“About what?” I hedge.
“About Lily. I mean, where were things left as far as you’re concerned?”
I blow out a sigh. “Nothing’s settled. I need to talk to Margaret and find out why she wanted to contact me.”
“Is she going to get better?”
“I think so, but she’s unlikely to recover one hundred percent. In any case, she’s in for a long haul of rehabilitation.”
“So Lily will live with this friend? With this—this Quinn?”
“That seems to be the plan.”
“I’ll catch a flight back first thing tomorrow,” she says. “We’ll figure this out together.”
“No. There’s no need,” I say quickly—maybe too quickly. I don’t know why, but I’m not ready to see her. Maybe I’m still angry at her. Or maybe I want to figure out whatIwant to do before she tells me whatshewants me to do.
That’s probably the truth of it. I don’t know my own mind on this yet, and I don’t want to be influenced by her personal agenda. This strikes me as the wrong view to have in a marriage, but it’swhere I am at the moment. I decide to turn the conversation around. “So how are things out there? How’s your family? How was the house hunting? Tell me about your day.”
“My day pales in comparison to yours.”
“Tell me about it anyway. You had an old high school chum show you some homes, right?”
“Brett went to my high school, but we moved in different circles. Anyway, he now owns a big real estate company, and he’s a partner in a construction company that does renovations.”
“Did you find a place you like?”
“There’s one possibility. It needs some updating, but Brett says he could oversee the renovation, and the whole thing would come in under budget.”
She launches into a detailed description, but I don’t really follow what she’s saying. My mind keeps rolling back to the photos of a little girl who clearly has my blood in her veins—a little girl who is technically an orphan.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Quinn
AFTER ZACK LEAVESthe hospital, Annie drives me home. I feed Ruffles and call to check on Lily.
“She and Alicia are having a great time,” Alicia’s mother, Caroline, tells me. “She’s welcome to spend the night.”
I want Lily with me. I’m not sure how she’ll react to learning that Margaret’s in the hospital, and I want to be near to reassure her. Besides, Zack’s unexpected appearance in our lives has made me feel oddly threatened. “If you don’t mind keeping her awake until nine, I’ll pick her up then,” I say.
“No problem. It’s the weekend, so we usually let Alicia stay up late anyway.”
I drive to Sarah’s house in Old Jefferson, a small neighborhood of raised cottages with large yards tucked between the hospital and the river levee. Sarah’s home is nearly hidden from the street by oak trees and azalea bushes.
When I arrive, I realize she’s invited the whole single parent group over for gumbo and salad. Mac is away at an equipment training seminar, but Lauren is there. She and Sarah greet me with hugs and a touching show of support. Annie has filled them in about Margaret’s accident and Zack’s unexpected appearance in my life.
By six fifteen, we’re sitting on Sarah’s back deck. Annie’s eight-year-old son is pretending to be a robot as he chases Sarah’s two-year-olds across the lawn, and the toddlers shriek with delight. I drink sparkling water while Annie, Sarah, and Lauren sip glasses of white wine.
“You won’t believe how good-looking Lily’s father is,” Annie says. “Here—I pulled up his picture on Google.” She passes her phone around.
Lauren’s eyebrows rise as she looks at the photo, and she lets out a low whistle. “Oh, wow!”
“Lily looks just like him, doesn’t she?” Annie continues. “You can see where she got those eyes. And that dimple!”
“He’s amazing.” Lauren smiles at me as she passes the phone to Sarah. “You’re going to have a beautiful baby, Quinn.”
I’d never thought otherwise. Lily is adorable, so I’d figured her sibling would be. I didn’t really need to know that the bio dad is hot. In fact, it was simpler when he was nothing but a childhood photo, a bunch of data, and a donor vial. “Yeah,” I mutter.
