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Not allowing Adalynn to attend the wedding had been another dictate from Naomi’s ex-fiancé. During their lunch meeting weeks ago, Naomi promised to bring Adalynn to the wedding. Then starting on Monday, she would stay with them in Providence for two weeks. They’d already had one of the guest bedrooms redecorated for her and filled it with more toys than necessary.
Soon they’d need to redecorate another bedroom—not that Josh knew that yet.
“Pot, meet kettle,” her cousin said. Allison and her fiancé, Rock, had traveled up from Virginia for the wedding.
Juliette threw Allison a dirty look. “I wouldn’t talk, my friend.”
With four brothers, it took more than a little comment like that to bother Allison. “So are you going to be next?” she asked, moving the conversation in a different direction.
“Uh, your wedding is next,” Juliette reminded her. “Followed by Curt’s and then Brett’s.”
“Please, you know that’s not what I meant.”
Courtney didn’t see her sister serious about a man anytime soon. Then again, wedding proposals were spreading as fast as the flu through the family as of late.
Juliette picked up her wineglass as she shook her head. “Nah. I’m thinking Tory. She’s been seeing the same guy since October.”
At the moment, their second cousin Victoria Sherbrooke, or as her friends and family called her, Tory, sat across the room talking to Anderson Brady, one of the few friends Josh had invited to the wedding. Leah and Juliette talked to Tory far more than she did, so her sister would know their cousin’s relationship status. But if Tory was serious about someone she’d been seeing for months, she wasn’t acting like it tonight. For most of the reception, she’d been flirting with either Anderson or Josh’s cousin.
“Maybe it’ll be Alec. Is he seeing anyone?” Courtney was a little surprised when her cousin had said he was coming alone. Although nowhere near as bad as his older brother Trent used to be with women, Alec rarely spent much time single.
Allison shrugged. “If he is, my brother hasn’t said anything to me.”
The current song ended, and Josh’s dad stepped in to be Adalynn’s dance partner for the next song. No longer needed on the dance floor, Josh headed in her direction.
Before he sat, he kissed her cheek. “She’d keep me out there all night if she could.”
She’d noticed how much the little girl enjoyed dancing. Not only had Josh and his dad danced with Adalynn several times, but she’d also danced with Scott and Jake. When she couldn’t get an adult to partner with her, she joined Reese, the next youngest wedding guest.
“Does she take lessons?” Juliette asked. Unlike Courtney, who’d quit after three years, Juliette spent years taking dance classes.
“Not yet. But she’s been asking.” Josh gestured for a waiter and ordered a coffee.
“Would anyone else like something?” the waiter asked.
“Coffee sounds good,” Allison said.
“Another glass of chardonnay,” Juliette chimed in.
Courtney could use some caffeine or a bed. She felt as if she hadn’t slept in a month. Actually, she’d been exhausted a lot lately. At first, she’d chalked it up to the stress. When the nausea started, Courtney assumed she was getting sick. This morning she hadn’t only felt nauseous, but she’d thrown up after eating breakfast. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d done that. And it got her thinking.
A quick check of her calendar confirmed her last period had been in December. Even though she was on the pill, her periods were never regular, but rarely did she skip it two months in a row. If her last one had started the day she returned from Hawaii, it was highly likely she should’ve had one by now. So while Josh picked up his mom at the airport and headed down to Newport, she grabbed a double pack of pregnancy tests from the pharmacy.
Both gave her identical answers. And when they were alone, she’d give Josh the news. How he would react was anyone’s guess. They’d casually discussed having children someday, but the conversation hadn’t contained a time frame. So the possibility he’d prefer to wait was very real.
Whether he wanted to wait doesn’t matter now. “I’ll have a cup of tea, please.”
With so many tea drinkers in the family, she’d made sure a wide variety of teas were available this evening. When the waiter returned with their drinks, he’d bring the tea chest so she could pick what she wanted. Usually, she preferred chai or Earl Grey, but tonight she’d go with a caffeine-free herbal blend.
Should she tell him as soon as they went upstairs? Or would it be better to wait until they were in bed?
“Josh, isn’t your mom married?” Allison’s question pulled Courtney’s thoughts away from the conversation ahead of her.
The gold mermaid-style evening gown made it easy to locate Scarlett. Earlier in the evening, she’d been sitting with Josh’s sister. Now she was practically sitting in Wayne
Crawley’s lap. Wayne was a close friend of her dad, and she’d known him all her life. A widower, he spent most of his time these days either playing tennis, golfing, or working.
“As far as I know, yes. But with her, who knows.”
