Chapter 12
Lark
Present Day
Iwake up in the girls' room. It's big enough for ten people, so they convinced me to abandon mine last night.
My phone has been turned off, but charging all night, so I remove it from the charging dock, and I take it outside, onto the balcony.
It pains me that I've been away from home on such bad terms. While it's only been a few days, and I'm in one of the most romantic places on earth, I still want to go home.
I want to go home and have it be the way it was, before it was such a mess.
My sister probably has the police out on a missing person's case, looking for me.
I can't bring myself to talk to her. I can't bring myself to talk to Stone, either.
I have no idea what to say. Simply because I haven't made a decision yet.
As I dare myself to turn my phone on, I brace for impact. A couple of my clients have called me, and a couple of potential new ones that have seen my listings, and there are a dozen messages from my sister, ditto for Stone. But the one message that helps to ground me is the one from Lucy.
"Lark, I know you're hurting. I don't know why you're hurting, but what I can tell you is that if it's anything to do with Stone, you've got nothing to worry about.
I know that you two have been together. And I'm okay with that.
I don't know where you ever got the idea that it wouldn't be okay.
Actually, I think I do, but it doesn't matter now.
Your job is secure and Charles and I and the rest of the team just want to have you back, but take what time you need.
I'll take care of what I can with your clients from here. Call me if you need me."
Her voice is soft and serene, motherly.
Then I listen to Liv's, and while half of them are her in hysterics, the other half are her, professing her undying love for me.
Moving on to Stone's messages. While they're brief, they're poignant.
Most of them just say that he's thinking about me and he hopes that I'm okay.
Lucy is helping him close escrow on his house in my absence, but there's no rush.
Call whenever I feel like talking. He'll be there for me.
It doesn't matter what is bothering me. If only he knew.
I hear the balcony door open. As I turn around, I see Bowie, fully dressed. Her face is set and she approaches me almost delicately. "Izzy just spoke with Rush."
"Yeah? Did she tell him that she's pregnant?"
"No. Not yet. But she couldn't talk him out of flying out here to see her. He's painfully worried about her."
"I can imagine. Did they find out who was responsible for screwing up that meeting?"
"Not yet. They're tracing the license plate back to the owner, but the person is completely irrelevant. The boys have hired a private investigator to follow him around and see if he leads them to anyone."
"That's what I would have done."
She places her hand on mine. "Lark, how come you didn't tell us that you know Stone?"
My eyes go to the floor. "Shit."
She waits.
"I knew it would only be a matter of time before you found out."
"Are you hiding out here?"
I nod reluctantly. "You could say that."
"Why?"
My eyes fill with tears. I have no more fight in me. I haven't cried yet and my soul needs to so badly. I swallow and the tears fall. "Because I'm pregnant with his child."
God bless her. She pulls me close and places her hand on my head, so that it rests on her shoulder.
I cry real tears. Ugly tears. Tears from far off places that I haven't thought about or felt since Steve, since all that hurt stole any real feelings I could have for another man, or for a child.
I'm whimpering, wetting her shoulder, blubbering and snotting all over her shoulder, until I feel Izzy come and join us.
Izzy has no idea why I'm crying, but I guess, being pregnant and all, it's contagious.
"Why are you crying?" Bowie asks Izzy, fighting back her own tears, somewhat laughing.
"I don't know." Izzy blubbers. "But I'm pregnant, and I don't give a shit." She addresses me. "Why are you crying?"
"Because I'm fucking pregnant, too."
Izzy snuffles a laugh, as we continue blubbering.
I have never experienced such unbridled emotion from friends I've just met.
It gives me hope. It brings me comfort. It also makes me believe that whatever trials I'm going through, that if nobody else will, the women around me will support me.
I should already know this, on account of my dear twin sister, but the things that I thought, the way my brain has been rewired since the ugliness happened with Steve, led me there.
And now these girls are leading me back.
Back to a place where I'm safe, where I can make my own choices based on what's going to work for me, and no matter what, I will be accepted.
Bowie pulls back after both Izzy and I take cleansing breaths. "Well, girls, in light of all the chaos going on back home, my husband has asked for me to return to him, and your fiancé has, too." Bowie points at Izzy. "They're coming by jet, and they'll be here in a couple of hours."
