Chapter 33
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
BILLIE
Coach Morgan’s face set above a stone fireplace was not what I expected to see when I pushed through the door of the Italian restaurant that Darcy had booked for lunch.
As soon as she sets eyes on me, she’s out of her seat and racing to help me through the door with Blake’s stroller.
After a quick hug, I tip my chin at the photograph. “Is that your stepdad?”
She rolls her eyes, hands propped on her hips. “Ridiculous, isn’t it?”
Reaching into Blake’s stroller, I pull back her blanket so that she doesn’t overheat now that we’re in the warm. “But why is it there?”
“He owns the joint,” Kate confirms, approaching me from behind. “He and Zach Evans—his former Seattle teammate—decided to go into business, owning a chain of Italian restaurants. They’re about to close on a second restaurant in Seattle, which will take their total to three.”
I cast my eyes around the place. With a wine-red finish and brass accents, it’s luxurious, but it still embodies a homey feeling that you would find in your grandmother’s living room. “Why the name Luigi’s?”
“Long story …” Kate exhales, bending down to greet Blake.
For the most part, this woman is your classic stony-faced lawyer, but give her a cute kid, and she melts into a pile of goo.
“When we used to live in Seattle and JJ still played for the Scorpions, the guys used to hit up this Italian place called Luigi’s.
” She stands up straight and turns to me.
“Anyway, when the owner, Luigi, finally retired and was looking to sell, Jon couldn’t let the place go.
That’s where his restaurant journey began.
After years of relentless persuasion, Jon managed to get Zach to invest, and that’s when they bought this place. ”
“Oh,” I simply say, trying to take in my surroundings.
“And now my husband thinks he’s Chef Ramsay and is making the business duo a trio,” Kate adds.
Darcy flicks her long blonde hair, eyeing Kate carefully. “So, the other day, after he returned from morning skate, Archer dropped a bomb on me—it was a pleasant one, but a bomb nonetheless.”
Kate looks intrigued, and while I’m still trying to wrap my head around this wild new world, where people have stacks of cash to chase whatever dreams they want, Darcy continues with her story.
“Archer bought Jon’s old apartment in Seattle.”
“The one he lived in when he played for the Scorpions?” Kate questions.
Darcy nods, twisting her lips in thought.
“It was a really sweet thing to do because he knew how sentimental I get over things. I hated Seattle when I lived there as a teenager, but that was only because I missed my shitty ex and wanted to head back to the UK. Jon meeting Mum was the start of everything changing in our lives when you think about it.” She wraps her arms around her middle, eyes flicking to Jon’s ridiculous photograph.
“He might be a cocky bastard, but he’s the glue that sticks everyone together, and I don’t think I could ever imagine my life without him—or a part of Seattle—in it. ”
Kate taps Darcy on the shoulder. “You’re thinking that Archer is going to go in on the business too, aren’t you?”
After the sentimental speech she just gave, laughter bubbles from Darcy’s chest. “If I know my hubby, then yes. He’s going through a midlife crisis early, and he keeps rattling on about how he’ll be bereft when his pro career is over.”
As we move through to another room, Kendra and Esme, Collins, Jenna, Felicity, and two other women with children a similar age to Kate and Jensen’s kids, June and Will, who are also here, are all sitting around a huge table.
Darcy clears her throat, and the room falls silent.
“Now, I know that most of you have already met our amazing new friend and her beautiful baby girl.” Her eyes fix on the redhead first. “Billie, this is Luna Evans, Zach Evans’ wife.
” Luna waves a hand at me and smiles warmly.
“And this is Mia Callaghan, Jessie Callaghan’s wife.
” Mia offers a similar smile to Luna as Darcy claps her hands excitedly. “Guys, meet Billie and Blake.”
“Can we see the baby?” The little girl sitting next to Mia points at Blake’s stroller.
Mia sets a kiss atop her head, smiling into her hair long dark hair. “Perhaps Blake is sleeping, Drew.”
Jumping up from his seat at the head of the table, Will wastes no time as he sticks his head inside Blake’s stroller. “She’s awake, Drew.” He scrunches up his nose as he looks at me. “Although I think she might’ve pooped.”
“Nah, that’s me. I just farted.” Another boy I’d pin as a similar age to Will and June appears from behind me. He’s the spitting image of Luna with a mass of red hair to match.
Will looks disgusted at him. I thought all kids found bowel movements hilarious.
“You have zero class, Aster,” he scolds.
