Holt pulled his wife closer, whispering something in her ear that had her cheeks going pink. Twenty bucks said it was a creative suggestion about the next way they should try for that positive. The whole moment was sweet. They’d so clearly be ecstatic to be pregnant and expanding their family. They wanted to have that physical manifestation of their love and commitment. From all indicators, they were putting a lot of time and effort into trying for it on purpose. That was how it should be.
So why the hell couldn’t this have happened to them?
Hadley needed to get out of here before this curdling anxiety forced her dinner back up and exposed her as Cayla hadn’t.
Excitement over, everybody turned back toward post-dinner cleanup. Excuses were being made.
“We need to get the kids on home for bed,” Mia said.
“Yeah, we aren’t far from bath-time here,” Holt added.
Hadley helped round up toys and dogs as an excuse to keep avoiding Cash. She managed to hold her shit together long enough to go hug her brother.
“I’m gonna get on out of here. My car’s blocking people in. Thanks for dinner.”
He squeezed her back. “See you tomorrow, Squirt.”
“Sure. Night, Jerkface.”
She made a beeline for the door as Mia and Brax scooped up their kids.
Cayla caught her on the stoop. “Thanks so much for coming. I’m so excited to get to spend more time with you.” She pulled Hadley into a hug and whispered, “I’m here if you want to talk.”
Well, if she’d needed confirmation that her sister-in-law knew, that was it.
Swallowing hard, Hadley pulled back, daring to look Cayla in the eyes. She saw nothing but compassion and understanding in that gaze. The support for whatever was needed had her control wavering, so she just nodded and headed for her car, feeling as if her world was crumbling down around her ears.