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“Well, I’m married to Archer. You know Archer. Did you not connect the dots that he was one of those Cannons?” she teased.
“I guess I didn’t.” I shrugged.
“Yeah, so he helps run the renewable energies location here. And, Tish—” Phoebe paused. “She won’t be here tonight because her baby has a cold. Tish is married to Griffin. He’s from the main family, although he was a firefighter for years. He’s pretty close to Lincoln, by the way.”
Heat blazed into my cheeks, but I tried to play it cool. “I’m glad to hear that they’re friends.”
Elsa waggled her brows. “Chloe doesn’t know what to do about Lincoln,” she announced to the group at large, which by now included Casey, Phoebe, Stella, Kendall, Luna, Maisie, and Amelia.
Casey chimed in, “As if any of us know what to do when we’re falling in love.”
Adele was sitting beside me and curled her arm around my shoulders, giving me a squeeze. “It’s a whole thing you have to go through. You watched me go through it with Cole.”
“I know,” I said softly, trying to ignore the noisy insecurity inside.
“We won’t tease,” Phoebe said.
“Oh, I don’t mind the teasing. I just had a really shitty breakup and I didn’t expect, well, to ever have a relationship again. That was my plan actually. No relationship, ever.”
“Fair,” Phoebe said. “I promise you Lincoln’s a good guy.”
“How long have you known him?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“Most of us who grew up here have known him for years. Heartfire Falls isn’t right in Willow Brook, but they all went to school here.” She shrugged. “Whose ass do we need to kick for your breakup, though?”
“Oh, it’s an old story. My ex cheated on me with my best friend.” I’d actually practiced saying those words in the mirror, not recently, but back when it all blew up and people who knew us kept asking what happened.
Phoebe’s eyes widened, but she lifted her hand. I high-fived her, a little confused. “Same thing happened to me,” she explained.
“Oh, are you serious?”
“Yeah, and then they got married.”
“Oh, my God. That’s what happened to me.”
“For real?” Maisie said, her brown curls bouncing as she looked between us while dealing a deck of cards. I usually sat out for the card games, because I just liked to relax, eat, and chat. Some people were better at this kind of multitasking than others.
“Wow, are they still together?” I couldn’t help my curiosity.
Phoebe shook her head. “Nope. It didn’t last.”
“Did she try to be friends with you again?”
“Um, not really. I think she knew it was kind of a done deal. But I understand how much it hurts for that to happen.”
“Oh, it does. It just makes the cheating thing worse. She was my friend. We grew up together, and now I’m questioning my judgment about everything.”
“I absolutely understand,” Phoebe said. “It’s hard. I can promise you every woman here would never do something like that. But I spent a long time questioning myself. I felt like such an idiot. I don’t like feeling stupid.” She rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, I feel so stupid. We were pregnant at the same time, and I had no idea he was the father of her baby. I lost my baby, the whole mess came out, and then they got married.” Whenever I said it out loud, I felt a little numb inside.
Maisie’s gaze whipped up, her eyes wide, tears shining in them. “Are you okay? I had a miscarriage, so I know how painful that can be.”
For so long I had carried an almost cold, gray feeling around the miscarriage and stillbirth. In this split second, Maisie, who I knew but not all that well yet, reached in and opened a window into my heart. For a few beats, it felt as if an old scab had been torn off, the pain sharp.
Blinking, I took a slow breath and held her gaze. “It’s hard, but I’m okay.” I paused. “Obviously I wouldn’t have chosen it. And yet, I wouldn’t want to be raising a child with him. I got pregnant a month before she did.” I didn’t know how or why I felt comfortable enough to share all of this, but the details simply rolled out.
“Oh, my God, that’s horrible,” Adele said.
