Page 55 of Make Me Love You

“So, um, go have sex with that hot husband of yours?” Emma suggested. “Isn’t that the point of marriage? It makes sex convenient?”

Suzie glared. “Convenient? Do you know how hard it is to find time for sex with two kids under the age of five, one of whom has suddenly realized he won’t be the baby anymore and is extra clingy?” she hissed. “Do you?”

No, Emma did not. She sent a panicked look to Kate, who nodded.

“Hey, there. It’s all going to be okay.” Kate rubbed a soothing circle on Suzie’s back. “Why don’t you send the kids to me Friday night for a sleepover? Jessica and I would love that. Well,” she reconsidered, “I would love that. But I’ll pay Jessica thirty bucks, and she’ll love the money.”

Suzie’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?” she whispered.

“Of course.”

“Zack is still in diapers. I mean, you’d have to change them.”

“I am familiar with the concept,” Kate said drily. “I might have done that once or twice with Jessica, you know.”

“Kate!” Suzie shrieked joyously. She grabbed her in a side hug, the only kind of hug she could manage with her expanding belly. “You’re such a sweetheart.”

Emma didn’t think she was imagining the look of supreme annoyance that crossed Kate’s face.

“Don’t call me sweetheart,” Kate muttered, proving her right. She gave Suzie a quick hug before disentangling herself. “You know I don’t like it.”

“I’m sorry. It’s a hard habit to break. Everyone calls you that.”

“You’re going to hate hearing this, but it’s because you are a sweetheart,” Emma said. “You’re the absolute best, Kate. Everyone loves you.”

“Everyone loved George,” Kate corrected. “George was the best. I’m just the girlfriend who got knocked up her senior year. People are only willing to overlook that because Jessica is all that’s left of him.”

“Having sex in high school is not a character flaw,” Emma said. “Lots of people did it, including George, obviously. You’re not even the only one who got pregnant.”

“Right. And remind me how those girls were treated?”

Emma bit her lip. Kate had a point there. She wouldn’t say that they were shunned, exactly, but they weren’t embraced with open arms like Kate. And that had nothing to do with Kate being more deserving, and everything to do with George. Hart’s Ridge, like small towns all over the country, had sent many of its young adults to the military. George was the only one who hadn’t come home again. That made him a hero, in addition to being a good guy.

“It’s just hard, dealing with all those expectations,” Kate said softly. “Everyone wants me to be perfect for George, but I’m not perfect. And sometimes...sometimes I want to scream my head off.”

Emma’s heart ached for her friend. “Kate...”

“It doesn’t matter.” Kate shook her head and smiled brightly, signaling that she was done talking about it. “Let’s go get some votes.”

Emma exchanged a worried look with Suzie, who lifted her shoulders in an I know, but what can we do? gesture. They fell into step.

“So, where next?” Emma asked, because Suzie was the mastermind here. Emma was only tagging along because, well, she had to.

Her phone buzzed before Suzie could answer the question. She retrieved it from her purse, noted the unfamiliar number, and answered it anyway. “Hello?”

“Ms. Andrews? This is Maria Lipscomb from the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. I received your email regarding the lamp posts of Hart’s Ridge, and we have a problem.”

Emma frowned. That wasn’t what she wanted to hear at all. “Just a moment.” She hit mute and looked at her friends. “I have to take this. I’m going to get a coffee at Wired. You guys want anything?”

They shook their heads. Emma unmuted the phone and darted across the street. “Sorry about that. What can I do for you?”

Ms. Lipscomb sighed heavily. “It’s not about what you can do, unfortunately. It’s about what you’ve already done.”

That didn’t sound good at all. Emma’s heart sank into her shoes. “What did I do?”

“The lamp posts on Main Street are registered on the National Register of Historic Places, which means that all repairs must be approved by the State Historic Preservation Office. You did not receive approval before commencing work.” Ms. Lipscomb sighed again. “All of which is to say that you violated Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.”

Emma’s heart exited her shoes and sank beneath the sidewalk pavement. “I broke a law?” she squeaked.

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