ODESSA

“I’m glad you’re back early.” Carly plops down on my sofa, mindlessly flipping through the pages of one of Jeremiah’s old cooking magazines. “So your boss had a baby?”

“He’s not technically my boss. And I don’t know. He didn’t want to talk about it. I’m not sure he even knew what was going on.” I collapse next to her, pulling a throw over my feet and curling into the overstuffed cushions behind me. “It was so weird, Carly. It all happened so fast. I guess if you want to scare the hell out of a playboy you tell him he’s going to be a father.”

“Serves him right.” She chuckles. “You talk to Jeremiah lately?”

“We texted a little this morning.”

Carly sits up, reaching for one of my old bridal magazines. “Oh, yeah? What’d he say?”

“You told him I was in Utah with a guy,” I say.

“Was it a secret?”

“No.” I swat her arm. “You didn’t tell him it was for work. I think he thought it was a romantic thing. He was acting kind of jealous, asking a ton of questions about Beckham.”

“Interesting.” Carly’s shoulders fall and she nibbles on a fingernail between her front teeth.

“I don’t know if you were intentionally trying to make him jealous,” I say. Carly is a mastermind at relationship manipulation. I could see her thinking she was doing me a favor. “I don’t want him thinking I’m running off with other guys when I’m doing all I can to prove that I still want to marry him.”

“Right.” Carly’s hands fall in her lap. It’s not like her to be this mum.

“Have you talked to him lately? Has he said anything about me? About the wedding?”

My fingers cross. My toes too. If Jeremiah’s opening up to anyone, it’s her.

“I mean, we talk sometimes, but he’s so busy shooting the show,” she says. “We don’t really talk about the engagement. I figure that’s between the two of you. And besides, if he did confide in me, you know I couldn’t repeat it. Just like anything that you say to me stays between us.”

“I appreciate that,” I say. “As much as I’m dying to know what he’s thinking. I told you he came over last Friday, right?”

Her brows meet. “No. You didn’t. Last Friday, you said?”

“Yeah, he showed up here. Cooked me dinner. Stayed the night.”

“Stayed the night?”

“Yeah,” I laughed. “Is that shocking or something?”

Her head cocks to the side, and she grabs a second magazine, flipping to the middle. I’m not convinced that she’s reading the words on the page.

“Carly.” My stomach drops. “You know something about him, don’t you?”

She nods no, curling a magazine page between her fingers and concentrating on an ad for engagement rings.

“Is there someone else? Oh. God. You have to tell me.” I sit forward, my hand grasping her arm. “I don’t want to sit around like some clueless idiot if he’s stringing me along.”

It’s all starting to make sense. All along, I was convinced I was the problem, when maybe someone else came into the picture when I wasn’t paying attention. I’ve been so focused on planning the wedding. Maybe something got past me?

“He’s testing the waters, isn’t he?” I ask. “Seeing what else is out there before he settles down with me. And, God, I’m waiting around like a moron.”

“I don’t know what the hell he’s doing, to be honest,” Carly sighs. “He’s lost his damn mind. He should be with you. You guys belong together.”

“I mean, he’s allowed to screw other women. He’s technically single. I just need to know if I’m being strung along.” I don’t hear her. My mind is going a million miles a minute.

I pull out my phone, hands shaking.

“What are you doing, Sam?” she asks.

“Calling him.” I’m sunk. Carly can deny it all she wants, but I feel it in my bones. I need to hear his voice. Ask him to come over.

And then I’ll ask the hard questions. If he’s lying, I’ll know.

Carly grabs my phone from my hand and ends the call after two and a half rings. “Don’t do it. Don’t go there. You’ll scare him away.”

“Fighting for us will scare him away?” I can’t believe she just did that. “Or demanding the truth?”

“You know how he is,” she says.

“I’m calling him again.”

Carly hides her head in her hands, turning away. “Bad idea, Sam. I wouldn’t do it.”

My gut aches. It’s not like Carly not to fight harder for us. She’s been our biggest cheerleader for the last six years.

My corner feels empty without her in it.

The call goes to voicemail, and for a second it seems the whole universe is conspiring against me.

“Jeremiah, call me back. It’s important. We have to talk.”