Izzy is shocked. "Wait, Rush is coming? To Paris?"
"Yes. Jagger and Rush are on their way. They don't feel like we're safe flying home alone, since all this unknown trouble is among us. We can do this again once we figure out what's going on and the dust settles."
Izzy looks at me. "What about you? Do you want to come home with us?"
"No. I'm going to stay. I've still got some thinking to do."
Bowie's face is warm, motherly. "Are you sure? I feel awful leaving you here."
I nod. "No. It's best that I stay here for at least a couple more days. I have an open flight, so I can go home whenever I want."
"Are you going to keep the baby?" Izzy asks.
"I'm not sure."
"You should talk to Stone, sweetheart." Bowie says. "I don't know him well, but he's a Lawson, and they're all wonderful people."
Izzy is matter-of-fact and flippant. "I'm about to test that theory."
Bowie snorts a laugh. "We'll let you know how it works out." She hugs me quickly again. "Why don't you at least come down and wait with us. The jet should be here in a few hours."
"I can do that." I nod. "I'll just head back to my room and get changed and cleaned up. I'll meet you back here in an hour?"
"Bring your stuff here, Lark. We've got three fucking showers in this place."
We all laugh. "Okay. I'll do that." I don't want to leave these girls for a moment. They're wonderful, and I feel like they're going to be my new best friends for a while.
I help the girls pack their things, and I feel like Bowie is trying to distract us from thinking about what's really bothering us.
We talk about some movies we love to watch, books we enjoy reading, and our first boyfriends.
I'm sad when the concierge comes to pick up their things, letting them know that the jet will be here in five minutes.
It's time for them to go home. I'll miss them, but I feel like I've still got some work to do here, on my own.
"Come on. Come sit with us for a while. The airport is boring as hell. " Bowie states.
"Okay, let's go."
The limo takes us to the airport, and Bowie instructs the driver to be sure to bring me back to the hotel when they're picked up.
He nods as we head inside the building. We're led to the tarmac, where there are chairs inside a glassed-in vestibule, so that we can watch for when the jet arrives.
Ten minutes later, we watch it land. The airport staff pull the stairs over while I walk with the girls to the jet.
The sun is in my eyes, so I shield them, not wanting to watch as their loves exit the plane, having basically come to rescue them.
Not that I want to be rescued, but it's almost like a little fairytale that I'm not a part of.
"Oh, there's Jagger." Bowie says, waving.
I watch who I assume is Jagger, walk down the steps, and then two more men I don't recognize, and I want to walk away, feeling like I'm intruding, as Bowie walks to Jagger and hugs him.
I hear laughter in the distance, as I'm about to leave, but then I hear Bowie call to me.
When I look over to her, I see more faces coming off the plane. More unfamiliar faces.
And then I see one familiar one.
The lump is in my throat before I can stop it.
The tears are falling down my cheeks, and my feet are planted firmly on the tarmac, even though every cell in my body is telling me to run.
Run towards him.
But I can't.
Until he smiles.
The second I see his mouth twitch up into a smile, my feet move.
They don't stop until I'm in his arms.
He lifts my feet off the tarmac and holds me close. His grip is like an Anaconda around me. Everything I need to know is in that embrace. The tears are flowing down my cheeks when I hear him whisper. "I was so worried about you, Lark."
"Yeah?"
I feel him nod. "I love you, baby." He says softly.
"I love you, too."
I can't help the gasp. I cry in his ear as he holds me close, gently rocking me from side to side. "Stone, I'm having a baby."
He pulls back. His face registers grave concern and worry. "Is it mine?"
My eyes bulge in shock. "Of course it's yours."
He drops his head back, exhaling relief. "Thank God."
He pulls me close again. "Thank God."
"Did you know?"
"Of course I didn't know. Hell, I thought you were dying or something. And then I figured that's why you ran, because you were pregnant with someone else's kid. Fuck, what a relief, Lark." He snuffles a laugh. "You have no idea how relieved I am."
Until now, I didn't realize that the others have been eavesdropping. Izzy says to, well, basically the whole fucking airport. "I'm pregnant, too!"
Rush growls, eyes bulged, fist pumping the air. "Woohooo!"
I can't help but laugh, even though it's a tearful laugh.