She glances around one more time and then nods. “Okay. We’re right by one of my favorite diners that’s open all night.”
“Lead the way.”
We’re quiet on the short walk to the diner, and once we’re seated, we look at each other tentatively. The ease we had in Nantucket, and even on the phone, is gone. She’sanxious, and I’m—I don’t know what I am. Unsettled, I guess.
She orders pancakes, and I order a burger, and it’s quiet again when our server leaves.
“I’m just gonna come right out and ask you something,” I say.
“Okay.”
“Were you sleeping with Daniel back then? Is that why you left?”
Her mouth falls open. “What?” she whispers. “Why would you ask me that?”
“Seeing the two of you tonight…I always thought things were a little weird between the two of you, but I thought it was because you didn’t like him, and he didn’t want you to distract me.”
“Ew! He’s old! And just…gross. No, Ididn’tlike him. Still don’t,” she says. She looks down at the table. “I can’t believe that’s the conclusion you drew. As if I wouldever!”
“I mean…I admit, it’s not something I’ve ever thought before tonight. He’s notthatold, only forty, I think. But what is it between you? Because it’s not nothing.”
She’s quiet. Our food comes out, and she lifts her fork but doesn’t take a bite.
“He never wanted you with me,” she says. She looks around the diner, long enough that I look too. She leans in like she’s afraid someone might hear us. “He made it clear that he didn’t think I was the right fit for you.”
“He said that to you?”
“Yes.”
“Lola. I don’t even know what to say. I-I wish you’d told me. I don’t understand why he’d say it, much less think it. You are…” I shake my head slightly. “Wereperfect for me.”
“I wasn’t, though. Because I walked away, didn’t I?”
“Was it because of him? He got to you that much?”
She exhales and looks out the window at the street. When she looks at me again, her face crumbles. “There was more to it than that, but…yes, ultimately, he did. I can’t blame him, though. Not completely. I didn’t have to…cave, but…”
A tear drips onto the table.
“I got pregnant, Tully.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
OUR MOMENT
LOLA
Age 21
I look at the calendar. No, that can’t possibly be right. I am so late on my period and didn’t even realize it. I’ve been so overwhelmed with school and work. There’s also drama at home. According to my sister, my parents are fighting nonstop, and my dad is acting completely out of character. I don’t know if he’s having a midlife crisis or what, but for my normally chill sister to be freaking out, I know something’s not right.
That’s the least of my worries right now, though.
I look at the time and try to think of the closest place that would still be open this late, and I get in my car and rush to the twenty-four-hour drugstore. My hands are shaking as I go to check out. I set the test on the counter and jump when I hear my name.
“Lola, it’s awfully late for you to be out alone,” Daniel says.
Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.
