Chapter Thirteen

What did the mother think?

It was so easy to think how wonderful life would be with him while I was wrapped up in his arms, swinging on the hammock, enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon under the Carolina sun. He was obviously exhausted from his race the day before and slept soundly to the sound of the waterfall in my parents’ pool. I was curled up next to him listening to the steady beat of his heart, drifting in and out of sleep myself. It was the picture of serenity, except my mind and even my heart wondered what I was doing.

Declan wasn’t part of my plans when I moved home. I meant to stay away from the opposite sex unless I was related to them by blood. But being in Declan’s arms felt so good and even right. Like I had finally made it home after a long absence.

Declan woke up, at least enough to kiss the top of my head and pull me tighter against him.

“Hey, troublemaker.”

A sleepy laugh escaped him.

“I think we may need to take down your Facebook account.”

“Not a chance. Where else would I post pictures of my beautiful girlfriend?”

“I’m your girlfriend now?”

“You were wearing my t-shirt yesterday.”

“And thanks for posting that picture of me in it. What was your caption? She looks hot in my t-shirt.”

“Well, you did.”

“You know what people are going to think.”

“That I’m a gentleman for lending you some dry clothes?”

“Nice try.”

He shifted so our eyes could meet. “I would say I’m sorry, but I’m not.”

“What am I going to do with you?”

He leaned in and pressed his warm lips against mine. His hands got tangled up in my hair. He tasted like citrus, sweet and tart. His kiss was long and slow like a waltz. We danced perfectly together like seasoned partners. I sighed and he groaned. It was the kind of kiss that could have gone on endlessly, but we had company.

Daddy cleared his throat.

I really needed to get my own place.

Declan and I broke apart only to grin at each other. Had this been twelve years ago, Declan would have jumped off the hammock and acted like it never happened. Now we lazily sat up together to face my smiling parents.

“Thought we could barbecue.” Daddy grinned.

“I’ll help.” Declan jumped up. So maybe he did still feel intimidated by Daddy.

Momma took Declan’s place next to me. I leaned my head on her shoulder. Even as an adult I still needed her, maybe now more than ever.

She patted my cheek. Her hand smelled like coconut oil. “You’re worried.”

“Uh-huh.”

“About what people will think or Declan?”

“All of the above.”

“People are always going to talk, baby girl. And what comes out of their mouth says more about them than you.”

“I’m not sure how comforting that is in light of the humiliation I’ve endured the last several months.”

“But you have stood tall and true through it all. You walked the higher road. That speaks to your character.”

“I’ll admit, at times I’ve wanted revenge and vindication.”

“The way you live your life is your vindication.”

“People are going to think my marriage ended because of Declan.”

“Then they don’t know you well.”

I lifted my head off her shoulder. “What if I don’t know myself?”

Momma turned to me with narrowed eyes. “What do you mean, honey?”

“What if I’m making another mistake?”

“What was your first mistake?”

I tilted my head and widened my eyes. Wasn’t that obvious? “Momma?”

Momma placed her hand on my abdomen. “This was not a mistake. Marrying Greyson wasn’t a mistake. You made a choice, a good one as far as anyone could tell at the time. No one knows what the future holds.” She looked at Declan and Daddy firing up the grill. “Could Declan break your heart? He could. Could your Daddy break mine? Yes. But then I would kill him.” She laughed. “But honestly, he has broken my heart a time or two. I’ve broken his. That’s life.”

I raised my eyebrows, intrigued by this knowledge.

Momma smiled. “Your Daddy and I have been true to each other, but things get said and feelings get hurt. Doors have slammed and there have been nights we’ve gone to bed furious with one another. But the making up . . . now, that’s worth the regret.”

“You can stop there.”

She laughed and leaned into me. “How do you think you got here?”

“Momma.”

“After the little show you and Declan just put on, you don’t need to pretend to be embarrassed.”

I wasn’t embarrassed, it’s just I didn’t look at my parents as sexual beings, and I didn’t want to. “Thank you for interrupting us, by the way.”

