That wasn't what she was hoping I would say. “Right, well, I should go to sleep. Night, Vaughn.”
“Night,” I say before she meanders out of the room.
I’m alone and look around, knowing I need to do so much better, while I admire the dreamcatcher hanging on the wall by the crib.
A moment later, I walk down the hall to my room, and Isla’s door is partly open. Maybe she did that on purpose to tempt me. Either way, I watch from afar as she adjusts her body in her bed. Lying on her side, with one leg wrapping around her pregnancy pillow and her head getting comfortable on a normal pillow.
So fucking beautiful.
I realize something; she understands me on so many levels. That, mixed with a magnetism that is underlying, causes me to realize that for the first time, if I ever had a shot at something extraordinary, then maybe, just maybe, it’s with her.
I just need to figure out what to do about it.
16
ISLA
Laughing, I can’t help but inspect what I just unwrapped.
“This is a little… I don’t know… What is it?” I look at Hadley’s mom April, perplexed.
We’re all sitting in a circle at Violet’s house for my baby shower. She had her baby a few months ago, so it was the easiest solution of locations. The pink decorations are gorgeous, the games we played ridiculous, and of course, Hadley’s mom went overboard with snacks. Also, presents…
“It’s a unicorn outfit.” She seems proud of her choice and starts pointing to various aspects of the clothing. “See? The little horn on the hood.” I laugh again. “She’ll be like a burrito wrapped up but with a special hat. Perfect for Halloween.”
“That I can see, thank you.” It’s a cute gesture. I search for the next item from the pile of gifts. My head indicates the giant diaper cake in the corner. “Thank you, everyone, but it seems like a lot of diapers for the first few weeks, will I really need them?”
The moms in the group sayyesin unison.
I’m not going to argue with their perspective that they calculated right. I hold my hands up. “Okay, okay. Forget I asked.”
An abundance of unwrapped presents are around me, still with another pile to go. Not only do I have the usual ladies from my circle of friends who are the next best thing to family, but also a few colleagues, and of course, Ivy, my brother’s girlfriend.
Hadley claps her hands. “Okay, everyone, let’s take a little break before we continue to the big round.”
“Great idea, I need to pee. This kiddo has been pressing against my bladder all day,” I say as I stand.
By the time I’m done in the bathroom, I come out to find Hadley carrying a bag of ripped wrapping paper to the garage in one hand. “Surviving?” She grins.
“This is really a special day, thank you.”
She waves me off. “It’s the least I can do. You were my maid of honor, and I’m not having a kid anytime soon, so it keeps the ladies in there occupied.” Hadley throws her thumb over her shoulder.
“They arereallyinto this.”
Hadley studies me, maybe trying to read me. I’m familiar enough to know that she is about to ask a question that I might not appreciate. “Um, should I bring up the topic?” Her face screws into a cautionary look.
I take a second. “You mean Vaughn?”
“Yeah.” I hate her sympathy in trying to comfort me with her hand on my wrist.
“I invited him. If he doesn’t want to come, then that’s his choice.”
Hadley takes a moment. “But you do want him here, right?”
I shrug my shoulders. “I do. Doesn’t mean it will happen.”
“What’s going on between you two?”