Kate watches her son rejoin his sister at the table, picking up his soda and taking a pull. “Excuse my son,” she breathes. “The older he gets, the more he’s turning into my husband. Who knew a seven-year-old could be the snob of the century?”
I snort a laugh and lift Blake out of her stroller, briefly checking to make sure she hasn’t, in fact, pooped.
“Okay.” Darcy claps her hands, bouncing excitedly on her feet. “Now that we’re all here, I guess we can eat.” She motions to an empty chair between Kate and her mom. “I put you between the two fearsome lawyers, if that’s okay?”
Being invited to spend time with this great group of women was both nerve-racking and delightful, although it’s only sadness I feel as I nod my head and take a seat with Blake.
I haven’t had any interactions with Felicity Morgan before now, but she looks at me and then Blake like she can read minds.
“Darcy tells me that you were in your third year of college before you came back to Brooklyn.” Her wide smile and British accent have my daughter enraptured.
At the mention of college, thoughts of Clara pop into my head.
It’s been weeks since we last spoke, and while I’ve always considered her to be my closest friend, it’s clear that our wildly different lives are pulling us apart.
It feels like every friendship I’ve ever made doesn’t last, and I’m tired of making temporary connections.
I gaze around the room and pray that the women in here will end that disheartening cycle.
“I was,” I reply quietly, separate conversations going on around us. “Until I dropped out of college when Blake’s dad decided he couldn’t cope with the responsibility of being a father.”
There’s nothing but understanding in Felicity’s emerald eyes. “I had Darcy and Jack when I was still in college. My dream was to be a lawyer at the time.”
Joining the conversation, Kate reaches around me, squeezing her friend’s shoulder in a comforting gesture. “And here we both are—in our forties and about to start up our own law practice.”
My head darts between them both. “Seriously? That’s incredible.”
Felicity smiles warmly at her new business partner. “I never thought that I’d make it as a lawyer, never mind own a practice with my best friend. One more week, and we’ll be opening our doors to clients.”
Kate couldn’t look any prouder. “We’re about to show our husbands what running a business really looks like.” Leaning forward, she snags a breadstick from a pot in the center of the table. “Give it a few years, and we’ll be opening offices all over the country.”
When Blake starts mouthing, I quickly reach into her diaper bag set by my feet, pulling out a bottle and popping the cap.
She immediately begins feeding, and all I can think about is Emmett—half naked in my kitchen with my milk-drunk daughter in his arms.
“Which area of law were you hoping to specialize in, Billie?” Kate asks, loving eyes dropping to my daughter.
My sadness remerges, but it’s quickly strangled by a growing sense of mom guilt for feeling anything other than grateful to have Blake. “Being a defense attorney was the dream.”
“Is the dream.” Felicity nudges my shoulder with hers. “Dreams never disappear, not unless you decide that you want something else.” She picks up a bottle of Pinot and offers to fill my glass.
“Sure,” I reply, more memories of Emmett and my twenty-first birthday resurfacing, along with lavender bath salts and fluffy socks.
“Maybe, one day, the dream will happen,” I ruminate, taking a small sip and setting the glass back down on the table. “Right now, my priorities lie in getting back on my feet financially and raising Blake.”
Kate dips her head down, lowered voice to go with her secretive persona. “What’s the latest with the boy?”
It’s like whenever anyone mentions him, an automatic grin spreads across my face, no matter what mood I’m in. “He’s … doing well,” I reply, wondering how Kate knows about Emmett.
She lifts a single brow. “If you thought I hadn’t noticed the way he was looking at you after the Scorpions game, then you can’t think that I’m a very good lawyer. Boy has it bad.”
Like we’re a trio of witches, Felicity ducks her head too. “And who is this boy you speak of?”
Kate’s eyes flick to Felicity, and I give her a small nod to go ahead and tell her who he is. Half of the people around this table know what’s going on anyway, and I don’t think there’s a woman sitting here who wouldn’t take it to her grave.
It feels like that kind of friendship group.
Kate’s expression is full of excitement. “Billie and Emmett Richards have a little something between them.”
Felicity’s jaw hangs open. “He just got a divorce from Maria, right?”
Switching Blake from one arm to the next, I speak through my teeth. “And Maria is also my mom’s best friend.” I look between them both. “And my dad is Emmett’s.”
Kate sits back in her seat, and Felicity gasps.
“That’s … quite the secret to keep,” she declares, offering me a reassuring smile that it’s exactly what she’ll do. “Is it serious?”