Page 134

“Early April.”

I put my hands over my mouth. “I'm going to be an auntie.”

She giggles. “You already are to Jack and Liora and Benji and Sammy.”

“I know, but this one's yours. I didn't get to be with the mother when she was pregnant for any of those babies, and I feel like I missed out on all those fun little milestones—"

She tilts her head to study me, cutting off my sentence.

“What?” I ask.

“Well, wait a minute. If you're going to be around me as I'm going through this, does that mean...” She trails off.

“Does it mean I'm coming back to Vegas?” I fill in the blank for her. She nods, and I shrug and purse my lips. “I still don't know. But I want to be with you while you go through this.”

She reaches over and grabs my hand. “You can be. You know there's always a place for you at Ever-Brand and at our place.”

I nod. “I appreciate that.”

It's another reason to pull me back to Vegas, but I don't know if that's what I want. I don't know if I can be in the same town as Cash Maddox when he hurt me the way he did.

“So when can you find out if it's a boy or a girl?” I ask. “Because I have a million ideas on how we can decorate the nursery.”

She laughs. “Well, to be fair, so do I. And we already decided we're not finding out because it doesn't matter as long as he or she is happy and healthy.”

“I love this so much for you guys,” I say, and I give her another hug. “This is like the happiest news on a day that felt so…unhappy.”

She nods. “That's life, isn't it? Balancing the light with the dark.”

Boy, if that isn't the truth.

“So you've been not feeling great?” I ask.

“Well, so far I have learned that morning sickness is not exclusive to mornings.” She purses her lips.

“Wait a minute. You had wine the other night at dinner!”

She shakes her head. “You had wine at dinner. I had grape juice.”

“Oh my God, you had me fooled.”

“Hey, don't tell anybody yet, okay? We're not ready. I don't know, it just slipped out because I feel like we've gotten so close these last couple months.”

I nod. “We have.”

I give her one more hug, and then I go get my food.

“And because we've gotten so close,” she continues, “I am changing the subject and need to ask. What will it take from Cash for you to forgive him?”

I shrug. “What would it take for you to forgive him?”

She laughs. “You mean from a sister standpoint or if I were in your shoes?”

I shrug. “Either.”

“Well, if I were in your shoes, I guess I'd want the full explanation along with a heartfelt, big-time grand gesture-level groveling apology. I'd want him to somehow prove to me that he's going to choose me. That I'm a priority to him. That even if it started that way, that’s not where he is now.”

“He said that. And he took me to meet his mom. You don't do that when you’re just pretending, you know? And even if it started as a bet, he still stayed in it with me. If all I was to him was a consolation prize, why would he suggest staying in it? It didn’t feel like it was just for his sponsorships and morality clauses.”