This image was the photographic proof.
Candace’s hand gently squeezed my elbow. “He looks at you like . . .”
“Like you’re the greatest thing he’s ever seen,” Mac said, when my sister hesitated.
“Like you’re his whole world,” Bonnie added.
“Like he’d do anything to keep you,” Candace finally finished.
I did cover my mouth with my hand, then. And proceeded to drag it down my chin in mute despair. What the fuck were we going to do?
Part of me feared that this photograph, this split second in time, might haunt me for the rest of my life.
“Oh, honey,” Mac said suddenly.
Bonnie gazed at me with sympathy.
Candace rubbed my back. “It’s going to be okay.”
Our attention shifted to the phone and Ian’s love-drunk face until the screen put me out of my misery and went dark.
I wanted to turn it back on. I wanted to send it to myself so I could remember this moment—the damning recognition, the unrelenting fear—forever. I wanted to press my fingertips to my closed eyelids until I could only see stars.
We sat there in weighted silence as pins crashed and The Chicks played over the ancient bowling alley speakers.
Finally, Mac stood up and put her hands on her hips. “Welp, ladies. I say we call this one and go straight to the bar.”
Bonnie nodded and stood. “Let’s do it.”
Candace looked to me. “Whatever you want, Joanie.”
I glanced between my friends, my sister—these women who supported me, put up with me, who were so determined to give me exactly what I needed in my time of crisis. Even with the impending sense of doom and the agonizing realization that I’d gone and fallen in love with a man and a little boy who I’d never be able to keep, I couldn’t help but smile at the determination on the faces staring back at me.
“Yeah, okay. Let’s go.”
Two hours later, I was in Candace’s passenger seat as she drove me home from Magnolia Bar. I wasn’t drunk, but I was tipsy, and my chest was warm from tequila.
We’d gone to Magnolia because I hadn’t wanted to see any locals over at Mattie B’s. Despite the photos being removed from the town’s Facebook group, I knew people had seen them and would undoubtedly ask. We went to the leafer bar in an effort to avoid speculation and nosy neighbors.
Plus, Bonnie’s boyfriend, Jack, was working behind the bar tonight.
Candace had offered to be the designated driver as soon as we’d walked in.
Bonnie didn’t need a ride because Jack lived in an apartment above the bar, and the two were living there while Bonnie’s house was being renovated.
Mac also did not need Candace to drive her because she and Brady lived just a few blocks away. My brother had walked over at last call to escort a very drunk Mac home.
Brady hadn’t said anything or asked why our bowling team had decided to get hammered on a random Wednesday night, but he did give me a big hug and a kiss on the top of my head. And that felt like the nicest thing he could have done.
“You feeling okay?” Candace asked from the driver’s seat.
I eyed my sister and ignored her question. “Are you pregnant?”
Her gaze shot to mine briefly before she focused back on the road. “What?”
I snorted. “We hadn’t even gotten all the way through the front door of Magnolia before you shouted to the whole bar that you’d be DD.”
Candace’s face was briefly bathed in cool, pale light as a car passed by going the opposite direction. Her eyes were frantic, and she was gnawing on her bottom lip.
