Page 105 of Truly Forever

My heart hasn’t broken for another in a long time. I haven’t allowed it. What was her end of the world?

She leans her elbows onto her knees, burying her face in her palms. “I don’t know anything! What they’re thinking, what their plans are.” She looks over. “I wonder if they’d consider adoption?”

An odd suggestion. Yes, they’re young, but not without family support. Giving the child to another seems unlikely.

“There’s so much to think about. So much to do.” She practically growls. “I don’t even have a clue how far along Reagan is!”

I rub circles over the knit covering Hollie’s back. “There’s time, Hollie. She’s only a couple months along."

She nods into her hands while mine stays in motion along her spine.

“Wait.” She straightens “How do you know how far along Reagan is?”

Along with my brain, my hand freezes. “Well, I…”Could lie…

“John.” Her tone has shifted.

Man, I’d hoped to avoid this. “I asked. They said she was nine weeks.”

Lines groove her forehead and creases fan out around her eyes. “You asked them tonight?”

I see the answer in her eyes. The pair vacated the premises faster than a fugitive out the back door with cops pounding on the front.

My tell-it-like-it-is nature falters for an instant, but I upright and steady it. “No. The other day at Reagan’s house. I had a suspicion. You were on the phone in the other room.”

Her stare gets scarily long. “That was a week ago.”

I meet her challenge directly. “Yes.”

“You knew.” She shakes her head, her cascading curls a thing of beauty. “And here I’ve been skipping blithely along this whole time…andyouknew?”

I wouldn’t call anything about Hollie this last week blithe. “They asked me to wait. They weren’t ready, and—”

She bolts to her feet. “Of course they weren’t ready, John, but I’m Jacob’s mother! He’s just a kid!”

How can she keep saying that? “No, Hollie, he’s not. He’s not a kid anymore, and I was giving him the chance to be amanand tell you himself.”

“That wasn’t your call.”

I stand too. “It absolutely was.”

The tears have dried up and anger quivers her chin. “Ugh. This whole week…” She slides her feet back into the flats she kicked off along the way. “You were lying to me.”

“I didn’t lie.”

“Close enough.”

Unfair. “Hollie.”

“I trusted you, John.”

“You can still trust me.” I take a step.

Her palm flies up. “No. I can’t. I don’t.” She eyes the logistics, me squarely in her path. “Excuse me, please.”

“Hollie…” I reach out. She recoils like I’m carrying the latest pandemic.

What gets me to the core is the flicker of fear in her eyes. I drop my hand and clear her path. This can be discussed later, when cooler heads prevail.

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