Page 43 of Seeking Happily Ever After

“Where does she get her eye color?” Faith interrupted the conversation, completely oblivious to what was happening. “They’re so blue. Nick’s eyes are dark, aren’t they?”

Charlotte let the conversation with Natalie slide away, which was probably for the best, and looked at Faith, who was staring at Amelia.

“And this hair.” Faith patted Amelia’s blonde, slightly red-tinged hair that had been coming in thicker and thicker lately. “Nick’s coloring is so dark. Her mother must be really fair, and with some very strong genetics.”

Faith laughed, but Char didn’t join in. Just because she knew the truth about Amelia’s parentage didn’t mean that everyone needed to know. She didn’t want to do anything that would risk the custody case.

It was true that Amelia didn’t resemble Nick at all. “I don’t know anything about her mother,” Char said. “But obviously Amelia takes after her.”

“Well, you know, I can’t see even a bit of me in Cole,” Hope said. “He’s a carbon copy of his father.” She laughed. “It’s so strange the way genetics work, isn’t it?”

The women all laughed.

“I hope our baby is the perfect mixture of Damon and—”

“What?” It was Faith who cut her off. Her mouth hung open. “Yourbaby? Are you…did you…”

“Are you pregnant?” Hope helped her sister out. “Katie? Really?”

Katie nodded and the group erupted in squeals. “We’re not really telling people yet,” Katie said when the excitement died down. “It’s super-new still and we agreed we wouldn’t tell people yet, but…my secret’s safe with you all, right?”

Of course it was, and they all swore their silence.

It wasn’t until Katie and Char were on their way home that Charlotte asked her friend, “Why is it that you didn’t want to say anything about being pregnant? It’s so exciting.”

“It is,” Katie agreed. “But a lot of women don’t say anything about being pregnant until after the first trimester.”

Char had heard that, but she’d never really understood why. She told Katie as much.

“Because what if it doesn’t work out?”

“That would be terrible,” Charlotte agreed. “No matter what, it would be terrible. But if your friends and family knew, then at least you’d have them to help you through it instead of going through it alone.”

Katie thought about that for a moment and finally nodded. “I guess that’s true,” she said after a minute. “But can I ask you a question then?”

Of course Charlotte agreed.

“So why is it that you aren’t telling anyone about you and Nick?”

Behind the wheel of the car, Charlotte tensed.

“I mean, I get it…it might not work out. But what if it does? Either way, don’t you want your friends and family to know?”

Charlotte swallowed hard. “There’s nothing going on with me and Nick. We’re doing this for—”

“I know why you’re doing it.” Katie cut her off. “But I also know I’m not blind. And don’t forget, you’re talking to the queen offake relationships.” She used air quotes. “I know what I see.”

Charlotte navigated the car through the gates at ElkView and up the hill toward the guest house.

“And you two are definitely more than pretending. It’s okay to—”

“Oh, look.” Charlotte interrupted her friend. “We have visitors.” There was a red, older model sedan parked next to the guest house. Nick had left for the city for the day, with the plan to stay the night if his meetings ran long, but he hadn’t said anything about a visitor and the caseworker had already been there. Whomever it was, Char didn’t have a good feeling about it.

“Were you expecting guests?”

Charlotte shook her head and tried to rack her brain for who it might be. Surely, it wasn’t Billy. But it might be…he’d called at least four more times since the first time at the cabin. Every time, she’d hung up on him. But the last time, before she could end the call, she could have sworn she’d heard him say something about coming to see her. At the time, she’d been sure he was just blowing smoke. She hadn’t even mentioned it to Nick. After all, he had enough to worry about. And she’d meant it when she’d said that Billy wasn’t man enough to actually confront her.But…what if she’d been wrong?

She couldn’t take the baby into that situation; it wasn’t safe.

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