Page 14 of Caught in Us
“Fuck.” Jill takes the offered soda, popping the tab and sinking back onto the couch. “I don’t even know. Maybe we should cancel it all and just go to the justice of the peace?”
“Absolutely not,” Callie says, barging in the front door. “You’re not a quitter.”
“You got here fast.” Jill sits up and I pull out one of the kitchen barstools to wait for my updated binder. Knowing these two, it’ll be ready in less than an hour.
“I had Ash drop me off.” Callie bugs her eyes. “I know we should jump right into operation re-plan the wedding, but what the hell? Jill!” Callie squeals, bouncing onto the couch opposite her friend. “Alicia had a baby!”
“A secret baby!”
My ears perk up. Interest and unease swirl in my gut.
“Did you know?” Callie asks her.
“No! Did you?”
“Are you kidding me? I am horrible at secrets! If I had known, I would have been on the first flight to see her.”
Jill eases back in her seat, a sigh leaving her lips. “Do you think this is why she stopped answering our calls?”
“The timing is right.” Callie shrugs. “Maybe that’s why her family stopped inviting us to their big parties. Maybe they had some kind of falling out or whatever.”
“Could be.” Jill bites at her lip. “Fuck. I can’t believe she has a child. Our Alicia. A mom.”
“She looked good, though. Right?” Callie presses her hands together, her face full of concern. “I can’t imagine having a baby in another country and not telling my friends.”
“Yeah. I guess.”
“You’re hurt.”
“Of course I am. I don’t understand. Why didn’t she say anything? Why would she ghost us? She had to know we would be supportive. There’s more to all of this. There has to be. But fuck. I don’t get it. I wish I could ask her, but today it felt weird. You know?”
Callie nods. “We need to talk to her.”
“Chase!”
“Yeah.” I act as if I haven’t been listening in on their entire conversation. “What’s up?”
“You’re meeting up with Alicia tomorrow, right?” Jill confirms.
“You did pair us up.” I try for casual, but I wonder if they can hear the anticipation in my words. It hurt when Alicia left town, but I dealt with that pain. Only today I realized I’m not as over her as I thought. Maybe it’s because she showed up with a kid. Maybe it’s the other dude. But deep down I know neither of those reasons are true. If she’d walked into that room solo, my insides would still be a total mess, because it’s her. She has that power over me. She always did and maybe she always will.
“Yeah, I did.” Jill leans forward, digging through a box to find one of the wedding binders and flip it open. “When are you meeting up?”
“I’m picking her up at ten.”
“Good. Do a little recon.”
I stare, brow raised. “On?”
“The past three fucking years!”
Already fucking on it.But I’m not going to play spy for Jill and Callie. Any info I find on Alicia is for myself. “Don’t you think you should ask her yourself?”
“Yeah, well, I’m a bride with no venue, her entire wedding plan torched, and a former best friend who had some secret love child I never knew about. You’ll excuse my lack of time and rational behavior.”
“Just ask her to lunch. I don’t want to be in the middle of this.” But I’m worried I already am. If Alicia’s son is mine? Fuck! I can’t allow myself to hope—or think it’s true. There’s no way she would have left pregnant with my child and never told me—right? Only, if she was worried about my sobriety, that’s exactly what she would have done. She’d have done anything to keep her child away from addiction.
“Chase?” Jill waves her hand in the air. “Hello?”
