“Depends on what the gossip is,” I tell her.
“A bunch of kids were in the other day, and they were talking about how Margie is, you know … expecting.”
Tina looks so concerned that I don’t feel like I’m talking out of turn by telling her, “That appears to be the case.”
“Poor child,” she says. “That’s not an easy life for a kid.” She pulls out her ordering pad. “But you didn’t come in here to tell me all of that. What can I bring you two for supper?”
After we order and Tina walks away, Allie once again says, “That really is nice of you.”
Unfolding my napkin, I tell her, “I feel like if more people just went a little out of their way, we could alleviate a lot of struggles in this world. And weknowthese kids, so this seems like a good place to start.”
“How’s Jordan doing?” she asks. “He looked off his game this afternoon.”
“That’s an understatement. He was playing like he’d never held a basketball before.”
A busboy drops Allie’s drink and scurries away. She takes a sip before saying, “I get what it’s like to feel like you’re disappointing your parents.”
I arch an eyebrow in question, so she adds, “My parents never thought I’d be divorced. Heck, I never thought I’d be divorced.”
“Your husband cheated on you, Allie,” I say hotly. “You can’t stay with a man like that.”
She’s quiet for a long stretch before finally saying, “He had his reasons.”
I can’t believe she’s defending the guy. “What reason could any man have for cheating on his wife?”
Allie looks at her lap before forcing her gaze to meet mine. “Brett and I were pregnant three times and we lost all of them.”
Poor Allie. I can’t imagine how traumatizing that must have been, but even so, I need to know, “How does that give him the right to cheat on you? Also, I’m very sorry for your loss. That’s a lot to go through.”
“It is,” she says quietly. “I’m not saying it was okay for Brett to cheat. It wasn’t. But he wanted a family, and when he realized I couldn’t give him one, he …”
I slam my hand down on the table so hard we both jump at the sound. “No!” I tell her. “If there’s a problem in your marriage thenyou work it out. If it’s insurmountable, then you end the marriage. You don’t muddy the waters by starting something new while you’re still with your spouse.” I have no patience with people who don’t treat their relationships with the honor they deserve.
“He got his girlfriend pregnant,” Allie says. “With quadruplets.”
There’s no way she just said what I thought she did. “He did what now?”
Nodding her head, she confirms, “Brett and his new wife have four baby girls.”
I’m at a total and complete loss for something to say. I mean,fourbabies? I finally ask her, “Are you okay?”
“I’m not exactly great, but there is a sort of brilliance about karma, don’t you think?”
My head bobs of its own accord. “I guess. Four is a lot of babies though.”
“He wanted a big family,” she says. “So really, he got everything he wanted, just not in the way he thought he’d get it.”
“And you?” I ask her. “What do you want?”
After a long pause, Allie confesses, “I want a family, too. The problem is that I’m also not going to get what I want the way I thought I would.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning, just today, I realized how to make my dream come true, and it’s going to make my mom very mad.”
I cannot wait to hear what she’s up to.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
