Page 9 of Best Kept Secret

“Kels.”

“Can you pull up the calculator on your phone?” Kelsey said, refusing to meet Stacy’s eyes.

“Seriously?”

“Well, why shouldn’t I get the free teddy bear?”

Stacy rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone. “Read me the prices,” she said, sounding defeated.

Five minutes later, Kelsey walked out of the store with a bag full of onesies, leggings, and a fuzzy brown teddy bear with a pink bow around its neck.

“I might have gone a little overboard,” she admitted.

“You think?”

“It’s Annie’s fault for being so darn adorable.”

Stacy laughed. “So, if she was ugly, you wouldn’t have bought all that?”

“Is there such a thing as an ugly baby?”

“There must be.”

“Well, any baby with Hudson’s genes has to be cute.”

“Nick’s too,” Stacy mused.

Kelsey had been so caught up in her shopping frenzy that she hadn’t thought about how Stacy might be feeling. Her friend had made it clear that she wanted kids, but she and Cole had divorced before she’d had the chance. Stacy was almost thirty-six years old and worried that her window of opportunity was closing.

“Maybe you and Nick will have a baby together someday,” Kelsey said.

“Oh. I wasn’t even thinking about that.”

Kelsey knew better. “You’re not that old.” Ever since Stacy had started dating Nick, who was eight years her junior, Kelsey had been reminding her of that.

“I probably have a few good years left in me,” Stacy said, trying to sound flippant but failing.

“You have a lot longer than that. Look at Halle Berry. She had a baby in her late forties.”

“Why do you always compare me to celebrities? They’re not even in the same category as us.”

“They’re just people.”

“People who have chefs, nannies, and personal trainers. Who do you know personally who’s had a baby in their forties?”

They’d been walking and talking, and now they paused in front of Victoria’s Secret.

“I can’t think of anyone at the moment.”

“That’s what I thought. Anyway, this isn’t about me having a baby. This is about you obsessing over Hudson’s niece.”

“I’m not obsessing.”

“We came here to shop, and all you have to show for it is a bag from Gap Kids. I call that obsessing.”

“Fine. What store do you want to go in?”

Stacy glanced at the mannequins in the window of Victoria’s Secret. “I could use some new lingerie.”