Lark finished the last bite of the burger. “Well, you weren’t wrong,” she said, swallowing. “Do you miss him?”
Winnie cut her a filthy look.
“Kind of fell for him, didn’t you?”
“No!” She paused. “Maybe. Yes. Here, eat my fries, you poor starving thing.”
Lark accepted. “So what now?”
“Now? Nothing. I’ll see him at your baby’s christening and once or twice a year after that.”
“Mm.” Lark said nothing else, using a few of Harlow’s Jedi mind tricks. Robbie would’ve stolen her phone and texted Lorenzo pretending to be her. Addie would’ve given an hour-long lecture on how to be more like her and Nicole.
“So you’re feeling pretty good?” Winnie asked, eager to change the subject. “I mean, Lark, there’s a human growing inside you!”
“I know! I feel great. Just hungry all the time. Hey, speaking of christenings…” She paused and ate another fry, then smiled at Winnie. “Will you be our baby’s godmother?”
Winnie choked. “Seriously? Addie will shiv me! But yes! Oh, my God, are you sure, Lark? What about Dante’s sisters, though?”
“We both want you,” Lark said.
A different kind of tears filled Winnie’s eyes. “Yes. Of course. Thank you, Lark. But seriously, Addie’s going to murder me in my sleep once she finds out. Pretty sure she thought her twinship would land her godmother.”
Lark leaned across the table and kissed Winnie’s cheek. “Believe it or not, she already knows.”
“Should I check my brake lines?”
“Nope. She said it was a great idea.”
“Once she stopped hissing and biting you, you mean?”
Lark laughed. “Yes. She’s about to send you ten thousand suggestions of what the baby will need. Ignore them all.”
“She can still buy you all the stuff. I mean, she is the queen of consumers.”
“She is. Dante and I are happy with hand-me-downs, though. Maybe your job can be returning presents we don’t want.”
“Ah ha. It’s all making sense now, this godmother honor.” But she smiled at her sister, touched beyond words. “Your baby will be the luckiest baby in the world because you’re its mother, Lark,” she said, and she meant it.
She had left her favorite pair of pajamas at Lorenzo’s Chatham house. She checked her phone to see where he was—he had yet to turn off location sharing. He was at Mass General, of course. She felt a pang at the image of him standing over a patient in the OR, solemn and focused and brilliant (and tired, misunderstood and lonely; knock it off Winnie, he’s fine). At any rate, he was two hours away, and she could go to the house, get her jammies, take a final look at the house she’d come to love and say goodbye.
The place was chilly, though a few lights were on, since she’d set up daylight sensors so the place wouldn’t look abandoned after dark. She went inside, down the stairs and past the wine-red couch, which she patted in farewell. Got her pajamas, checked to see if there was anything else of hers, ordered herself not to be sentimental, because her throat was tightening. This place had been a shelter for her, a place to be useful and heal. The sheets on her bed were already clean, all the towels fresh, so she had no excuse to stay longer. Back upstairs, she looked at his kitchen island, empty now. No flowers, no baked goods, no bowl of oranges or lemons. All traces of her, erased. She put a martini glass in the freezer…a reminder to relax and enjoy and indulge once in a while. He deserved that.
A knock at the door made her jump. She answered it, and there stood a woman about her own age, and Fluffina, on a leash, wagging her plumy tail.
“Hi!” said the woman. “You live here, right?”
“Um…not exactly, no. I was staying here for a while, but that’s all done now.” Again, her throat tightened.
“Oh. I’m Fiona? I live down the beach? Listen, I know this is completely stupid, but you like her, right?” She indicated the dog.
“Fluffina?”
“Bailey. I’ve seen you playing with her? On the beach?”
Fluffina was so not a Bailey. “Yeah, I’ve played with her. She’s such a good girl.” Fluffina wagged and smiled her doggy smile in affirmation, and Winnie smiled back at her.
“Yeah,” Fiona agreed. “Here’s the thing. She’s a lot. She’s so energetic, and she sheds constantly. I mean, I love her, but like, my house? It’s always a wreck. I was wondering if you wanted her. She cost a lot. She’s purebred and everything.”
