She giggled and I wanted to bottle up that sound. I followed her back downstairs, wishing like hell that I could figure out a solution where we spent more time here. Because the one thing I learned these last few weeks was that, if given the choice, I’d pick Laney over my job.
I just had to show her that I meant it.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
LANEY
Sophia and I walked arm in arm Friday morning, eyeing the shops on Main Street. She wanted to find a few presents for her nieces, and I wanted to hang out with my best friend.
“You’re happier here. I wasn’t sure if it was the first night, seeing all your old friends, or if it was you and Connor finding your way back to each other. But it’s been days now. You’re lighter.”
I sighed, and my breath formed a puff in front of my face. I tightened my grip on my jacket as a chill went through me. “I know. I miss it. A lot.”
“And have you talked to your smitten husband about this?”
“I can never tell whose side you’re on.”
“Always yours. Even if that means calling you out when you’re hiding the truth. You need to tell him how you’re feeling. You’re both so… Laney.” She stopped and grabbed my face with her mittens. “This is the best I’ve seen both of you. This place is different. I can’t explain it. I never thought I’d say I like the small-town life, but damn, it’s magical.”
“Cherrywood does have that spark to it.” I eyed my hometown, a million memories flashing through my mind. The time I stubbed my toe on the curb and Matt gave me a piggyback ride to get ice cream. The night my dad and I danced in the rain, expecting my mom to get mad, but she just joined us and laughed. The day I found out about getting into my dream college.
“I don’t think he’ll ever leave the city,” I said. He had said he’d come with me but that was right after I left and he was desperate.
“You don’t speak for him.”
“Sophia.” I snorted, but then another bout of dizziness hit. It had been a few days since the last one, but I gripped her arm until it passed.
“Dang, is it possible to get vertigo?”
She frowned. “Vertigo? What do you mean?”
“I’ve been getting dizzy the last week or so. Only for a few seconds, but then it passes.”
Sophia clicked her tongue, but then her eyes widened. “Laney, are you pregnant?”
“What?” I gasped, the air escaping my lungs so fast that I stumbled back. She caught me, the expression on her face shifting to panic.
“I can’t… It’s not…”
The throwing up. The dizziness. The realization that I couldn’t remember my last period.
“Oh… it’s… I could be. I could be pregnant, Sophia.”
The swirl of emotions had my vision blurring. Joy, surprise, terror. I felt every emotion in the book in those five seconds before my best friend snapped into action.
Sophia nodded, then gripped my arm. “Let’s go to the drugstore. I’ll buy a test. People will think it’s for me. Then you pee on a stick.”
“Soph.” My voice broke.
“I know, honey. We’ll figure out what to do next. Let’s learn the truth though.”
We bought the tests and found our way to the bookstore. I used to come here all the time growing up. I’d get lost in the thrilling pages of a mystery or a Jane Austen novel. It was romantic in a way, and right now, it was my refuge.
“Can we use your restroom real quick? Then I’m purchasing every Abby Jimenez book you stock.” Sophia smiled and took charge.
Without her, I wasn’t sure what I’d do. Melt. Freeze.
“The code is eight-seven-four-three,” the kid at the register said.
