There was a squeak as a chair moved, and then Lydia felt an arm around her shoulders. “I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad by bringing it up. Actually, it just proves to me that you’ve moved on, and that’s exactly how it should be, Lydia. Brett would want that and so do Mike and I. It’s hard, God, I know that’s true. I still see him in small ways every day.” Clearing her throat, she admitted huskily, “For so long, I clung to you because it felt as if we still had a piece of him. I’m ashamed that I didn’t encourage you to start living your life again earlier. I wasn’t ready to lose you as well, though,” she admitted in a rush.

   Lydia looked at the other woman in amazement, “Connie—I . . . don’t know what to say. I never felt like that. We both needed each other to survive. I don’t know what I would have done without you and Mike, and I can only hope that I gave you a small piece of the comfort that you gave to me.”

   In the end, the lunch that she had been dreading turned out to be more freeing than she could have ever imagined. Even though Lydia knew it was hard in a way for the other woman to see her make a life with someone other than her son, she also was genuinely happy for Lydia and wished her nothing but the best. She’d promised to call her in the next week to make plans for them to meet Jake.

   It would take time and some baby steps, but she was hopeful that they would become as fond of him as they were of her. Lydia certainly hadn’t been able to resist Jake, and she didn’t think the Morgans would be able to either. She would never forget Brett, but she had learned in these last months that she had room in her heart for more than one person and she planned to embrace that each and every day.

Chapter Seventeen

   It seemed as if it had been months since the ladies of Danvers had gotten together for a meal. Claire had organized a dinner outing to celebrate Suzy’s return from maternity leave. She’d actually been back for almost a month now, but this was the first date on which everyone’s schedules meshed. Lydia walked the few blocks to the Mexican restaurant with Mia and Crystal. Claire, Suzy, and Beth were a few steps in front of them, and Ella, Emma, Gwen, and Ava were bringing up the rear. If the laughter floating through the air was any indication, all the women were in good spirits and ready to blow off some steam.

   After they had been seated, Emma rubbed her hands together and said, “Brant and Mac are running a taxi service for us tonight, girls, so everyone is getting the fishbowl margarita. If any of you have a bun in the oven, speak up now. Otherwise, you’re drinking some alcohol!”

   She’d already placed the order for everyone’s drinks when Suzy put both elbows on the table and said, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but no booze for me. I’m almost four months pregnant.”

   Silence. You could have heard a pin drop as everyone stared at her as if waiting for the punchline. Then Claire turned to her best friend and asked, “Really? You’re pregnant?” When Suzy nodded, Claire snapped, “Well, you know I’m happy for you, but damn, what happened to the whole telling your BFF everything? I just thought you were stress eating.”

   As Suzy glared daggers at Claire over the “stress eating” comment, Beth elbowed Claire. “What are you pouting about? I’m her freaking sister and this is the first I’ve heard of it.” Then her expression softened as she asked, “Four months? You made it out of the first trimester.”

   “Oh, for God’s sake,” Suzy groaned as she looked at the teary-eyed group before her. “Can we please not make a big deal out of this? No, we haven’t told anyone yet. With all of the miscarriages we’ve had, we didn’t want to jinx anything. We have plenty of time tomorrow to talk about it, but tonight, let’s just do what we all do best. Talk dirty and insult each other. I’ve spent months covered in puke, poop, and piss. Tonight, I want to be an adult.” Giving Claire a pointed look, she added, “I’m not going to forget that comment about me being a pig.”

   “Whoops.” Claire giggled. “I was just a tad surprised at the way you inhaled your donut this morning and then grabbed the half-eaten one from my hand and finished it off too.” Holding her hands up defensively, she added, “No judgment here. I gained fifty pounds when I was pregnant with Chrissy. I have no room to talk.”

   “My ass was the size of a freaking tanker truck,” Gwen piped in.

   “Oh, it was not,” Ella muttered.

   “Really?” Gwen looked at her friend. “Dominic picked me up to carry me over the threshold and had to see a chiropractor for a flipping month after that. He could barely get out of bed the next morning, and we all know the man is in shape.”

   “Excuse me!” Mia waved a hand. “Hold it right there.” Staring Gwen down, she asked, “And why would Dominic be carrying you over the threshold? Unless I’m mistaken, that happens after you get married. But to my knowledge, you haven’t made an honest man out of your baby daddy yet.”

   Once again, silence descended. Lydia found herself munching on the chips in front of her as if they were popcorn at a movie. This was better than anything she’d seen in the theater lately. “Holy crap,” Crystal whispered from beside her. She noticed her friend was also eating while watching the action.

   Gwen’s mouth opened and closed a few times before she released an audible breath. “All right, Dominic and I are married. There—cat’s out of the bag. We went to city hall, so don’t be offended. We didn’t invite anyone.”

   “And when was this?” Crystal asked, sounding more curious than offended that she hadn’t known.

   “Afewmonthsbeforethebabywasborn,” Gwen mumbled quickly before taking a big drink of her margarita.

   As Lydia was trying to decipher what she’d said, Ava blurted out, “You’ve been married since before Cameron was born? That was months ago! Does Mac know?”

   Shaking her head, Gwen said sheepishly, “No. I know those guys tell each other most everything, but we agreed to keep it to ourselves for now.”