“Oh, shut up!” I slap his arm, and he dramatically gasps.
“How dare you! You could’ve hurt the baby.”
I roll my eyes.
“Do you remember when they thought no one knew they were secretly dating?” Taylor asks Landon.
Lucy laughs as Harlow’s head pops up. “Wait. What?”
I freeze, not knowing what Taylor means.
I didn’t tell Harlow my mom already knew about us, since I could tell how much it meant to her to tell Mom herself. They had a very sweet moment where Mom celebrated the news and hugged her first, telling her that she is like a daughter to her and it will never change no matter what happens between us. Harlow got teary-eyed and tried to hide it, Mom and I pretended to not see a thing.
We told everyone else the week after I moved home. I invited them over for dinner to see my new apartment. They were all sweet and nice but didn’t say anything about already knowing.
“Oh, my god, yes! They thought they were so slick.” Landon muffles his laugh behind his fist, trying not to startle Lindsay.
“I’m just glad Landon didn’t win again,” Lucy says.
That clicks. “You bet?”
My accusing gaze bounces to every member of my family. My siblings and Taylor are way too smug, and Mom is pointedly not meeting my eye.
Harlow surprises me by letting out a full-on belly laugh. “Who won?” she asks.
“Me!” Dad sings from the entryway. “Thank you, two, for taking forever to tell us.”
“This is ridiculous,” I splutter. “How? When?What?”
“Seriously, Lily? How could we not know?” Lucy says. “You used to only visit once a year. How many times have you been back this past year?”
“Okay, but you don’t know it was for Harlow. Taylor was pregnant.”
Taylor snorts. “Landon’s room is next to yours. We saw you sneaking out your window and creeping through the backyard at least twice.”
“Like a damn teenager.” Landon winks.
I facepalm.
“Then there was the fact one of our refrigerator magnets went missing, and it mysteriously showed up on Harlow’s fridge at The Sweet Spot.”
The tip of Harlow’s ears redden, and my face flushes with heat. She means the TeresasTravels magnet I gave her last Christmas.
“You knew?” Harlow asks.
Mom squeezes her shoulder. “I thought it was a coincidence until I overheard you two on FaceTime. You must’ve forgot I was in the back room, and I quietly saw myself out before you could realize.”
Harlow’s mouth opens and shuts a couple times.
“You two truly weren’t as subtle as you thought you were,” Dad says while snagging a cooling peanut butter blossom.
“Well, this is mortifying,” I say.
Harlow wraps her arm around my side. “I think it’s kind of sweet.”
I side-eye her. She holds my gaze a beat, then we both laugh.
“Lucy, stop,” Mom says. “We need to start the gingerbread cookies next.”
