The Friends We Keep

“Thanks. We’re getting through it. Andrew’s been great. We haven’t told anyone yet. The twins don’t know. We figured they could wait for a while. I’m taking Makayla to the doctor and then we’ll know how far along she is. I’m guessing she’s close to four months.”


Hayley had gotten to four months with her first pregnancy. But after that, she’d never made twelve weeks. Not that she needed to be thinking about her miscarriages.

“You’ll get through this,” Hayley told her. “So will Makayla. Hopefully she’ll learn from what happened.”

“That would be wonderful, but I’m not holding my breath. Anyway, I wanted to tell you.”

“I’m glad you did. I’m okay.”

Gabby smiled at her. “I hope you are, but if you’re lying to protect me, I want you to know I really, really appreciate it.”

Hayley managed a laugh. “I’m not. I swear.” Hearing the news wasn’t fun, but compared to having lost Rob, it didn’t matter at all.





Chapter Thirteen

Nicole’s case of nerves for her second date with Jairus was different from the one before her first date. Then she’d been worried about dating. It had been too long. The rules had changed. She was out of practice. She wasn’t ready. Whatever. There had been a thousand reasons, but none of them had been about the man.

This time was different. This time the fluttering, slightly anxious woozy sensation was specifically about Jairus. She didn’t like that. She didn’t like it at all.

She hadn’t wanted to like him. The man was responsible for the hell that was Brad the Dragon. But having gotten to know him a little, how could she not? He was basically a very nice man, who was also funny and sexy, and when he smiled she felt quivers.

She was doomed. Worse, she had nothing to wear.

Nicole stared at the contents of her closet and groaned. There was nothing new, nothing cute and she hadn’t wanted to borrow from Shannon a second time. Once was understandable. More than that would be tacky.

But nothing she owned seemed appropriate. She was meeting Jairus for dinner at McGrath’s Pub. They were having a weekend barbecue, which sounded completely casual, but wasn’t. It was a special once-a-year event that required tickets. For that, she needed something cute and a little bit sexy.

White crop pants, a stylish sleeveless top and some killer flat sandals. Or a swingy little dress. What she had instead was an entire wardrobe of workout wear, ratty shorts and tank tops, and a sundress that was not only stained but at least six years old. She honestly couldn’t remember the last time she’d bought herself something new. Even from a super discount store.

“Is Gabby right?” she asked herself as she studied her clothes. “Am I punishing myself for the failure of my marriage?”

Really good question, but not helpful right now. Clothes first, she told herself. Self-analysis later.

She dug through her closet again and found a white denim skirt with the tags still on it. It was shorter than she usually liked, which explained why it was unworn. She tossed the skirt on the bed and went in for a second round of closet digging. She found a couple of tank tops, along with a sleeveless wrap shirt in red. Then she turned to study her options.

The wrap shirt was adorable, but cut practically to her navel. While she exercised regularly and didn’t mind being seen in tight workout clothes, she wasn’t going to flash her boobs to the world. But she did have a plain white tank top. If she tucked that into the skirt and wore the red top over it, she would be layered, not exposed.

Wardrobe crisis solved.

She dashed into the bathroom and did her makeup. The event was going to be on the boardwalk, which meant sun, wind and possibly ocean spray. She pulled her long blond hair into a high ponytail, fluffed her bangs, then applied two coats of hair spray. She got dressed, remembering at the last minute to snip the tag from the skirt. While her plain brown sandals weren’t killer, they would have to do. Five minutes later, she and Tyler were on their way to Pam’s condo.

Pam had moved the year before, turning her two-story house over to her daughter and moving into an oceanfront condo. She’d bought the condo from their friend Shannon, who had married Adam and moved in with him. It had been a fun time of musical houses.

Nicole pulled into the visitor parking. She and Tyler went up the stairs to Pam’s door. He rang the bell and they immediately heard Lulu barking.

“Okay, little girl,” Pam said, her voice muffled by the closed door.

Lulu went quiet. Nicole knew that meant she’d been picked up. Nicole had a feeling that if she owned a dog it wouldn’t be anywhere near as well behaved as Lulu. The little Chinese crested seemed to speak English as well as most people.

“Hi, you two,” Pam said as she let them in. “Tyler, what do you think? I thought you’d appreciate Lulu’s outfit.”

Due to her lack of hair, Lulu had to be protected from both sun and cold. She wore sunscreen and little shirts or sweaters, depending on the season. Today Lulu sported a doggie-style tank dress in camouflage.

Tyler laughed as he petted the dog. “She’s a girl.”