“Remember Bella when Alex and I started dating?” Gillian asked. “She acted awful. So maybe it’s something to do with one of the daughters.”
“I assumed you were going to the wedding with him,” Seraphina said. “Why didn’t you?”
There it was. The tap tap tap of pain right in the middle of my chest. “He didn’t ask. He didn’t even bring it up, you know, for discussion.”
“That hurt you, didn’t it?” Esme asked. “Which is making this seem worse than it probably is.”
“Yes, it hurt. I mean, we’ve spent every night together for weeks—and he doesn’t take me as his date?” Saying it out loud made me realize how much it had been bothering me. “I don’t understand why.”
“But you didn’t feel like you could ask him about it?” Gillian asked.
“I wanted to. But that’s not something I do. I don’t beg a man to take me to a wedding.”
“It’s not begging,” Esme said. “It’s simply asking the question.”
“Maybe he thought you wouldn’t want to come?” Lila suggested.
“Or wanted to keep his past out of his present?” Seraphina asked. “Nate and his wife were part of his old life. You and Annie are part of his current life. Maybe he didn’t want them merged.”
I nodded, as if that sounded reasonable, which it did. However, my flight instincts were in full activation mode. “Annie’s been automatically setting a third place at the table. She’s in deep.”And so am I.
“I know it’s scary, but you just need to text him and ask if he’s all right,” Esme said. “Or just ask how the wedding went.”
Gillian fiddled with the charm bracelet on her wrist. “Annie’s all in. Whichisreally scary. I don’t think any of us want to see her hurt.”
“Not after what she has overcome,” Seraphina said. “That said, Dorian’s sensitive and kind. He’s not going to hurt Annie.”
“You don’t know that,” I said. “You haven’t seen the two of them together.”
“I’ve seen it,” Gillian said. “Last group dinner they seemed thick as thieves.”
“She wants a dad,” I said. “Like the rest of the kids have now. And that makes it hard to breathe. You know, if I let myself think this could actually work out and then it doesn’t? What happens to Annie?”
“You have to have the talk with him,” Lila said. “Ask him where he sees this going.”
“If he’s in or out,” Esme said.
“Yes, and if he truly understands what he’s doing with Annie—getting her hopes up,” Gillian said. “And what it means if he bails.”
I knew they were right. But easier said than done. Especially for me.
“This is exactly what I didn’t want,” I said. “Complications. I was doing fine. And now I’m sitting here with a stomach ache. I hate this.”
No one said anything for a long moment.
Finally, Seraphina said, “I believe he understands what it all means to Annie, but I agree. You have to ask him if he’s really ready to be a stepfather. If he isn’t, it’s best you know now.”
“And why the heck he didn’t ask you to the wedding,” Lila said. “Maybe start there.”
“You’re right,” I said. “All of you. I’ll talk to him.”
The relief around the table was instant and warm, as if everything were solved, which it most decidedly was not. “Now please, for the love of God, can we talk about someone else’s life? Make it sound bad. Esme, tell me the baby still isn’t sleeping. Lie to me if you have to.”
Like good friends do, they did as I asked. The rest of the evening was spent catching up on their lives, which I’d been neglecting the last few weeks. When we were all talked out, we split the check and headed out into the foggy night. Lila hugged me last and longest.
“Text him tonight,” she said into my hair. “Don’t overthink it.”
“I will.”
