Chapter 37
THIRTY-SEVEN
“Oh, my God, this is perfect!” Tally squeals, holding my forearms and hopping up and down.
“Hey, take it easy. The poor baby feels like it’s in a washing machine right now.” I try to calm her down, and she stops hopping, but the excitement in her eyes does not waver.
“Was it good? Oh, I bet he kisses amazingly.” She gets a dreamy look in her eyes, and I chuckle.
“Do you want Hunter?” I tease, and she slaps me on the forearm. “Hey!”
“No, I have the best man and husband out there, thank you very much. But I live through you vicariously and unashamedly.” She giggles, letting go of me and leaning against the wall next to the kitchen. “How was it?”
My cheeks warm, and I start to rip the napkin I was just folding into little pieces. “Good, it was more than good,” I whisper.
Tally jumps, squealing, and Shannon comes rushing over, chiding me, “Stop agitating her. I don’t want her to give birth to that baby on the restaurant floor.”
I nod discreetly at Shannon and take Tally’s hand. “Why don’t we take a seat for this conversation?” I suggest, pulling her over to one of the tables.
“Good idea.” When we sit, she quickly presses, “Now tell me all the details.”
I laugh, shaking my head. “I already told you everything. We played hide and seek. I hid, he sought, we kissed. It was amazing. Lio interrupted. That’s all there is to tell.”
“What happened after?” She tilts her head, searching my face.
Well, I’m not proud of that part.
“I fled.” I cringe, biting my bottom lip.
“I hid in my room with the door closed, and I went to the shipyard super early today before anyone was awake. But hey, at least I finally managed to fix the electricity from that damn boat, and it is back in the water. But they just brought a new one back in with problems, so I’m not done in the least and—”
“Sloan…” Tally interrupts me in a low tone.
“What?” I ask, honestly perplexed.
Why is she glaring at me?
“I don’t give a fuck about those boats. I want to know what you’re going to do about the Jones brothers. You slept with one twice, but that one is done with you, and the other one kissed you, and it sounds like he’s very much just starting. What’s the plan?”
Oh, right, I haven’t updated her.
I stifle a laugh and can’t help but cringe as I explain, “Well, I forgot to tell you, Nash isn’t done.”
Tally’s eyebrows nearly come up to her hairline, “He isn’t?” she whispers in awe. “Oh, this is so damn good, better than any soap opera.”
“Glad my life is entertaining for you,” I mutter, shooting her a look.
“It really is. Now hush and tell me everything. Why do you think he isn’t done?”
I think back to that awkward conversation and cringe inwardly.
“He told me he was more than open for us to be friends with benefits,” I recount, but before the last word has even left my mouth, Tally brings her hand down on the table, the clap making me jump.
She points a finger at me. “My bestie is not going to give out boyfriend benefits to a guy who doesn’t want to be in a relationship. You’re way too amazing for that, and let’s be honest, you have options. Good ones.”
I chuckle at her antics. “I told him he has enough friends to get his benefits from.”
“That’s my girl!” she praises, grinning at me wholeheartedly. “Listen, Nash isn’t a bad guy. He’s funny, kind, and responsible. But he has a lot of growing up to do before he deserves you. And Hunter, he’s such an amazing guy. We would have to find out if you deserve him.”
“Didn’t you just tell me that I’m amazing too?” I cock an eyebrow at her.
“True, but Hunter stepped in for Lio when North and I were too devastated to do just that, even though he lost his best friend too.” I frown, not following what she’s talking about, prompting her to continue, “Jessica, Lio’s mom, North’s wife, was mine and Hunter’s best friend.
Add in North, Tim, Saylor, and Nash, and it was the crew that hung out all the time.
When Hunter and the guys had that… accident, she was there for him, getting him out of the dark place he was left in.
