Stavros was teetering on a ladder, reaching to put the last few ornaments at the top of the fifteen-foot-tall fake fir tree in the corner of the lobby he’d been putting together off and on throughout the afternoon. I’d come to help him, killing time before Trex got off work.

“Like this?” I asked, turning the small ceramic tree on the desk. “Stavros?”

“Huh? Yes. That looks great, thanks.”

I walked over to him and touched his arm. “How’s Tilde?”

His tired eyes glossed over. “You should come by the house, Darby. She’s not doing well.”

“I will. I’ll come tonight before my shift.”

Stavros nodded.

Lane was not as happy with my décor placement. “It’s right in my way,” she said, pushing the tree to the edge of the desk.

“Maybe just wait until I’m not here, and then you can try to get what you want,” I said. “It wouldn’t be the first time you tried that.”

Lane’s mouth fell open.

Stavros pointed at her before walking to the bar. “Don’t act like you didn’t deserve that.”

I followed him to his corner of the lobby, surrounded by his colleagues Jim Beam, Captain Morgan, and Kim Crawford. He cleaned the counters for the third time that day, even though he’d had few customers.

“Is she in a lot of pain?” I asked.

He simply nodded.

“How is Ander?”

“He’s taking it harder than I thought he would. The only time he’s not by her side is when he’s at work. Maya has already agreed to work his shift after she passes until the funeral.”

“That’s kind of her.” I pulled him into a hug. “I’m sorry.”

He hugged me and wiped a bottle top down before waving. “I’m going to head back to the office for a bit. Get some paperwork done. Thanks for all your help today.”

“You’re welcome,” I said, watching him disappear around the corner.

Lane strolled over to me, glancing over her shoulder once to the hallway where Stavros had gone.

“We need to talk,” she said.

“No, actually we don’t.”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay, so I tried to kiss your baby daddy. But I don’t think you know the whole story.”

“He told me everything, Lane. We’ve already had this conversation once. Are you sure you want to go there?”

“Did he tell you we’ve done a helluva lot more than kiss?”

I stared at her for a moment. “You’re lying.”

“He’s been here before, Darby. You think he was celibate before you? We met at Cowboys. He brought me back here”—she looked up—“to that room.”

“So? We weren’t together then,” I snapped.

“There’s a lot more that Trex hasn’t told you than about his job. He’s all about the secrets. That’s just a nice way of saying he can’t tell the truth. All he knows how to do is lie, even when it doesn’t matter. He just can’t seem to tell the full truth. So, yes, I tried to kiss him. There were some unresolved feelings there. But since then, mostly I’ve found I just feel sorry for you. I dodged the bullet on that one. But you…you’re bringing a baby into this world with a man who can look you straight in the eyes and lie to your face like it’s nothing. How can you trust anything that comes out of his mouth? Having a man who decides what you get to know and what you don’t? Not something I’m interested in, I’ll tell you that.”

Lane was pleased about the expression on my face. I touched my stomach, pushing at a sore tendon that was stretching as Maddie grew.

“How do you know about his job?” I asked.

“Ask him.”

I frowned, seeing Trex’s truck pull under the overhang. He jumped out, a smile on his face, happy to see me for a few hours before I had to go back to work. Whether or not to confront him had to be decided in the moment, and it broke my heart. The light in his eyes when he saw me as he walked through the doors was already turning to suspicion. There was no point in trying to hide what I knew. Either he would see through me, or Lane would open her damn mouth.

“Hey,” he said, wrapping his arms around me. He kissed my cheek before speaking again. “What’s up? Everything all right?” His eyes danced between Lane and me. She had a smug expression, and the last thing I wanted to do was give her the satisfaction of an argument.

“Lane told me about…before,” I said.

Trex frowned, and then his gaze floated to Lane. His shoulders sagged. “What are you doing? I’m in love with this girl.”

Lane crossed her arms. “Then why lie?”

“I didn’t lie, Lane. It wasn’t worth mentioning.”

“That’s not what you said back then,” she snapped.

“I didn’t say anything back then. I stopped calling you when I figured out you were insane.”

I tried not to smile, instead pressing my lips together. Trex took the look on my face to be anger.

“Baby…” he began.

I patted his chest. “It’s okay. Let’s go.”

I passed him, turning when he didn’t follow. Lane and Trex were standing, dumbfounded.

“You already said she wasn’t worth mentioning. I agree. Let’s go, please.”

Trex didn’t waste another second, rushing to walk next to me as we made our way to the truck. He helped me in and then jogged to the other side, peeking at me as he started the engine. When he pulled out, he cleared his throat.

“How mad are you?” he asked.

“Furious,” I said, turning to face him. “You knew she was going to drop that bomb on me eventually. Why didn’t you tell me? I realize she ain’t worth mentionin’, but you could at least’ve saved me from the humiliation of finding out from her.”

First, he cringed, but as I talked he worked hard not to smile.

“This ain’t funny, Scottie!”

My use of his first name wiped the grin off his face. “I know. I know it’s not, and I’m very sorry. But when you get mad and Texas comes out of your mouth…it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.”

I glared at him.

He reached for my hand, but I crossed my arms over the top of my enormous belly.

“Baby…you’re right. I should’ve told you. There was really no good time to bring up Lane.”

“Then maybe not act like you’d never met her?”

“That wasn’t what I was trying to do. I was trying to show my indifference. She stalked me for a good five weeks after I tried to let her down easy. It kind of freaked me out that she got a job at the hotel.”

I looked out the window, trying not to be flattered. The rest of what she said came to mind. “She said she knew about your job. She said you had a lot of secrets. I don’t like her knowing things about you that I don’t.”

“She doesn’t know anything, Darby.”

“She knows something.”

He sighed. “I can’t tell you, Darby. You know that.”

He held out his hand again, and this time I took it. He squeezed.

“She said you’re not capable of tellin’ the truth. She said I couldn’t trust you. Just so you know, your job is the only secret you get to keep,” I said. When he didn’t answer, I craned my neck at him. “Trex.”

“Deal,” he said quickly, kissing my knuckles.