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“I am so sorry,” Aela whispered, rubbing her hand absentmindedly down her belly as if she were comforting both the baby and herself.
The sight had me jerking to my feet. She hadn’t meant to upset me, but it was too much. Much too much.
“I-I need to go.” They all jolted in surprise as I grabbed Jake from Nessa’s arms. He screeched in outrage as I reached for my purse, muttering, “I’ll text you later.”
A hand snagged mine before I was clear of the seating area, stopping me from surging forward and leaving.
“Jen’s our common ground, Aoife, but our men are the best of friends too. I’d like it if we...” For the first time, Savannah didn’t look her regular composed self. “I’m here if you need me,” she ended eventually.
Swallowing, I nodded then hurried away.
I had no idea where Finn was, and I didn’t care either. I heard furniture clattering at one side of the house, and though it made me jump, I was glad everyone’s attention was elsewhere.
When I was outside, I saw John standing by the garage, huddled in a coat as he smoked and checked his cellphone.
“I need to go back to the city, John,” I called out the second I registered the glint of the glowing tip of his cig.
He saw me, and his eyes widened. “Where’s your coat?”
I started shivering, just as Jake did.
God, I’d left all our stuff inside!
What the hell was I doing?
Maybe I really was losing my damn mind.
John darted into action, though, and he dragged open the door to the Range Rover, demanding, “Get inside, Aoife. You’ll drop from exposure in a minute.”
When I leaped into the back and settled Jake in his car seat, I wasn’t too dumbfounded to realize that he’d shot off a couple of text messages in that time.
How did I know?
Finn appeared at the doorway, and he stood there, watching me watch him as John, permission granted, climbed behind the wheel and drove us home.
With each yard that separated us, I felt the agonizing pain as if our arms were tied together and they were being pulled from the sockets as the distance grew.
But away from him, away from that house, I took the first deep breath since I’d jumped behind the wheel earlier and had destroyed something Lena loved and held dear.
As I leaned back, I processed the conversation I’d just had with my sisters-in-law, and while they’d all said something that had made sense, it was Aela’s words that resonated the most with me.
Is it worth pushing for a reaction you won’t be able to control?