“That was your Daddy’s idea.”

Why didn’t that surprise me? Momma and I leaned our heads together and watched the men.

“Just take it a day at a time, baby girl. You’ve been through a lot. And Declan’s a good man, he’ll wait.”

“He seems a little impatient.”

“Men get that way when they know exactly what they want, but it’s okay to make them wait. It’s good for them.”

“I think he feels like he’s been waiting for twelve years.”

“That may be, but he made choices too.”

Yes, he did.

~*~

Social media was causing all sorts of trouble, and not only for me. Halle’s mystery herbs were revealed, and it wasn’t herbs at all, it was a shiny man by the name of Dr. Winters. I was beginning to question how smart he really was and if I wanted to put my baby’s and my life in his hands. How dumb do you have to be to date sisters, and identical twin sisters at that? I get that Heather moved on, but come on, you don’t ask out the sister.

I had both sisters calling and texting me, each one upset.

It all started when several pictures from some comic book convention in Charleston posted photos of the event and Halle got tagged in some of them by her well-meaning friends from that world. She just happened to bring Dr. Dreamy with her. And well, Heather has a keen eye for these things and it came up in her Facebook feed, and the rest was history.

I decided this called for pedicures. My feet needed some TLC anyway. I was still trying to get all the dirt out from under my toenails. It was a good thing Declan’s kisses made up for it.

Declan was wining and dining clients on Wednesday night so I decided to invite each sister out for a girl’s night—they just didn’t know they were both invited. It wasn’t the first time I had been their referee and mediator, but this was the first time it was over a man. Heather was upset because Halle broke the no dating the same man rule that they had written in stone. Literally, it was. It was more like cement, but if you ever went to their parents’ house and looked closely at the right corner of their patio you would see their pledge written with a popsicle stick right after the porch had been laid. Their parents were furious when they discovered it. You do crazy things when you’re fourteen. Halle was upset because Heather was already dating Dr. Martin and obviously not interested in Dr. Winters. And she really, really liked Dr. Winters, from the way she gushed about him over the phone.

I had them meet me in Charleston since I was putting in some overtime getting first quarter numbers and reports finalized. First quarter had been good. I was analyzing costs and profit margins to make sure it stayed that way. And I wanted to make sure I had a handle on everything before I took time off when the baby came. I couldn’t wait to get this little guy in my arms. It felt weird to ache for something you’d never experienced, but that’s how I felt about my son.

I purposely arrived at the nail spa first so I could make sure they stayed when they both showed up separately. My plan was to send the first one in and tell them I had a call from Declan I had to take and would meet them in there. It could happen. He had already texted to say he missed me. I was missing his company too.

We hadn’t seen a lot of each other the last few days. We were both busy with work. And last night I went to a breastfeeding class. I wasn’t sure how to feel after it. It made it sound a lot more complicated than I thought it would be. I thought it was just going to be natural and the baby would take right to it, but so many seasoned moms and dads were in my class telling horror stories of cracked and bleeding nipples, clogged ducts, and fussy babies. And can I say how lonely it made me feel? Almost everyone brought a partner.

We all had to get up and introduce ourselves and give a little info about ourselves. So many of the women all mentioned how long they had been married and their partners were there smiling at them. I was tempted to get up and say, ‘Hi, I’m Melanie, my husband left me, I live at home with my parents, I’m dating my boyfriend from high school, and I work for my daddy. You can find me crying in the corner wondering what I’m doing with my life.’ Instead I went with, “Hi, I’m Melanie. I’m the CFO for a midsized commercial construction company and this is my first baby.” It was all true, but I did wonder what I was doing with my life. And what would become of Declan and me.

I did love being with him, but I was in such a precarious time in my life. Declan didn’t seem to mind, if anything he seemed excited about it. But how was he going to feel once the baby came and my chest was leaking breast milk all over the place, and I hadn’t showered in three days because I was exhausted from staying up all night with a baby? I supposed I should ask him. So I did by text. I knew he probably had his phone off since he was with customers, but I had to get that out there.

