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“You’re quitting?” he asked.
“Surprise,” Laurel said, her eyes glued to Aaron’s. “I was going to tell you. I just hadn’t figured out how.”
Aaron sure did seem stunned, and Eloise knew he didn’t like surprises. She started to clap, and that drew him out of his dumbfounded state. “That’s great, Laurel,” she said. “I’m happy for you.”
No one else started clapping, and Eloise quickly stopped. “So mine is pretty well-known. I’m stressed with the inn and everything it requires. But I haven’t told anyone—except for Aaron—that Julia Harper is starting earlier than I anticipated.” She beamed around at everyone. “She’ll be full-time on August thirtieth. Less than a month.”
Congratulations lifted into the air, and Alice, AJ, and Kelli all applauded this time. Eloise grinned around the smashed circle, which was really an oval, and waited for someone else to go.
Shad elbowed Kelli, but she shook her head. He leaned toward her and whispered something, and Eloise wasn’t sure what she was waiting for. A Tell-All was a Tell-All, and all told. Not a Tell-Some, or only required some to tell.
“I thought my appendix had burst,” Alice said. “Back when everyone moved. When Jean hit me with that box—” She glanced over to the other woman. “It was fine, honestly. But I had all this pain for a while. So Arthur finally took me in, and it wasn’t my appendix.”
“What was it?” Robin asked. Eloise knew she hated being left out of the loop, and Eloise didn’t blame her. For Robin, she shared everything. She shared so much, no one ever needed to call a Tell-All for her. She didn’t understand people who didn’t share the way she did, and sometimes she felt betrayed that they didn’t.
Eloise reached over and took her hand in hers. “It’s okay,” she said. She wanted to add that Alice hadn’t “betrayed” them by not sharing her medical news. Everyone dealt with things in different ways, and Robin had gotten better at accepting what people told her, when they felt like they could.
“I need to have a hysterectomy,” Alice said. “Things aren’t going well up there.” She smiled. “I have another appointment once the twins leave for college, and then we’ll probably schedule it.”
No one clapped this time, and by the look on Laurel’s face, not even she knew this.
“I can’t believe Laurel is quitting,” Aaron said right out loud, and Eloise shook her head.
“You’re a few behind, baby,” she said to him.
“Speaking of babies.” Kelli cleared her throat. “Shad and I found out that I’m…” Tears fell down her face, and by the time she spoke the last word— “…pregnant,” her voice had become a whisper.
“No,” Robin said. She then launched herself out of her chair and across the oval to Kelli. “Kel, this is so great.” She hugged her tightly, and all the other women lined up to do the same. Even AJ looked like she’d been hit with a brick, and Eloise felt that way down in her soul.
She looked over to Aaron. “Did you hear that?”
He wore an odd look. “Yes,” he said.
“Maybe I could get pregnant,” Eloise said. She’d honestly never thought of it. She’d considered herself too old. But AJ had had a baby last year, and now Kelli… Eloise got up and padded through the sand to Kelli. She held her tightly and said, “Congratulations. I’m so, so happy for you.”
Jean was crying too, Eloise noticed, and she gave her a squeeze too. “I’ll go next,” she said before Eloise had regained her seat. “Reuben and I have a lunch to meet our birth mother.” She swiped at her eyes and shook her head. “I practiced at home and everything, but I just can’t say it without crying.”
“You should cry,” Clara said. “This is so amazing, Jean.”
Eloise suddenly saw the woman in a new light. She’d always been a touch stand-offish. She didn’t participate much in the conversations unless someone asked her a direct question or it was something she was sharing about the inn. But she and Jean were clearly close, and Clara hugged her tightly, and when she stepped back, both Jean and Clara were weeping.
Eloise couldn’t stand the sight of that, and she brushed quickly at her own eyes. She couldn’t wait to meet the new babies that would come to their group in the next several months, and her own desire to have a child reared its head.
She’d done such a good job of burying it all these years. She loved Billie and Grace with her whole heart. She had Aaron, and she truly hadn’t needed a baby of her own. With her current lifestyle, a baby would undo her completely.
Aaron held her hand and said nothing. Robin checked over her shoulder for her kids, and Lisa came back to the tent to get an applesauce pouch for Asher.
“All right,” Robin said. “Who hasn’t gone?”
“You haven’t,” Alice said.
“I’m an open book,” Robin said. “I’m missing Duke all the time. I’m falling apart because Mandie is moving out. Jamie brought her freaking boyfriend to beach day. What else is new?” She rolled her eyes as several people laughed.
Eloise did not. She knew all of those thingswereterribly hard for Robin. So what if they were first-world problems? They were stillherproblems.
AJ raised her hand. “I’m like Robin. Life is pretty even for me right now. I don’t have much to tell.” She shrugged, and Eloise could appreciate that. It was probably nice for AJ not to have much going on in her life right now, besides the good things. Her life certainly hadn’t been like that very often.
“Oh, but Asher’s first birthday party is in about ten days.” She beamed out at everyone. “You’re all invited, and I’ve been practicing my baking skills. That’s about all that’s new with me.”
