Page 59 of A Moment for Us
“Today is the day your daughter was born, we don’t have to discuss that.”
“Oh, I think we do,” Jess says with her head tilting to the side. “Is there anything else you want to tell me?”
I shake my head. “No, nothing to say.”
“Really?” she asks again. “Because, well, I’m not stupid, Deals.”
“I never said you were.”
Grayson gets up from the edge of her bed and backs toward the door.
“I know, but you and Josh . . . like, I’m pretty sure that you’re a lot more than you’re saying.”
What, like, pregnant?
My heart stops for a second, and Grayson’s feet stop moving. He looks back to me and then to Jessica.
“Jess . . . do not get involved in this,” he warns.
“I agree with your husband.”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m not getting involved. I’m worried about a friend, and I’m helping.”
“There’s nothing to help, Jess. I’m fine, and Josh moving in with me made sense because he’s an overprotective ass.”
“Jeremy did say these break-ins were something to be concerned over,” Gray offers.
“Jeremy also believed there was a ghost under the bleachers that would grab your ankles at the football game.”
Grayson has the decency to look ashamed. “It was a prank.”
“He wore garlic around his neck for a whole school year to ward it off,” I add on. “He’s not all that bright.”
Jess smiles and then shrugs. “Gray was very convincing.”
“I’m just saying that Jeremy is the last person we should be taking advice from.”
“Josh seems to think there’s some validity. I know that we are setting our alarm again, and I’m a bit more vigilant,” Grayson says as he moves to Jess’s side. “There’s nothing a man won’t do to protect the things he loves.”
I laugh once. “We all know that Josh doesn’t love me. He’s just . . .” He’s just protecting me because I’m pregnant.
God, this is so damn hard to keep to myself. I want to scream and tell her everything. Jessica is my best friend, and I hate that I haven’t told her yet. However, I need more time to wrap my head around it as well as I’m worried it won’t stick. My mother has a history of miscarriages both before and then after me.
“He obviously cares about you enough to move in,” Jess says.
“Because he’s a stupid guy,” I say with exasperation. “There were two possible break-ins, and suddenly, he’s worried for my life.”
Jessica laughs. “We all know that Josh is complicated. He always has been, but the one thing I will say is that he won’t let the people he loves get hurt.”
I force myself not to glare at her. I honestly don’t want to hear it anymore. I let false hope take root. “Enough about me. Let’s talk about your beautiful daughter and how perfect your life is.”
“It’s not perfect, but it’s our family.”
“It’s perfect, Jess.”
She shrugs. Both of our gazes move to Ember, and I force myself not to feel sad because my day won’t come along with the same joys about being a family.
“Maybe a little.”
