“I’m not moving home for Joe,” I said firmly. Or for Beverly and Zoe or for Mom or Daanis. Even though my feelings for them were tangled up in my decision.
Even though my feelings for Joe were a big part of it, too. Because without his belief in me, I wasn’t sure I’d have this confidence to follow my own dreams.
“This is my choice. I’m making the decision that’s right for me right now. Besides…” My throat clogged. “Joe and I aren’t speaking at the moment.”
“Oh. Oh, honey. I wish you’d told me.”
“He’ll get over it,” I said. I hoped.
Once he got his head out of his ass. He didn’t owe meanything because we’d slept together, I reminded myself. He hadn’t made me any promises. But that didn’t stop me from missing him.
Daanis bit her lip. “Sure. It’s just…he’s coming over this afternoon to install the shelves in the nursery.”
Of course he was. I blinked back a sudden rush of tears. He was such a good guy. He showed up. He made things better. And Daanis needed those shelves or wanted them, which—since she was about to push a baby out of her vagina—ought to count as the same thing.
“I’ll stay out of his way,” I promised.
She looked at me, wide-eyed.
“Unless you want me to go?” I added.
“N-no.” She caught her breath sharply.
“Daanis? What is it?”
“I think…My water broke.”
27
Joe
The cure for most thingswas work. Joe figured he was better off pounding nails than beating his head against a wall.
He hadn’t seen it coming, when Britt took off. With Anne, the signs were spray-painted in letters five feet tall like graffiti on the Chicago subway.She’s leaving, stupid.Impossible to miss. Which left him with three choices.
Avoid her. Hard on the island, but he was doing his best.
Enjoy the sex for as long as she was here. She was steamed at him now, but he could fix that. Probably.
Or convince her to stay. Which was the one keeping him up at night. What could he offer her that was better than the future she could find out there?
In the meantime, he was keeping his head down, keeping busy, doing the job. He took the three steps up to the porch and knocked on Daanis’s front door. It jerked open. Anne stood framed in the doorway, blazing with warmth and energy like a fire, burning through his control.
He stared at her, his tongue and gut in knots. First choice, gone.
Her face fell dramatically. “You’re not the ambulance.”
A smile pulled his mouth. “Nope.” And then he frowned in quick concern. “Do you need an ambulance?”
“Not me. Daanis. She’s having her baby!”
He could see Daanis sprawled on the couch behind her. The little kid, Rose, was galloping a plastic dinosaur along her outstretched leg.
“Where’s Zack?” Joe asked.
“On his way,” Anne said. “He had to work today.”
Rose scrambled to her feet, still clutching the dinosaur. “I has potty.”
