Tucker flinched, but to his credit, he didn’t look away.
“And I wasn’t innocent either,” she added, pulling her hands free. “I didn’t cheat, but I wasn’t honest. I knew you didn’t want the same future, and I tried to pretend it didn’t matter. I’m sorry for that.”
“Yeah,” he said, with a rueful smile. “Facing my motherafter you ran out was one of the worst moments of my life. I almost wished I’d run after you and just kept going because when I got back, it was hell. She really did want you to be her daughter-in-law.”
“Yes, well,” Lily murmured, not wanting to touch that sentiment. As far as she was concerned, she’d dodged a bullet having Angela Cawthorn as her mother-in-law. From Tucker’s grin, he must have read that on her face. For a second, she glimpsed the boy she’d once loved—the high school quarterback with the reckless smile that had fascinated her.
They talked quietly after that, sifting through years of shared history like flipping through a worn photo album. First dates. Road trips. Inside jokes that had lost their shine.
Finally, when they’d exhausted all the small talk, he looked at her. “Lil, do you think we could ever find our way back to the way it was?”
Her heart trembled. Not at the man who betrayed her but at the boy who looked so damn lost.
“It won’t work, Tucker,” she said gently. “I’m not that girl anymore. Everyone already had us married with kids, and I got swept up in that dream too. But that was me clinging to who we used to be. I can’t do that anymore.”
Tucker’s head dropped. “So it’s really too late? There’s nothing I can do to prove I’ve changed?”
Her throat ached with the truth, but she didn’t look away. Tears welled, and she let them fall. “It’s me, Tucker. I’ve changed. I need something different now.”
She’d spent years believing that if she kept the peace—if she didn’t ask for too much—she could hold on to love, but all it left her was loneliness. She wasn’t making that mistake again.
He swallowed hard. “With him? The sheriff?”
A sad smile tugged at her lips. “No. That’s not his dreameither.”
“You’ll always be my first love, Lil. Even if I wasn’t the right one.”
She stood in the quiet studio after he left, waiting for the ache to hit the way it used to.
It didn’t.
Maybe that was its own kind of goodbye.
Sunday dinnerat her mom’s house was louder than usual that evening, the way it always seemed to be now. Every year, another baby—or two—joined the mix, stretching their hearts even wider.
Lily looked around, gratitude swelling in her chest. She didn’t have her own dream yet, but her sisters’ had come true, and that gave her hope. One day it would be her turn. Maybe Evie’s too.
Annette’s living room had turned into baby central—blankets draped over designer chairs, bottles lined up by the sink, a mountain of diaper boxes stacked on the rug. Teddy slept against Lily’s chest, his tiny breaths soft and sweet, while across the room, Mira fussed in Amber’s arms.
“He’s the calmest baby, like his daddy,” Amber said, adjusting Mira under her arm like a football. The baby latched then popped off with an indignant squeak, blinking up at her mother in protest. Amber kissed the soft fluff of dark hair on her daughter’s head. “You, on the other hand, are bound to rule the world one day. Remember, good girls don’t make history.”
Theo leaned over her shoulder with a smitten grin for his wife and daughter. “She’s already got me wrapped around her finger.”
On the couch, Davis read a book to Tessa, who was snuggled up in his arms with her baby doll, while Savvie twirled in asparkly dress in front of everyone. Allie tried and failed to snag her before she could bump into one of Annette’s expensive vases, but Savvie darted away with a laugh.
Across the room, Sammy and Ben—Allie and Davis’s boys—were building a Lego fortress on the coffee table. They were too cool for baby chaos but still young enough to make sound effects as the tower wobbled precariously.
“Let her,” Annette said wryly. “She’s going to do it anyway.”
Allie finally gave up and came to sit near Lily. She glanced at Teddy’s sleeping face then at her sister. “How are you doing, Lil? It’s been a hell of a season for you.”
Lily brushed her thumb over Teddy’s satiny cheek, smiling when he let out a soft burp. “Such a boy,” she teased then looked up to meet Allie’s kind eyes. “I’m okay,” she said. “Some days are harder than others, but then I hold these babies, or play with your kids, and it’s easy to remember what I’m holding out for.”
Allie reached over to squeeze her hand. “You’ve always been determined. If you want it, it’s yours.”
Lily looked at her in surprise. “You think I’m determined?”
“Of course I do,” Allie said without hesitation. “Look at you—you opened a studio and built it from the ground up. You didn’t let anyone’s doubts stop you. That’s determination, Lil.”
