Page 166 of Lavender Lake
She nodded. “You think I didn’t know? Of course I knew. Not drinking, not eating the cured meats while we were at the hot spring. And lying about having too much sugar as the reason you puked? Come on. Thin arguments. I saw right through them.”
“But—why didn’t you say anything?” I demanded.
“Why didn’t you?” she asked. “We’re twins. We tell each other everything.”
“I didn’t wantthisto happen. And bythis,I mean the drama that I always seem to cause. And I didn’t want it to happen at your wedding.”
Hadley’s lips quivered. “A little late for that, don’t you think?”
I let out a loose chuckle. “I made Cas promise not to say anything until after your wedding. I wanted this day to be all about you and Declan.”
“Oh, Salem.” She sighed and shook her head. “I wish you’d have told me. So then we could’ve had double the reason to celebrate.”
“You’re really not mad at me, are you?” I asked in confusion.
“Mad?” Her eyes brightened and her smile widened. “How the hell could I be mad? You’re moving home! We’re having babies together. They’re going to be best friends. This is all I’ve ever wanted.”
“Hadley,” I whispered, tears gathering in my eyes.
“But it’s not allyou’veever wanted,” she said, her tone gentling.
“Oh, so that’s what yesterday’s talk was really about?”
She nodded. “I was hoping you were going to admit it to me then . . . that you were pregnant. But nothing I seemed to do would get you to spill the beans.”
I narrowed my gaze at her. “You did the rare steak thing on purpose, didn’t you?”
She bit her lip to stifle a grin. “I can be evil, too, if I’m trying to get you to admit something.”
I laughed again, but then sobered. “For what it’s worth, I decided to stay before I even found out I was pregnant.”
“You did?”
I nodded. “It’s what I wanted.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure. The baby just . . .” I put my hand to my belly. “Was just the icing on the cake. Can you imagine me bunking with Poet and Wyn in a shared apartment? With one bathroom and a screaming newborn?”
“Well, you’d have built-in help. Wyn being a nanny and all. But then, what about Bowman? Would he go with you to New York? How could he, really? So, what’s happening with all that? He said he loved you. In front of God and guests,” she quipped.
“Yeah, that was a pretty public declaration, wasn’t it?” I shook my head in surprise. “We’re together, Hadley. And we’re going to be a family.”
She was quiet for a moment, and then asked, “What does that mean for his career? And yours?”
“I’m not sure about what he plans to do,” I said with a frown. “We haven’t talked about it, actually. As for my career, I don’t really have one. I mean, I had the start of one. But I wasn’t established. Not yet.”
“But you love your job,” she said. “How can you give up that potential?”
I smiled and shook my head.
“What?”
“You of all people are asking about a job over a family?”
“I’m me and you’re you,” she said. “Life here is simple. You never wanted a simple life.”
“Meaningful,” I said quietly. “And if, at some point, I want something more, then I’ll start my own firm. I have the contacts. And my future husband is a legendary rodeo star. You don’t think he has connections too?”
