awesome.” Annabelle spoke in a whisper as she felt the rolling motion beneath her fingers. Her heart filled at her friend’s rapturous expression. Tess had been pregnant before, a little more than a year and a half ago. But she’d lost the baby late in the pregnancy.
She and John had been devastated, barely getting through each day for months after. Though Annabelle saw hope and excitement in her friend’s eyes today, she knew Tess was worried, nearly as anxious as she’d been back in seventh grade when her parents decided to divorce. She hid it well, but Tess wouldn’t truly relax until her baby was delivered, alive and healthy and snug in her arms.
“I can’t believe you don’t want to know if it’s a boy or girl,” Charlotte teased.
“I like surprises.
Good
surprises,” Tess amended quickly, a shadow of unease flitting over her face, then vanishing. “It’ll make everything even more exciting when the time comes.”
“You know, don’t you, that you’re going to be humongous when you walk down the aisle at my wedding?” Charlotte mused; then, as Tess and Annabelle both stared at her, brows raised, she clapped a hand to her mouth.
“Sorry—how rude am I? I’m sure it’s good luck to have a hugely pregnant woman at your wedding, right? Let me look that up on my phone. There has to be some good karma there—”
Annabelle laughed as Charlotte’s dainty thumbs danced across the buttons of her cell phone.
“You understand there’s always a chance he or she will make an appearance before the wedding,” Tess pointed out, then shot Charlotte a puzzled glance. “I don’t understand why you’re getting married in late July anyway. The planning will be so rushed. And if you push it back just a month or so, say to late August or September, I might even be back to my normal size and won’t have to wear a tent down the aisle. Not that I’m telling you what to do or anything.”
“Forget it. It’s bad luck to postpone a wedding.” Charlotte’s mouth was set with determination. “And it’s very good luck to get married on the night of the full moon, so that’s the date I chose. Besides, I’m not giving Tim any chance to chicken out. Exactly two weeks and five days after the Fourth, I’m dragging that man down the aisle.”
“Something tells me there won’t be a whole lot of dragging involved.” Annabelle popped another gooey chunk of cinnamon bun into her mouth. “I mean, have you seen the way he looks at you?”
She’d seen the way Tim looked at Charlotte. With love, with longing, with a kind of softness in his eyes. Sometimes she couldn’t help feeling a tiny twinge of envy.
She had two best friends whom she’d known since the first grade. One of them was glowing and pregnant, the other glowing and newly engaged. She was so happy for both of them. They’d found good, solid, wonderful men. Men who loved and admired them.
She, on the other hand, had let herself be deceived by a man with all the charm of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Her thoughts broke off as she noticed Charlotte studying her thoughtfully.
“Something good’s going to happen soon to you, too, Annabelle. I have a feeling.”
“Oh, man. Again with the feelings?” Tess grinned.
Charlotte was into horoscopes, good-luck charms, Ouija boards, and “feelings.” She had been since the sixth grade.
Only she frequently called them “intuitions.”
“You better believe it. I read Annabelle’s horoscope the other day and according to what it said, a new man is coming into her life. And soon. Then everything will change for the better.”
“Romantically speaking, it can’t get much worse.” Calmly, Annabelle took a sip of her coffee.
“I’m serious here. I see you with someone . . . not someone like your dipshit of an ex, but someone good—”
“Like my grandson?” a voice chirped out of nowhere. Actually, it came from the back of the bakery.
Annabelle froze. Twisting in her chair, she saw Wes’s
She and John had been devastated, barely getting through each day for months after. Though Annabelle saw hope and excitement in her friend’s eyes today, she knew Tess was worried, nearly as anxious as she’d been back in seventh grade when her parents decided to divorce. She hid it well, but Tess wouldn’t truly relax until her baby was delivered, alive and healthy and snug in her arms.
“I can’t believe you don’t want to know if it’s a boy or girl,” Charlotte teased.
“I like surprises.
Good
surprises,” Tess amended quickly, a shadow of unease flitting over her face, then vanishing. “It’ll make everything even more exciting when the time comes.”
“You know, don’t you, that you’re going to be humongous when you walk down the aisle at my wedding?” Charlotte mused; then, as Tess and Annabelle both stared at her, brows raised, she clapped a hand to her mouth.
“Sorry—how rude am I? I’m sure it’s good luck to have a hugely pregnant woman at your wedding, right? Let me look that up on my phone. There has to be some good karma there—”
Annabelle laughed as Charlotte’s dainty thumbs danced across the buttons of her cell phone.
“You understand there’s always a chance he or she will make an appearance before the wedding,” Tess pointed out, then shot Charlotte a puzzled glance. “I don’t understand why you’re getting married in late July anyway. The planning will be so rushed. And if you push it back just a month or so, say to late August or September, I might even be back to my normal size and won’t have to wear a tent down the aisle. Not that I’m telling you what to do or anything.”
“Forget it. It’s bad luck to postpone a wedding.” Charlotte’s mouth was set with determination. “And it’s very good luck to get married on the night of the full moon, so that’s the date I chose. Besides, I’m not giving Tim any chance to chicken out. Exactly two weeks and five days after the Fourth, I’m dragging that man down the aisle.”
“Something tells me there won’t be a whole lot of dragging involved.” Annabelle popped another gooey chunk of cinnamon bun into her mouth. “I mean, have you seen the way he looks at you?”
She’d seen the way Tim looked at Charlotte. With love, with longing, with a kind of softness in his eyes. Sometimes she couldn’t help feeling a tiny twinge of envy.
She had two best friends whom she’d known since the first grade. One of them was glowing and pregnant, the other glowing and newly engaged. She was so happy for both of them. They’d found good, solid, wonderful men. Men who loved and admired them.
She, on the other hand, had let herself be deceived by a man with all the charm of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Her thoughts broke off as she noticed Charlotte studying her thoughtfully.
“Something good’s going to happen soon to you, too, Annabelle. I have a feeling.”
“Oh, man. Again with the feelings?” Tess grinned.
Charlotte was into horoscopes, good-luck charms, Ouija boards, and “feelings.” She had been since the sixth grade.
Only she frequently called them “intuitions.”
“You better believe it. I read Annabelle’s horoscope the other day and according to what it said, a new man is coming into her life. And soon. Then everything will change for the better.”
“Romantically speaking, it can’t get much worse.” Calmly, Annabelle took a sip of her coffee.
“I’m serious here. I see you with someone . . . not someone like your dipshit of an ex, but someone good—”
“Like my grandson?” a voice chirped out of nowhere. Actually, it came from the back of the bakery.
Annabelle froze. Twisting in her chair, she saw Wes’s
Similar Books
