The Friends We Keep

Hayley liked Brent a lot. He was a hardworking guy who wanted to do the right thing. He deserved someone who made him happy. Unfortunately for him, he had a wife whose first concern was herself.

Just another way she and her sister were different, Hayley thought. Morgan had always had a plan. Find a good guy and get married. She hadn’t been interested in a career. She wanted what she saw as an easy life—being a wife and a mother.

Brent had been interested in a family, too, but first he’d wanted to finish college and maybe go to grad school for his MBA. He’d talked to Morgan about his ambitions and had encouraged her to develop her own. She’d assumed his graduation celebration would include a marriage proposal. Instead, he’d told her he’d been accepted at several grad schools, including a couple back East. Not only hadn’t he proposed, but he’d started talking about them seeing other people while he was gone.

Morgan had gotten pregnant within a few weeks. Brent had done the right thing. He’d bought a ring and gotten down on one knee. Morgan had pretended to be shocked, then she’d accepted. They were married two months later and his dream of getting an MBA was never discussed again.

“Brent’s a sweetie and he loves you,” Hayley pointed out. “Be grateful for what you have.”

“Why? You got the good husband. I should have made a play for Rob instead.”

Hayley felt her mouth drop open at her sister’s ugly statement. Did Morgan really think that Rob would have preferred her to Hayley, if only he’d had the chance?

Hayley reminded herself that Rob had never much liked her sister. That Morgan was just being Morgan. That when Rob came back, she would tell him about the conversation and he would laugh. He would hold her and tell her he loved her and—

Her eyes began to burn. Too late she realized she’d crossed that mental line that allowed her to stay in control. Longing and hurt and fear swelled inside her. She was so tired and she hurt everywhere, as if she’d fallen down stairs over and over again.

“What’s wrong with you?” her sister demanded. “Your face is weird.”

“Nothing. I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine. Are you sick? You’re not going to start bleeding, are you?”

“No. It’s not that.” Hayley swallowed. “Rob left me. He moved out a few days ago.”

She knew that in the name of self-preservation, telling Morgan was an absolute mistake. At the same time, she wondered if she was doing this to herself deliberately. Making the wound deeper. Because she knew she’d been wrong and deserved it?

Her sister sat up. “No way. He didn’t. That man is crazy about you.” Her eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”

Hayley told her. About the clinic in Switzerland, what the doctor had said, the real estate agent, everything. Morgan listened openmouthed.

“You are a complete moron. You know that, right? Dear God, let it go, Hayley. You can’t have a baby. Boo-hoo. Get over it. Adopt.”

The words stung. “You don’t understand.”

Morgan rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. You’re so sad. Poor little adopted girl. Your life was hell. I was loved and you were hated.”

“I wasn’t hated. It was different for me.” Their parents had loved her, they just hadn’t loved her as much. Time and again they’d allowed Morgan to have whatever she wanted—usually at Hayley’s expense. Morgan was their biological child and Hayley wasn’t. That was reality.

Morgan waved her hand. “Quit being such a damned drama queen. You had it easy. You were chosen. They picked you. I’m the one they got stuck with. You think I don’t know that?

“Grow up. Move on. The rest of us have. You’re going to lose the best thing that ever happened to you if you don’t. Talk about stupid.”

Hayley stood and reached for her handbag. “I have to go.”

“I’m right,” Morgan yelled after her. “I’m right and you know it.”





Chapter Fourteen

Gabby had been seeing the same gynecologist since she’d graduated college. Dr. Mansfield was part of a larger practice in the Mischief Bay area. But with a thriving practice came difficulty getting appointments, so it was nearly two weeks before she could get Makayla in to see the doctor.

Andrew had planned to talk to Candace first, to give her the option of taking her daughter to the doctor. But Candace had blown off her last two visits with Makayla and time had become more pressing. Which was why Gabby was now standing at the receptionist’s desk.

“Gabby Schaefer. My stepdaughter and I have an appointment. Makayla is a new patient.”

The fortysomething woman behind the computer nodded. “Did you fill out the paperwork already?”

Gabby handed over the sheets of paper, along with their insurance card.

“Thanks. I’ll take a copy of this and get the co-pay.” The receptionist glanced at the paperwork, then at Makayla.

“She’s pregnant?”

Gabby told herself there was no judgment in the tone. Nothing critical. But she felt as if the other women waiting were all staring at her.