Chapter 17
The boutique smelledlike baby powder and lavender, the kind of scent designed to soothe before you even realized you needed it.It clung to the air softly, reverently, wrapping around us as though this place existed outside of pain, outside of loss.
Tiny onesies hung from pale wooden racks, arranged in neat rows of soft pastels and warm neutrals, each one a silent promise of beginnings that hadn’t yet learned how fragile they were.
Olivia stood a few steps away, her fingers brushing over a lightweight cotton sleeper.She smiled faintly as she traced the small, embroidered bear stitched into the chest, her touch absentminded and tender.
“You’re sure you’re having a boy?”I teased, nudging her shoulder.
She scoffed without looking up.“No.But if these twins turn out to be girls, one of them is going to learn to love blue.”
I laughed—an actual, unguarded laugh—and the sound startled me as much as it pleased me.It felt unfamiliar in my throat, like a muscle I hadn’t stretched in weeks.
Olivia’s brows lifted as she glanced at me.“Well, look at that,” she said lightly.“You laughed.Should I be worried?”
“Depends,” I replied, letting my fingers skim the fringe of a knitted baby blanket.“Is concern your default setting today?”
Her smile faded immediately.
“Peyton.”
There it was—my name, stripped of humor, spoken with care.It had been three weeks since Christmas morning.Three weeks since Creed had walked out of my life with a quiet finality that cracked something open inside me.I’d told myself I was fine.I’d told myself time would dull the ache.
Time hadn’t done a damn thing.
I’d nearly canceled lunch, nearly claimed a headache or a deadline, because I knew Olivia would see through me the second she looked close enough.
She set the sleeper back on the rack and folded her arms, waiting.
I exhaled slowly.“It’s over.”
Her expression didn’t change, but I caught the subtle tension in her shoulders.“I thought you said he handled everything.”
“Not the debt,” I said quietly.“Us.Creed and me.”
She nodded once.“What happened?”
I shrugged, but the movement felt hollow.“He did what he always does.He left.”
Olivia rubbed her belly in slow, thoughtful circles before gesturing toward the seating area near the window.“Come sit before you drop that blanket and emotionally scar the sales associate.”
I followed her, lowering myself into the chair as she adjusted the waistband of her maternity jeans with a practiced sigh.
