“He moved out,” Paige said, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction.“Packed his bags, walked out of that mausoleum she calls a house.Suzanne’s in full meltdown mode.I hear she’s been calling everyone from the garden club to the church rector, trying to get Tripp to answer her.He won’t.”
Crystal’s mouth dropped open.“You’re kidding.”
Paige shook her head.“Not a bit.And that’s not all.This morning, he resigned from the firm.Just walked away.Suzanne’s practically climbing the drapes because she can’t control him anymore.”
Nicole’s heart thundered, her margarita forgotten.“He… he left?”
Stunned, she sat frozen, her mind spiraling.Where had he gone?And why, after everything, hadn’t he reached out to her?
Paige’s grin softened.“He left, Nic.He’s done.With her.With everything she used to dangle over him.”
Nicole shook her head, dazed.“But why would he?—”
“Because of you,” Jennifer cut in, sipping her drink with a flourish.“The man does have a set of balls, after all.”
Nicole laughed bitterly.
Paige smiled.“No.Because he couldn’t stand her controlling him anymore.”
Amanda leaned forward, her eyes kind but firm.“Or maybe because he finally realized the only way to prove he deserves you is to cut her out of his life.You gave him the choice, Nicole.And he’s choosing you.”
Nicole’s throat tightened.Tears pricked her eyes, but she blinked them back.
Crystal rubbed her belly thoughtfully.“I’ll tell you what I see.I see a man who’s finally fighting for you.He lost you once, and he’s tearing down every wall to make sure it doesn’t happen again.I’m surprised you haven’t heard from him.”
So was Nicole.The silence gnawed at her.Was he trying to prove, once and for all, that he was done letting his mother pull the strings?Or was he off somewhere preparing a place for them, trying to build a future she could finally believe in?Whatever the reason, the not knowing clawed at her.God, she just wished he would call, let her in, let her know what he was thinking.
The silence was starting to feel like abandonment all over again.
Nicole covered her face with her hands, her shoulders trembling.“I don’t know if I can trust it.She said she’d never accept me.That our children would never be loved.”Her voice cracked.“What if she’s right?What if no matter what he does, I’ll never be enough in that family’s eyes?”
Her friends went quiet for a moment.
Then Paige set down her water with a sharp clink.“Nicole Reyes, listen to me.You’re more than enough.Always have been.Suzanne Masterson is a miserable woman who only feels powerful when she makes others feel small.You’re not small.You’re brilliant.You’re stubborn.You’re the girl who made the golden boy of the island fall head over heels, and guess what?He still is.If he’s cutting her out, then for God’s sake, let him.”
Amanda raised her mojito.“Hear, hear.”
Jennifer leaned forward, her smile wicked.“Also, let’s be honest: the man looks at you like you’re oxygen.And unless I missed a memo, oxygen is non-negotiable.”
Even Crystal laughed at that, her hand pressing to her belly as if to steady herself.
Nicole shook her head, tears slipping down her cheeks, but a small smile tugged at her mouth.“You all make it sound so simple.”
“Love is simple,” Crystal said gently.“It’s the rest of the world that complicates it.”
Nicole looked down at her glass.Paige’s words replayed in her mind:He moved out.He resigned.He’s done with her.
Her heart ached, but underneath the ache flickered something dangerous.Something she’d almost forgotten how to feel.
Hope.
Now, where was Tripp and why hadn’t he called her?
Chapter25
It was the annual Billfish Pachanga in Port Aransas and she’d let her friends talk her into attending.The community center buzzed with voices and laughter, the kind of small-island party where everyone seemed to know everyone.Strings of white lights looped across the ceiling, and music pulsed from a corner speaker.Nicole had almost stayed home, but Paige had insisted, and now here she was with her friends clustered around a table near the dance floor.
Crystal looked radiant in her flowing maternity dress, ginger ale in hand.Paige nursed her ever-present glass of water, scanning the crowd like a queen surveying her court.Amanda was already on her second mojito, teasing Jennifer about the guy in the navy blazer who couldn’t stop staring at her.
