey says, kicking off her heels to sink onto the cushion in the bay window. Tucking her legs beneath her, her eyes skim Sal. A tiara on her head, her belly riding high on her petite frame.

Finally. Finally, Sal gets to have this.

“I had a blast. It was amazing,” Sal says, her eyes full of admiration. “I don’t know how you pulled it together so fast.”

It was amazing. The shower was a success. Four hours of friends and family oohing and ahhing over baby clothes and pampering Sal senseless. Alabama had been a great help. And the best part is, thanks to the cleaners she’s hired, no cleanup.

Lacey smirks and flips her hair, her old confidence having found her during the day. “That’s what I do. Party planner extraordinaire. At least once upon a time,” she says wryly.

Sal gives her a droll look. Then a look of frustration crosses her face. “I wish I knew more about your life in LA. Or your life in general.”

“Sal, that’s not your fault.”

“I know. But I still feel like I missed out on you. And us.”

Sal’s words are an opening. A moment to share her past with her sister. She thinks of Seth and the courage he gathered to tell Luke. Lacey wants to do the same. Tell the truth. Even if it’s hard. If it hurts. Because Sal’s strong, she can take it.

And so can Lacey.

Inhaling a breath, Lacey looks at Sal. “Did you know this used to be my bedroom when I lived with you and Luke?”

Sal’s eyes widen and then she smiles. “No, I didn’t.”

“Yep.” She points to the wall behind the crib. “That wall was pink. Like Pepto-Bismol pink. Luke hated it, said it blocked his creative flow.” Sal laughs. “And at night, you would pick a book and we would read. Like we would do when we were little.”

Sal’s gaze holds on Lacey, a content look there. The glimpse of information like a cool drink of water after a drought.

Lacey pulls a pillow into her lap, wrapping her hands tight around its side. “I have to tell you something else. About why I lived with you and Luke back then. But I don’t want you to be sad or feel bad for not remembering. It’s just part of me and I think you should know it.”

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