Page 66 of Secrets at Seaside
“Ames?” Jenna came around the table and crouched beside her. “What’s wrong?”
“What if I can’t have kids?” Amy said just above a whisper.
“Did your doctor say that’s a possibility?” Bella asked. “If you can’t, we’ll surrogate for you. Or at least I will.”
“Me too,” Jenna offered.
Tears slid down Amy’s cheeks. “You would do that so easily?”
“Of course,” Bella said. “Why wouldn’t we? I mean, I’m not going to sleep with Tony, but turkey basters, you know.”
Amy laughed and wiped her eyes.
Sky moved her chair closer to Amy’s. “Amy, just because you had a miscarriage once doesn’t mean you will again. When I was living in New York, my friend Carol had one, and the next year she and her husband had a beautiful baby boy.”
Amy swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I know. I just feel like I went through it once by myself. I know that was my choice, and I know Tony would be with me if it happened again, but…it’s just everything. I want to be with you guys. You guys have your men, your lives, and you get to live near one another. I want to go on the ferry with you guys and make out with Tony. I want to see Carey in April. Well, not specifically him, but you know what I mean. Is that selfish of me? Because I feel like I’m being wicked selfish right now.”
“I likeselfish Amy,” Bella said. “I never wanted you to take the job in the first place.”
She banged her head on the table again and groaned. “The job. I love that job. I want that job. I just want tolivehere.”
Amy lifted her head at the sound of Tony’s voice and saw him hurrying across the quad.
“What did you do to my fiancée?” He took the deck steps in one giant leap and crouched beside Amy. “What’s wrong, babe?”
Words tumbled out, along with a new river of tears. “I don’t want to move to Australia. I want to live here and make out on the ferry with you.”
Tony furrowed his brow and smiled. A little laugh escaped his lips as he stroked her cheek. “I’m all for making out on the ferry, although I’m not sure how that ties into Australia. Babe, we can live wherever you want. I don’t care where we call home. I told you that. I want you to choose what will makeyouthe happiest.”
“Aw,” Jenna said.
“Is that really true, Tony?” Bella held his gaze. “I mean, do you really not care where you live? I don’t mean just this second while Amy’s in tears. Don’t you have a traveling schedule and other things to consider?”
“My only consideration is Amy.” Tony turned his attention back to Amy. “Wherever you want to live, we’ll make it work. You don’t have to work another day in your life if you don’t want to. Neither do I, for that matter.”
“Wow,” Sky whispered.
“No kidding. Wow,” Bella reiterated.
“I love working.” Amy swiped at her tears. “I want the job with Duke, but I want to live here, with you and the girls. I want to have kids at the same time as them and listen to Jenna complain about her boobs getting too big with her pregnancy. I want to see Leanna dress like a hippie when she’s pregnant, and I want to go shopping with Bella so she can tell me it’s not fair that my stomach is cuter than hers.”
“Hey,” Bella teased.
“You know what I mean,” Amy said. “I want to go to the bay and watch Jenna paint in her studio while it’s snowing outside. I want to see Evan come home for winter break and see his smiling face as he tells everyone about how his first semester of school was.” Amy inhaled a deep breath and blew it out slowly.
“I’m not making any sense. I have to tell Duke I can’t take the job, because I really, really want to live here with everyone more than I want the job, I think.”Do I? Yes? Maybe?She realized she was making huge assumptions that Tony really meant what he’d said about living anywhere. She’d always wanted to live here, but she’d never considered really taking the plunge. She had a whole life to consider back home, but if she was considering moving all the way to Australia, why not move where she really wanted to be—with the friends, and the man, she really wanted to be with?
“I mean if that’s okay with you,” she said to Tony.
Tony pulled her in close. “Babe, it’s perfect with me. This is where we became a couple. It should be where we become a family, too.” He held her close until her tears dried up.
“What should I tell Duke? I hate letting him down.”
“Duke’s a businessman, but he’s all about family. He’ll understand,” Tony said.
“He’s here this weekend,” Sky said. “He and Blue are looking at the lighthouse over on Bowers Bluff.”
“I know. I have a meeting with him Sunday morning. I just don’t want to disappoint him.” Amy reached for Tony’s hand. “Why didn’t you go with the guys over to the marina?”