Heather was first to arrive. Dr. Martin, or I guess I should say Sean, dropped her off. I pretended not to notice their long kiss goodbye, but it was hard since he drove a convertible and the top was down. He had taken her sailing. I hoped that meant she was in a good mood.

She was looking tan and windswept; the look worked well for her and she was all smiles. I needed to keep her that way. I knew she was going to be unhappy once she figured out Halle was invited too.

“You look fantastic.” I hugged her.

She sighed. “I think I’m in love.”

“Really? It’s only been a few weeks.”

“Fine, how about enraptured?”

“Whatever it is, it looks good on you.”

“I know.”

I rolled my eyes at her while pretending I was receiving a call. “Do you want to meet me inside? I need to take this call.”

“Is it Declan?”

I grinned.

She laughed and walked in.

Phew. Halle was pulling into the parking lot. I met her at her car. She too looked happier than ever. She was sporting new purple-tipped hair. I loved her daring nature, at least when it came to her hair.

“I love the new do.”

“Noah said it gives me a Cleopatra look.”

I tossed my head from side to side. “I can see it.”

“I think I’m going to get my toenails to match.”

“I love it.”

She placed her hand on my abdomen—she was one of the few people allowed to—as we headed in. “How are you feeling?”

“A little tired, but good.”

We walked in and at first the sisters didn’t notice each other. Heather was looking over the nail polish selection and Halle was still focused on me. It wasn’t until Heather chose a color and turned around that the raven-haired beauties locked eyes. Each of their happy attitudes dissolved in seconds. I swore the temperature dropped, that’s how cold the looks between the normally best of friend sisters were.

I took Halle’s arm to make sure she didn’t leave. She was a flight risk. I knew Heather would stay out of pure defiance.

The sisters hit me with their looks of displeasure.

I wasn’t flinching. “I love you both and you love each other and we are going to have fun because pretty soon I’m going to smell like spit up, have breast milk squirting out of me uncontrollably, and maybe cracked and bleeding nipples. I’m not going to have time for pedicures.”

They both laughed at me, but still wouldn’t acknowledge each other.

“Was that a PSA for unintended pregnancies? Because if it wasn’t it should be.” Heather evilly grinned.

Halle scowled at her sister. “Her pregnancy wasn’t unintended.”

“I never said it was.” Heather had her own nasty look for her sister. “It’s a joke, but I forgot you don’t know how to take one.”

This sounded like a conversation they would have had back in middle school. “Ladies, remember we’re here to have fun.”

“Fine.” Heather turned and stomped off to one of the empty pedicure chairs.

Halle and I picked out our nail polish color in silence before joining her. I ended up between them.

I wiggled my toes in the jetted bath for my feet and enjoyed the leg and foot massage given by the nail tech. Both of my friends seemed determined not to talk and I’m sure they were annoyed with me for tricking them, but their behavior was ridiculous and it was going to stop.

“Remember when I called you both after Greyson left me?”

That got their attention. They each set their phones down and looked my way.

“You both dropped what you were doing and drove straight through the night to be with me. The next day you stayed snuggled up on the couch with me between my morning sickness episodes. And you both made me smile despite the fact my world was falling apart. Those two women wouldn’t let a man come between them.” I directed my attention toward Heather. “Especially for a man that one of you doesn’t care for.”

Heather tried not to smile, but her defenses were weakening. She leaned over so she could see her sister. “Fine. I know. I guess I was irked because when I did go out with Noah, he was always asking about you.”

Halle did her best to be gracious about that piece of news, but I could see in her eyes how pleased she was. “I really like him.”

“He chews loudly.” Heather grinned at her sister. That was her way of saying she was sorry.

“His mouth is usually otherwise engaged when we’re together.” Touché. I was proud of Halle. Even Heather looked impressed by her boldness. So much so we all started laughing.

“And you’re a brat for tricking us.” Heather smirked at me.

“You know you love me.”

“By all the Facebook posts it looks like someone else does too,” Heather replied.

That was still to be seen.