I sat inside a far corner booth in Zeke’s Joint with a lager at my side while I waited for Trish. I owed her a huge apology, and since I needed a pretty big favor, I figured the apology was the best place to start.

“Sorry I’m late. Had a little bout of afternoon sickness.” Trish removed her long wrap around sweater and balled it up, tossing it in the corner along with her purse and another bag. “Even though Vivi and Maddie warned me, I wasn’t prepared for morning sickness, or all day sickness as I call it.”

“Zeke has real ginger beer, with real ginger and no booze. Drink up,” I slid the glass towards her with a terrified frown. I could handle drunk sick friends, but I had my doubts about pregnancy sickness.

“Thank you, Mags. Such a sweetheart.” She took a long pull from her straw, sucking down half the glass in a few sips. “Okay, what’s up?”

“I wanted to apologize to you, Trish. You didn’t deserve the way me and Mason acted over dinner. I appreciate what you were trying to do, really.”

“But you want me to butt out?”

“Yes. No. Shit, I don’t know. I don’t want to be forced into anything until I’m ready. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah it does,” Trish assured me, and I let my shoulders sag with relief. “That’s why friends are so annoying, because they are put here for the sole purpose of making you do things you’re too scared to do.”

“So, you won’t stop?”

Trish shook her head, blond ponytail bobbling so cheerfully I wanted to tug on it just for laughs. “We’re friends and sisters, I’m afraid to say it, but it’s only going to get worse from here.”

“Kill me now.”

Trish laughed, ordered loaded nachos from a passing waitress, and sipped her drink. “That’d be too easy. Now tell me why we’re really here.”

“Are we good?”

“Mags we’re family. We’re always good. Now, spill.”

“You’re spending too much time with my brother, his bossiness is rubbing off on you.”

“It’s not the only thing that rubs-,”

“Nope. Stop. I don’t wanna hear it!” She laughed again and took another sip from her drink, looking a little pale. I glanced around for those nachos before Trish tossed her cookies. “I want to have a birthday party, or dinner for Davis, and I was hoping you’d help me with the cooking?” I hated asking people for favors. In my experience they always cashed them in at double the original going rate. “You can even invite Vivi and Maddie with the husbands if you want.”

She rolled her eyes. “How kind of you to invite your friends.”

“Right? I considered a sex coupon book, just to avoid this whole people thing.” But the truth was I wanted Davis to fit in here and this party would help.

“Now that’s something to consider,” Trish said and rubbed her chin with a salacious look on her face. “How many coupons?”

“I’m not helping you screw my brother, Trish.”

“That’s okay, I don’t need any help. Clearly we get the job done with out you.” She snickered as she rubbed her belly, ducking her head to avoid the napkin I sent flying at her head. “So, this party?”

“It’ll be at our place, so really, all I need is help with the food.”

“Oooh, our place,” she teased and I rolled my eyes. I realized I should have expected the teasing, but it surprised me every single time.

“What else should I call it?”

The waitress set the nachos down and I swear Trish nearly bit off her arm in her rush to get to the steamy pile of meat and veggies. “Don’t downplay this, Mags. Enjoy it. Embrace it. You like Davis and that’s fine. Hell, it’s more than fine, he’s great. And you must really like him if you married him, unless you were drunk?”

“Stone cold sober,” I admitted, smiling as I thought about that day. I’d never felt like that, so reckless and free when I was with Davis and his boyish grin. “We knew what we were doing.”

“So you do like him. Why are you running from it?”

“Because Trish, we don’t all excel at relationships. If you recall, Mason almost lost you because the O’Malley family has a crappy track record when it comes to love.”

“Almost being the keyword. He got his head out of his sexy ass just in time to make things right, and now we’re blissfully happy.” I couldn’t deny that, and even if I wanted to, Trish glowed with love and her eyes practically sparkled.

“And I’m happy for you both, but I’ve got more issues than my brother and I’m just no good at relationships. Not one of them have ever worked out, Trish. Ever.”

“So what? None of them ever work, until they do.”

She didn’t get it. Trish had been incredibly close to her Aunt Becca who’d raised her, of course she wouldn’t understand. “But it’s not just romantic relationships. Platonic, familial you name it, and I’m not good at it.”

“That’s crap and you know it. Once I got past thinking you were his sexy badass girlfriend, you were a big part of why I fell in love with Mason. Any man who treats his kid sister the way he treats you, the way he loves you is a good man.”

“I never said he wasn’t.” That’s why it hurt so much. Mason was a stand up guy, and he’d only go to such lengths if he were truly fed up with me.

Trish glared at me, pointing a chipped pink forefinger at me. “No, but you’re acting like he’s some asshole who doesn’t care how he gets rid of you as long as you get gone.”

She was right, and Davis had said almost the same thing. “It wasn’t all about Mason, Trish. It’s my own crap that I have to deal with. I’m still not thrilled with him, but it wasn’t all his fault.” Like Davis had said, Mason hadn’t meant to be careless. That didn’t change the pain I felt, and I hadn’t figured out how to get over it yet.

Trish looked up at me, blue eyes big and hopeful. She grabbed another nacho and ate it with the gusto only a pregnant woman could, moaning loudly and doing a little chair dance as she did. “Does this mean you’re staying in Belle Musique and staying married to Davis?”

“I can’t stay married to Davis, which means I can’t stay here. I like him too much to hurt him, and that’s what will happen. Eventually.” It always did.

“You don’t know that, Mags. You can’t possibly know that.”

I wasn’t psychic, but I did have the benefit of hindsight, and a good memory. “Not for sure, no. But based on history it’s a likely outcome.”

“Likely outcome? This is life, Mags, not some computer game.” Trish’s demeanor changed, softened and she sighed again, but this time it wasn’t a ‘why does Magenta have to be so difficult sigh’, and that was a relief. “Don’t leave Mags. Please. I love having you around, and with a baby on the way, there’s no way I can fly all over the world just to hang with you.”

I couldn’t imagine missing out on watching Mason’s kid grow up, and teaching him or her all the bad stuff he wouldn’t dare. But I couldn’t fool myself into believing that would happen. Even when I got over my own crap with my brother, there was still Davis. Sweet, beautiful Davis who didn’t deserve the havoc I’d wreak on his life. I didn’t tell Trish all that, though.

“It’s not like the meddlers in town are going to make it easy. I haven’t heard from anyone about anything, and I’m pretty sure they hacked my email. And my phone. And my social media.” How in the hell a bunch of scheming senior citizens could do all that, I had no clue, just a healthy fear of their powers.

Trish laughed. “God, I’m grateful to those women right now. You can’t go, I won’t let you. But I will help you with your husband’s birthday party.”

With another roll of my eyes and a smile, finished my beer and sighed. “Thanks, Trish.”

“Anytime, Mags. Drop by the shop tomorrow and we can talk specifics.”

I nodded and paid the tab, ordering another ginger beer for Trish before leaving. There was a lull in town right now, everyone was either at the diner or doing something more important, which meant this was the perfect opportunity to ambush one of the town’s lawyers.

So I wandered Main St. for a full thirty minutes hoping to accidentally bump into one of them, only to come up empty. Then about a block away I spotted Delilah McInnis in a red pantsuit that looked like it belonged on the cover of a magazine rather than a small town lawyer’s office. I took one step forward and froze.

Then, as if I’d never seen her at all, my feet turned in the opposite direction and hurried back to work.

Like a coward.