She wanted to do the same for North, but while North chose to take over the CEO position from his dad and drown himself in work…
” her voice drips with disapproval, each word laced with unspoken criticism for North’s actions, “… Hunter was left struggling big time with losing his leg. I don’t think he would still be here, let alone able to walk, if she hadn’t helped him. ”
I never thought it would have been easy for them after what happened, but hearing it like that, how they struggled, it hurts.
This is all so unfair.
“She sounds amazing,” I tell Tally, thinking about the blonde beauty I saw in the picture.
“She was.” Tally’s eyes brim with tears when she gives me a sad smile.
“She was the best and the most selfless person, always there for everybody. But she struggled more than any of us could have guessed because she never showed it. She was always the happy one, the sunshine with no worries. The optimist.” Tally’s voice cracks as she looks out the window, taking a deep breath before continuing.
“She took her life only a few weeks after Lio was born.”
A lump lodges in my throat, and I have to swallow hard. I already guessed she committed suicide, given her sliced open forearms, but hearing she did so quickly after giving birth makes my stomach drop.
She must have been desperate.
“North became a robot. He couldn’t even look at the baby at first. He got a nanny for him, then he went to live and sleep in his office, not leaving it for anything.
I wasn’t handling it much better. I wanted to step in, to take Lio, but I had so much grief and hurt and anger inside me that I couldn’t.
I’m not proud of myself for how I acted.
But it was hard for all of us.” I nod, knowing more than enough about how grief can change people.
“I know it sounds bad, but I think losing Jessica destroyed and, at the same time, rescued Hunter. He would be just as bad as North now if he hadn’t taken responsibility for Lio.
Lio gave him a reason to fight and keep going. ”
Jessica did so much for them, and now she’s stuck, and after all I saw, she’s suffering.
It sounds like she very much deserves some help.
Needing to know more about Jessica so I can help, I ask, “Do you know what—” But the first customers come through the door, prompting Tally to get up.
“Can you seat them, please?”
The evening rush isn’t busy enough to keep my mind distracted, and a couple of hours later, my head is still spinning with what Tally told me. Since chatting at work never seems to work out, maybe I can interrogate her more about Jessica when we’re working on the house.
So when there is a lull, I go over to her and ask, “What are you doing this weekend? Can I help out with the renovation again?”
“No, Tim and I are driving over to Calais to get some stuff for the baby shower in two weeks,” she shares, smiling and stroking her belly.
Huh, I don’t know anything about a baby shower.
Why does that thought hurt?
“Oh, okay, sure. That sounds great,” I mutter, trying to keep my tone neutral.
“I would ask you to come, but Tim wants it to be a little romantic getaway before the baby comes. Maybe we’ll find some sales of cribs and baby stuff over there. There is so much still needed, and ugh. I tell you, babies are expensive.”
I look at her with pity. “I’m sorry, I can’t buy you anything for it, but I can offer my hands helping with the house.”
“Oh, I’ll need your hands to help with the party. All the balloons and stuff. I’m not going to blow up a hundred of them. I’m already panting on the way to the toilet.”
“I’m helping?” I ask, furrowing my brows.
“Of course you are,” she says, rolling her eyes like it’s obvious.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know I was invited until a few seconds ago,” I tease, but my heart feels lighter.
She wants me there.
“You aren’t, dummy. You’re hosting that shit with me. I can’t do that alone.”
I chuckle. “What about Tim? I think it would be his baby shower too.”
She rolls her eyes. “Men are useless for things like this. He would put a six-pack of beer and a bowl of chips on the table and tell everyone to help themselves.”
“Well, fuck, that’s what I wanted to do,” I joke, trying to hide my grin. She scowls with such intensity it only makes me laugh.
In the midst of the laughter, in the warm haze of feeling wanted and having found a true friend in Tally, I almost miss it—how Shannon’s eyes are on me, how she’s lingering just at the edge of my vision.
Her presence is a silent reminder of my secret, a secret that could shatter this fragile sense of belonging.
My smile falters for a moment, wondering, would Tally still want me so close if she knew?