Page 38 of Romance Reset
“Take flowers. Or a ring,” Breanne said.
Lincoln stopped in his tracks and turned, noting the men surrounding her all looked at Breanne the same way he did.
Breanne shrugged and returned the stare with an expression Lincoln treasured because it was such aJilllook.
“Well, you know what you want, don’t you? There’s no time to waste if she wants a baby,” Breanne said.
An incredulous huff rumbled out of Lincoln before he walked out the door despite the shouts following him, asking what he planned to do.
They’d find out—as soon as he found Amelia and figured it out for himself.
Chapter 15
The morning after the breakup, Amelia had arrived at work bleary-eyed and exhausted from her sleepless night to learn the movie had wrapped ahead of schedule when the powers that be decided in the middle of the night that they wanted to shoot the outdoor scenes in Charleston instead. The news came as a welcome surprise since it had given Amelia’s dragging behind a chance to go home and pack a bag and go to Izzy’s home in Carolina Cove to crash and cry from her breaking heart. Maybe by the time the production team returned to Wilmington, Amelia would have pulled herself together.
Her home had always been a sanctuary, but Lincoln’s presence in it as they’d realized their demise had left it feeling dark and unwelcoming. Hiding out at Izzy’s and ignoring Lincoln’s phone calls and texts had taken some doing.
Lincoln had called multiple times, texted several more, but she hadn’t responded, knowing there was no use in doing so. There was nothing left to say.
In fact, this was why she’d left town after their first breakup. Because she could barely breathe from the pain as it was, and she was sure if Lincoln tried, he could convince her to change her mind. Convince her that she didn’t need or desire a child as long as she had him.
But she did. She’d love nothing more than a baby boy or girl with Lincoln’s dark eyes and heart-stopping smile. She couldn’t be with him and not want his baby.
She also knew that with every passing moment and every cycle she wasted at this point, her chances to conceive grew even more unlikely.
“Turn or you’re gonna burn,” Izzy said, her voice muffled from where her face was lying atop her arms as she sunbathed on the sand.
Amelia left her beach chair and crawled the length of her towel to lie on her stomach, wondering how she’d allowed herself to become such a sad sack. She had to prepare herself. Get ready to be a mom. It wouldn’t be easy but she could do it and would do it happily.
“Look, I know it sucks and you’re hurt and angry but you still have one more fix-up with Marsali.”
“Bite your tongue. Use that matchup for yourself,” Amelia told her. “I certainly don’t want it.”
Izzy rose up onto her elbows and stared at Amelia, squinting against the sun until she found her sunglasses and propped them on her nose. When Izzy continued to stare, Amelia sighed. “What?”
“You’re still going to Atlanta, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I? It takes time to get through the exams and then the procedure itself. And that’s if it takes on the first try. There’s no reason to wait, and since I now have a few extra days, I’m going to make the most of them. Besides, you said you’d support me, remember? I went along with your plan and it didn’t work. Now it’s time for you to suck it up and encourage me.”
Izzy used one long finger to lower the glasses on her nose so Amelia could see her eyes.
“I support you. We can raise the kid together. It’ll likely have issues because we’re both a mess, but, hey, that’s what therapy is for, right?”
“You’re mean.”
“Just stating facts, doll. Tube-kid will have hang-ups, so you’ll need to be prepared. Therapy is a must. I mean, look at me. My only deficit is that I’m the baby of the family, but youknowhow I am with my sister issues. You’re fooling yourself if you don’t go ahead and open that savings account now.”
“All right, all right. I’ll start a therapy fund for when they need it. Satisfied?”
“Yes,” Izzy said with a grin and a shove of her glasses.
“But you have to stop calling my baby Tube-kid.”
“Cocktail baby?”
“Izzy!”
“Tubey?”
