Page 107 of The Route to You

“Thirty-six weeks.” Elle rested a hand over her stomach. “Which means I’m at the point where I’m here solely for the company and the gossip, because I can’t drink and all food gives me heartburn. I’m this close to begging my doctor for a firm eviction date.”

“Don’t do it before Callum and I have our flight booked.” Liddy frowned at her. “I’d like to be here on time for this one.”

“Lids, I love you, but I’m not waiting for anyone when it’s go time. Not even Quinn.”

“You’ll be regretting that when I gift your infant son his own drum kit at age two.”

“Oh, I support that sort of devious behavior,” Jeremy piped up. “Just let me know where I can chip in and help. I think my old tuba from high school is still in my parents’ attic.”

Sloan exhaled slowly, letting their banter relax her, along with the noise of the bar around them—the clink of glasses, the low hum of conversation, the music threading through it all.

But there was a sadness to it, too.

Is this what it’s like to have family?

She couldn’t remember the last teasing conversation she’d had with her own sister. Yet so many years earlier, it hadn’t just been Liddy and Elle taking up space in that role. Penny had been close with Sloan, and they’d talked about more than the weather and her job.

She sometimes hung out with Sloan and the Winnicks, even though she was a year younger than Elle.

This is fine.

She could do this.

Sit here and talk. Be normal around two women who probably didn’t like her very much, even if they were doing a great job putting up a front.

Ignore the fact that Kyle was three feet away with another woman practically in his lap.

Ignore the way he hadn’t really looked at her since they’d sat down.

Forget it. Forget what he said last night about thinking things through and trying to be good.

At least she now had her answer about whether Kyle and Anna were actually dating. Kyle would never cheat, especially with Sloan, knowing her experience. But Anna is obviously into him.

The server returned, and Sloan ordered an IPA she’d never heard of, then felt a shoe bump her shin.

“Hey.”

Her gaze flicked up and met Kyle’s.

“You good?” he asked, low enough that it didn’t carry over Elle’s, who was ordering.

Her breath caught.

“Yeah,” she said, steadying her voice. “I’m good.”

His eyes held hers for a beat longer, then he ordered—surprisingly, a glass of white wine, not an old-fashioned—and excused himself from the table.

Anna frowned.

Liddy tracked his departure, her lips pressing to a line for a moment, before she looked at Sloan and smiled. “So how are your dad and Penny doing?”

“They’re good. Happy in the Bay Area. They both work a lot, so I don’t see them often.” She didn’t realize how short and choppy her answers sounded. Like she was giving them by rote, until she finished and saw both Elle’s eyes dart to Liddy’s.

Sloan looked down, her words softer now. “They’re both really busy.”

“Finding a balance between work and life is one of the hardest parts of being an adult,” Liddy said sympathetically. “It can get in the way of family time a lot.”

“Well, in my case, I think it was my mom holding three very different people together.” Sloan tried to say it like it still didn’t hurt. “Or me to them, I guess. Dad and Penny are pretty similar.”