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Claire reaches out, too, curling her fingers around my wrist. “We’re sisters now,” she says. “And all our babies are going to be just a few months apart. They’re going to be cousins, best friends, and protectors.”
Tears prick my eyes. I’ve never had that before. Just Parker when I got a bit older. But I can’t imagine being born with a best friend, protector, family member from the jump. I’ve never even thought it could exist. So, thinking that my baby has this, it’s more than I could have ever imagined.
“I love the idea of that,” I admit.
Parker smiles at the same time Claire’s fingers squeeze my wrist. “I like the sound of that, too,” Claire whispers. “You’re staying, right?”
“I’m staying. We’re married now,” I say. “I have my shop, my man, and this baby.”
“That’s another thing,” Parker murmurs. “The shop.”
I bite my bottom lip, pulling my hand back and placing it in my lap. I knew this question would come. That this judgment would come. I was just hoping it would be later, much later than today.
“Where did you really get the money?” Parker asks, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Henry,” I confess.
Her eyes widen, Claire gasps, then they both stare at me in surprise. I don’t blame them. It is surprising. I could lie and tell them it was someone else. But what would be the point? We’re family now, and beyond that, they are my only friends.
“Henry wanted me to go away, but more than that, he wanted this baby to go away. He wanted Hendrick to move on, and he and I both knew he wouldn’t if I had his baby. So, I signed some contracts and took some money to start my business.”
Parker sucks in a deep breath and holds it for a moment, then lets it out slowly. “I don’t even know how I feel about that,” she says.
“I know how I feel about it,” I say. “I hated myself every minute of every day. I wanted Hendrick to find his happiness. I wanted him to have what he desired, so I was giving that to him.”
“At what expense?” Claire asks.
“At the expense of everything. My happiness, my morals, and my guilt. I hated myself, truly hated myself. I’ve done some bad things, but nothing made me feel as sick to my stomach as that.”
Parker and Claire both stare at me for a long moment, then Parker smiles. It’s soft and sweet. The look makes me feel even more disgusted with myself. “I think you did the right thing in the moment. And you also kept it from me, which was the right thing.”
I wrinkle my nose, frowning as I wonder what the hell she’s talking about. Then she shrugs a shoulder and continues. “I would have tried to talk you out of it. I wanted to be so angry with you, but now that I look back, I understand it all. You were right to do what you did, and honestly, good for you for taking care of you.”
Claire laughs, the tension, what was left of it, is broken, and I feel lighter. “I am so glad I don’t have to deal with that Harlow woman. You know, I only met her once, but she was awful,” Claire says, changing the subject.
I don’t know if I want to talk about Harlow. I liked her, at least the version of herself she showed me. I was hurt when everything happened the way it did. When she had me kidnapped. When I found out who she was. I really thought I had found a friend in the midst of my chaos.
“She really was,” Parker murmurs.
“She had me kidnapped,” I blurt out.
Parker’s eyes soften at the same time Claire’s breath hitches. “I didn’t know if you were ready to talk about it,” Parker whispers.
I’m not. But I didn’t talk about it last time, and I don’t feel like it did me any good. I can’t pretend it didn’t happen. I need to accept it, work through it, and move on from it. What I can’t do is obsess over it, dwell on it, or keep it inside any longer. If I do, I’m not sure I’ll survive.
So while I may never share my kidnapping from the past, I feel as if this one was short enough and harmless enough that I can share it with Claire and Parker. So that’s what I do. For the next few hours, I share my story, I answer what questions they have, then we shift topics to Claire and her brother, then Parker and Wells.
I’m glad when the other girls start talking about other things, about their lives and their men. I choose that time to relax and to just breathe. Thankfully, as the afternoon winds down, nobody asks me anything else. It seems as though they have accepted my apologies and my explanations for everything.
Then Parker’s eyes find mine as we’re gathering our things, and her next few words come out on a whisper so nobody else in the restaurant can hear her. “Do you think they’ll get everything all figured out with whoever was gathering these girls up?”
Reaching out, I wrap my fingers around her wrist and grip her there. “I know they will, Parker. I think all of this is behind us, and I also think we’ll all be able to move forward with everything.”
“You’re going to have a beautiful life, Allison,” Parker murmurs. “The Hamilton family is special.”
“Truly special,” Claire adds.
We don’t say anything else, except goodbyes. We hug each other, then we disperse. I don’t go back to Hendrick’s place, though. I need to see my shop. I’m not sure I’m ready to go back there alone, but I still want to see it. I have to make sure it’s all okay.
