Chapter 29
AVERY
The noontime sun slants warm across my shoulders as I push through the door at GC, one of my favorite restaurants in the city.
It’s been two days since Nick and I returned home from Key Largo, since we spoke our private vows on the deck of the Icarus and he slipped a simple, perfect gold band onto my finger in the most romantic wedding I ever could have imagined.
My thumb finds the bare space on my left hand before I'm fully aware I'm doing it.
The habit has become reflexive, this seeking motion.
Both of our rings are waiting at home now.
Nested in velvet beside the exquisite pearl-and-diamond necklace Nick fastened around my throat as a symbol of who we had become, together.
As much as I want to wear my wedding band, we’ve decided to hold that secret between us for now. The wedding aboard the Icarus doesn’t belong to anyone else. The rest of the world will have to wait.
The GC hostess recognizes me, greeting me with a smile and a small nod. “Ms. Ross, welcome. The rest of your party is already here. Right this way.”
She leads me toward the bustling dining room of the popular restaurant where my friends are waiting.
As I follow her through the lunch crowd, a pleasant tenderness between my thighs flares with each step.
Memories of Nick flood my senses. Making love with him on the boat all night after we said our vows, and again in our beachfront cottage after we returned to shore in the morning.
My husband.
Although I know I don’t look any different, everything feels changed now that I’m legally Avery Baine. He gave me his name and his ring and his child. My heart is so full, it’s a wonder I’m not floating several inches off the ground.
Movement to the left of me in the dining room catches my peripheral vision.
An attractive young woman heading for the door, familiar stride, and a tall, handsome man beside her whose hand hovers at her back.
Kelsey. Her cheeks carry color I've never seen on her before, her smile easy and warm as she looks at her companion.
She spots me and hesitates, recognition flashing in her sharp eyes. Her face registers a momentary look of surprise, as if I’ve caught her at something. Did she know I’d be here today? Did Gabe send her? I glance around for other signs of covert security details, but I don’t see anyone.
Kelsey approaches with a smile. "Avery, hi. I didn’t realize you and Nick were back in the city."
"We got back a couple of days ago." I keep my voice light, but I'm noticing the way her body leans almost imperceptibly toward the man beside her, the way her fingers keep finding reasons to brush his sleeve. “Gabe didn’t mention it?”
"No, he didn’t, but I have the day off." She glances up at her companion. Her date, I realize. "Sorry. This is Jake Noble—Gabe's brother. Jake, this is Avery Ross."
He extends his hand. Dark hair, easy grin, the same strong jaw as Gabe but held just a fraction looser, less rigid discipline than his brother. "Pleasure. Gabe's got nothing but good things to say about you, Ms. Ross."
"Avery." I shake his hand, then catch Kelsey's eye with a look that says we'll talk later. "Well, don't let me keep you."
They head out, and I watch Jake's palm finally settle fully against Kelsey's back as he holds the door. I exhale, feeling a sense of relief… and satisfaction. Kelsey wasn’t here because of me. She's just here living her own life, blushing at a man who can't stop finding excuses to touch her.
Nick honored my request. The security detail is scaled back, just like I asked.
I turn toward the back of the restaurant, and there they are. The group of women who have become my dearest friends.
The light through the tall windows catches them like a composition I'd want to paint—Tasha's caramel curls haloing her head like a golden crown, Eve's beautiful face tilted toward Kat's open-mouthed laugh, Lita's bright blue hair shocking against the warm neutrals of the room like a deliberate act of rebellion.
The four women are arranged around a corner table, menus ignored, hands moving through air as they talk over each other like lifelong friends. The fact that I brought them all together is deeply gratifying. My dearest friends have become friends with each other too.
Tasha sees me first. Her whole face changes, lights up. She gives me that warm smile I've known since my first week at Vendange, when she caught me crying in the supply closet over rent I couldn't make and sneaked me a shot of whiskey and a tissue without asking a single question.
"Finally!" She's already pushing back her chair. "I was about to send Lita out to drag you in."
"Please." Lita doesn't stand, but her grin cuts sharp and warm. "I don't drag anyone anywhere. I aggressively encourage."
Then I'm being pulled into Tasha's arms, while over her shoulder I catch Eve already reaching across the table to squeeze my hand the moment I'm released. Kat's smile is broad and welcoming. Lita kicks out the empty chair beside her.
