I coughed, caught off guard. “This is about you.”
“No, no way.” She grinned.
I was glad she had regained color in her face, but this new line of conversation was off the table. “Hey, I’m not keepinganything from you to hurt you. If anything, we agreed to not mention a damn thing until after the wedding because we don’t want to take a single ounce of attention from you and Christian. Please let this one go.”
She nodded. “I like how there was a lot of the use ofwe. That means you are a team.”
“Well, I really like the fact that I’m gonna be an uncle soon.”
Her eyes welled up again, and she threw herself at me. “I’m gonna be a mom. Holy shit.”
I squeezed her back just as the bathroom door opened. Christian walked in, his brows set in worry.
“Pen, are you okay? What do you need? I brought soda and crackers.”
My best friend hoisted her from my arms and cradled her against his chest. The sight of the two of them had me instantly thinking about Charlotte.Oof.Keeping this from her would be hard, but it wasn’t my secret to tell.
“Thanks for helping her.” Christian met my gaze over Penny’s shoulder, his expression serious. “I’m assuming—”
“I figured it out? Yeah.” I grinned, hope bursting in my gut. “I’m gonna be a fucking uncle.”
Christian’s facade broke and he smiled. “And I’m gonna be a fucking dad.”
“Okay, enough, you two.” Penny slid off Christian and wiped under her eyes. “I’m ready.”
“You sure?” Christian placed a hand on her stomach. “We can go home. I’ll find an excuse.”
“No, I’m ready to tell them downstairs. I’m sorry formaking you keep this secret. I know you wanted to tell everyone at the resort, but you had been talking about that trip for weeks, and I figured it would’ve changed the whole vibe.”
“Baby, I’m sorry I pushed you to share it,” Christian said, holding her hand. “I’m following your lead now, it’s all you.”
“Ah.” It clicked together. The fight Charlotte and I overheard. Penny wanted to hide the news, Christian didn’t.
They both looked at me. “This is a very intimate moment for three grown-ups to be in this small bathroom, but Charlotte and I overheard you two arguing and thought you were fighting about the wedding. We worked our asses off in that competition to make you guys happy.”
Penny snorted. “Oh, there was no way in hell we wouldn’t get married. Glad it motivated you both though.”
“Yeah.” Christian pulled Penny into him. “I’ll talk to Char about that. Kinda funny, if you ask me.”
“I’m happy for you both. Seriously.” I grinned. “Gwen is gonna be the best cousin ever.”
“Dude, everyone is gonna lose their minds with excitement once they find out,” Christian said, rubbing Penny’s shoulder. “You want to stay up here a bit or head back down?”
“I thought I wanted a cute announcement or something, but telling everyone today feels more natural. Let’s go.”
Penny held Christian’s hand as they returned downstairs. A part of me was jealous. I would’ve loved to have Gwen with someone I loved and been there for every step of theprocess. Visions of Charlotte being pregnant crossed my mind, and the floor about fell away from me. How could I be thinking that when it had been a damn week?
“Everyone,” Penny said, her watery voice enough to have everyone stop what they were doing. Charlotte and Gwen stopped mixing frosting. Mr. Calhoun set his beer down and leaned forward. Mrs. Calhoun set her phone down.
“What is it, Pen? You feeling okay?” Mrs. Calhoun asked.
“Christian and I want to share some good news.” She smiled. “I’m pregnant.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHARLOTTE
One perk of being around a three-year-old was that there was no room for any other thoughts. Hayden had forgotten to do laundry and meal prep for the week, so we teamed up after my parents’ holiday party. I volunteered to play with Gwen because a) I got no alone time with her all day because my family passed her around spoiling her rotten and b) it was a complete distraction from the wild thoughts going around my head.
