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“I think you were telling me all about your travel plans that night.” She smiles at me. “Did you ever get down to Key West?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Good for you. Lord knows that I regret not traveling more when I was younger.” She glances out the window, watching Owen and Easton talking to each other as they stand side by side against one of the fences encircling the foal pen. “But I wouldn’t trade my life with those boys for anything.” My eyes dip down to my stomach, wondering if I’m going to feel the same way, but Valerie keeps speaking. “Being a mother is the hardest job I’ve ever had, Lennon.” I glance back up at her as if she heard my inner thoughts. “But my life took on new meaning when I held Owen for the first time.”

I sigh. “I hope I feel that way once this baby comes.”

“And why wouldn’t you?”

“I don’t know. I’m just not sure I’m ready for this. I didn’t see myself becoming a mom right now. I mean, I wanted it one day, but I didn’t think it would happen this soon, and I know I’m not ready.”

Valerie gives a soft laugh. “Oh, honey. Nobody is ever ready to have a child. But I’ll tell you this: If you thought you knew what love was before you saw your baby, I guarantee you’ll have a whole new definition of the word once that baby is in your arms.”

I rub my palm over my stomach through my light blue dress. “That’s what people have been telling me.”

“Trust me, it will happen. Just give it time.”

I want to believe her, but I’m still struggling with thinking it might not happen for me.

“Your whole world will shift once your baby is here, but then you’ll wonder how you lived your life before them.”

My heart pounds as I try to envision my life with a child, and I’m starting to see it—tiny hands and feet leaving messes all around and giving unconditional love, sleepless nights but quiet moments of reverence, and gummy smiles full of joy. But it’s hard when all I can bare to do is focus on everything I still need to accomplish before this little one arrives.

Eager to move past that small revelation, I clear my throat, gaining Valerie’s attention again. “I’m sorry that we only just made it over here for dinner, Valerie. I have had so much work to get through for school, but I finally had a little reprieve this week after a few exams.”

“Honey, don’t apologize. Easton has been inundated with his new job responsibilities, too. You’re both busy, and now you’re about to be parents. Trust me, time will always feel fleeting from here on out.” Her reassurance helps the tension in my chest dissipate. “And being a single mom only magnified that feeling for me.”

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that too. I don’t know how you did it. Makes me grateful I have Easton with me in this.”

“You just do, honey. That’s what moms do—we make shit happen, Lennon. We do what we have to for our kids and worry about the fallout later, because the only thing that matters in the moment is that they are taken care of.”

Her words make a wave of relief almost roll through me. I mean, that’s sort of what I did by marrying Easton, right? I did what I had to do to take care of my baby?

But on the other hand, it makes me wonder how I’d actually be feeling if I hadn’t agreed to this marriage. If I hadn’t agreed to accept his help—or hadn’t had that option in the first place.

Gratitude hits me square in the chest instantly because I know Valerie didn’t have someone she could lean on. In fact, her partner was more of a liability than a support system, which is why she left the boys’ father and started over on her own.

One day you’ll be on your own, too, Lennon. Remember?

Silence rests between us, but when Valerie speaks again, my pulse spikes instantly. “So, would now be a good time to tell you that I know the true reason behind your marriage to my son?”

My head snaps up, and I meet her gaze. But I find no accusation or anger there.

No.

There’s a softness in her gaze that nearly makes me cry on the spot.

I manage to squeak out, “Wh—what do you mean?”

Valerie tilts her head at me as she leans forward and rests her forearms on the counter between us. “You don’t have to pretend with me, Lennon. I’m not mad. In fact, when Easton came home and told me that he’d married you to help you, the only thing I was mad about was that I wasn’t there to witness a moment I always hoped would happen.”

“Um…well…”

“You did what you had to do,” she says.

“I wasn’t keen on the idea, Valerie…”

“Oh, I’m sure.”