For another long, painful moment, he simply stared at her. And then he dropped to the sofa. “Fine. Okay. Friends and co-parents, that’s what we’ll be.”
She sat down beside him. “I really do think it’s for the best.”
“Got it. You can stop convincing me now.” He sounded impatient with her. But then he elbowed her gently. “I’ll live. Though it won’t be easy…” And then he smiled.
That smile. It made everything better. She grinned back at him. He was such a great guy. “I’m lucky,” she said. “To be your friend, to have been your secret lover and to have you to count on when our baby comes.”
He put his arm around her then. “Right back at you.” His lips brushed her temple. “We’ll make it work.”
“I know we will.” She leaned her head on his shoulderand tried to gather her thoughts before bringing up the next difficult topic.
He pulled her closer. “Just say it. Whatever it is, I can take it.”
“All right, then.” She laid it on him. “Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but I think Lenore knows about the baby. The other day, when I picked up Dillon after a playdate, I caught her looking at me strangely.”
“Yeah.” His gaze dipped down, same as Lenore’s had, to the new roundness at her middle. “She noticed that you’re showing.”
Riley stifled a groan. “She told you that?”
“She did.” He caught her hand. His firm, warm grip reassured her. “Don’t let her upset you. She’s fine.”
“What do you mean, she’s fine? What exactly did she say?”
“Nothing that matters.”
“Ugh. It must have been bad.”
“Honestly, it wasn’t. She got me over there with another fake emergency. Then she started in about how she knew you were pregnant, and she was sure it was mine.”
“Oh, no…”
“It worked out all right. It really did. I refused to get into it with her. She settled down. It ended up being the most constructive conversation I’ve had with her in a long time. Before I left, she looked me square in the eye and acknowledged that it really is over between her and me. I got bold and suggested she should get help, find people to talk to about what’s troubling her.”
“And…?”
“She said she just might do that.”
“Wow. That’s good. I hope she follows through.”
“I hope so, too,” he said. “She has a lot to work out, butwe’ll see. If she gives you grief the next time you talk to her, let me know.”
Riley was shaking her head. “I only mentioned what happened with her the other day so that you would know what’s going on, not so that you could come running to my rescue. Lenore and I will work it out. Our sons are best friends. She and I have a lot of good reasons to get along with each other.”
“Fair point,” he replied. “But I’m here. You know, in case you need backup.”
She wanted to kiss him for that—in fact, she almost did. Because being his lover? It was the best. But their kissing days were over, and she intended to remember that.
“What?” He was studying her face.
“Nothing,” she replied.
“Liar,” he said, but in an easy, teasing way. “Now, what else have you got on your mind?”
“Well, we’re going to have to decide when to tell Dillon and Shane that they’re getting a new brother or sister. I think you should give Lenore a heads-up about it first. Maybe say you’re going to be telling Shane about the new baby and ask if she has any input on that. It would be a good-faith gesture, you know?”
He looked at her sideways. “Lenore giving input. How could that possibly go wrong?”
“Just think about it. It’s not a big rush to tell the boys. We’ve got time yet. We just need to figure out how to handle it so that they don’t pick up any bad feelings. I’m hoping they’ll be happy that they’re going to have a new brother or sister.”
