“No. It’s not like that.”
“Come on. I told you about my prenup drama, the least you can do is tell me what’s going on that’s got you so upset.”
Nicole swallowed. “I—I was pregnant and I had a miscarriage.”
Danielle just stared at her. “Oh, Nicole. I had no idea.”
“I wanted to keep it quiet for a little while, obviously. It was early in the pregnancy.”
“And Red knew?”
Nicole nodded. Felt her eyes fill up for the millionth time. She wiped the tears away with her sleeve. “He knew and he wanted the baby. We were so excited.”
Danielle sat up. “Nicole, I’m so sorry for your loss. Can I give you a hug?”
“Sure.”
The two friends hugged, and Nicole realized that it actually helped a little bit. She still felt the emptiness and the sadness and all of it—but having someone genuinely empathize with her, someone besides Red—made a difference.
They sat in silence for a long time and ate and drank wine. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence though.
“I’m really glad you told me,” Danielle said. “You know, I’m so proud to call you my friend and I want to be here for you if you need me.”
“Thanks,” Nicole said. “You’re an awesome friend to me. And I want to be a better friend to you too. I know I always say that…”
Danielle laughed. “You do! It’s true. But I don’t need you to anything different, Nic. You’re too hard on yourself.”
“I want the four of us to get together,” Nicole told her. “You’re right that it’s ridiculous for Red and Kane to be at one another’s throats because of business. It’s not like Kane tried to have Red assassinated or something. They’re both rich guys who had competing businesses and so it got a little bit rough.”
“Exactly,” Danielle said, excited now. “It reminds me of two star baseball players on different teams. They have a rivalry but they can still be friends off season, right?”
“Right,” Nicole said. “I’m not sure that Red sees it that way, but I’ll work on him.”
“Speaking of Red,” Danielle said, “I think he’s home.” She pointed to the private road, which was visible in the near distance.
Nicole looked and saw that he was indeed driving back to the house. “I guess that’s my cue,” she sighed.
“You’re really brave,” Danielle told her.
“No, I’m not,” Nicole replied. “That’s the problem.”
They gathered their things and set off for home. It was only a few minutes walk and neither of them said much. It was enough to just be together and for Nicole to know that Danielle understood what she was going through and hadn’t tried to talk her out of being sad about it.
When they arrived home, Red was already inside. They found him in the foyer, standing and looking at his phone. When he saw Nicole, his face lit up with a huge smile.
“Come here,” he said, and scooped her into his arms, hugging her tightly and kissing her on the head. “How are you doing?” he said softly.
“Good,” she said, giving him a smile to let him know she meant it.
“Hey Danielle,” he said, nodding to Danielle, who stood awkwardly in the entrance to the foyer.
“Hey,” she said, giving a small wave.
Red looked at the blanket and cooler. “What’s with the stuff? You two go camping?”
“Picnic,” Nicole said. “We had some much needed wine and discussed the fact that it’s silly for you and Kane to hate each other so much.”
Red gave her a look. “You had too much wine, maybe.”
“We should all get together. I promised Danielle we would.”
Red’s jaw tightened. “You’re kind of putting me on the spot here.”
“Actually, it’s really not a big deal,” Danielle said. “So don’t feel put on the spot. Nicole and I were just having some girl talk, you know how it is.”
“Not really,” Red replied.
“Well, sometimes girls can get chatty and silly, especially when wine is involved.”
Red nodded. “So, I actually wanted to show Nicole the new office space I found in Hartford. You’re welcome to come with us, Danielle.”
Nicole looked at him. “You found something?”
He grinned. “And it’s perfect. I really want to sign a contract ASAP but I need to show my partner first.”
“Wait, you guys are business partners now?” Danielle said.
“I didn’t talk to her about the new company,” Nicole replied quietly. She was surprised that Red would openly discuss it in front of her, knowing she might tell Kane.
But he seemed totally unconcerned about that. “We’re going to start a business,” he said, “and I need Nicole’s approval for every step we take.” He grabbed Nicole’s hand and squeezed it. “Which is why I really want to drag her to this building. I know she’s going to love it.”
“I don’t know if I’m up to it right now,” Nicole said. She was already feeling a slight comedown from her wine buzz.