"Sit. You look disgustingly relaxed and sun-kissed. I hate you a little."
I ease into the chair, surrounded by women who've held me through every version of myself I've been since coming to New York. Tasha, who’s been my confidante since the moment I stepped foot in this city.
Lita, who agreed to let me share her cramped studio and called my bullshit out every time I tried to pretend I wasn't falling apart over Nick.
Eve and Kat, newer friends, but no less woven into the fabric of my life now.
This is my family. Not blood. Something stronger. Something chosen.
"So, Key Largo." Eve leans forward, her stunning engagement ring from Gabe catching light. "Tell us everything. How was the resort? Did you sail? Is Nick as obsessive about boat maintenance as Gabe says?"
"Worse." I smile, reaching for the water glass already sweating in front of my place, the condensation cool against my palm.
"Key Largo was great. The resort is incredible. I met a bunch of the instructors, and watching the kids learn to sail and have fun was really special. For Nick and me both. We capped off our trip with a perfect day—and night—of sailing on Nick’s boat. "
“Sounds romantic as fuck," Lita quips. But she's watching me with something sharper beneath the light sarcasm.
That same attention she'd turn on a canvas that wasn't working, trying to identify what was off.
"You've got a gorgeous tan, obviously. But there's something else about you too. You look..."
"Relaxed?" I offer.
"Fucked to within an inch of your life, is what I was going to say." She grins when Kat chokes on her water. "What? Look at her. That's not just sunshine. That's the result of a man who knows what he's doing."
Heat crawls up my throat, but she's not wrong. Three days of Nick's hands and mouth and body, the things he whispered against my skin, the way he watched me come apart for him over and over like he'd never get tired of seeing it… and all the other reasons I have to be glowing.
"Lita, you’re just jealous," Tasha admonishes with a smile.
“Damn straight.” Lita heaves a dramatic sigh. “I really need to get laid.”
We all laugh, but I feel Tasha’s eyes on me, steady and knowing. The mom radar, she calls it. The ability she swears developed after Zoe was born and made it impossible for anyone to hide anything from her.
She's already piecing the truth together. I can see it happening as she watches me—the slight narrowing of her gaze, the way her head tilts almost imperceptibly.
The server appears at my elbow. Young, professional, a bottle of something expensive-looking in his hands. "Your wine, ladies. The Sancerre you requested."
Glasses materialize. The wine pours in a clear gold stream, filling each glass in turn. I watch the server make his way around the table—first Tasha's glass, then Eve's, Kat's, Lita's.
Then he arrives at mine. I can smell the wine’s bright fragrance from the other filled glasses, slightly mineral, the faintest whisper of citrus. He glances at me briefly, then starts to lift the bottle over my glass.
I shake my head. My hand shoots out almost on reflex to cover my glass.
"Actually." My voice comes out steadier than I feel. "I'll have sparkling water instead, please."
Silence falls around us.
The moment stretches. My pulse beats against the base of my throat. I'm aware of Tasha's gaze still fixed on me, watchful and patient. Now everyone else at the table is looking at me too.
The server blinks, nods. “Of course. I’ll be right back with that.”
Tasha sets down her wine very slowly. Places both palms flat on the table. Looks at me with an expression that says she already knows, has known since I walked in the door.
"Avery." Her voice is barely a whisper. "Are you—"
"Seven weeks." I nod, fighting back the sudden surge of emotion that’s climbed into my throat. "Almost seven weeks."
For one heartbeat, nothing moves.
Then Tasha's out of her chair and I'm being pulled into her arms again, tighter this time, her face pressed against my hair, and she's laughing or crying or both.
I can feel the shudder of it moving through her shoulders, through my own chest, something releasing between us that I didn't know I was holding.
"I knew it." Her voice breaks against my temple. "I knew it the second you walked in. The way you were carrying yourself. The way you’re glowing like a neon sign.” She pulls back, hands on my shoulders, her face wet and radiant. "I’m so happy for you!"
"Holy shit." Lita's voice cuts through, and when I turn she's staring at me with something unguarded beneath her usual sharp armor. "Dominic fucking Baine knocked you up?"
"That he did." I can’t hide my smile, and Lita's big laugh breaks the tension just enough for me to breathe.
"Oh my God." Eve has both hands pressed to her mouth, tears already tracking down her cheeks. "A baby. You and Nick are having a baby."