Chapter Seven #2
“Oh, my sweet girl.” Annette rose from the armchair at the end of the coffee table and perched on the sofa next to Riley.
“I think you know the answer to that. I loved my son absolutely. And I have no doubt that if we hadn’t lost him, you would still be his beloved wife.
I might have more grandchildren by now. Who knows how it all might have played out?
But Trevor Junior is no longer with us. And as you have been helping me to understand, we must learn to live in the world as it is now.
We have to find new ways to be happy, to accept love into our lives… ”
Riley’s throat ached suddenly. Her vision blurred with tears. “Oh, Annette…”
“Hey. Hey, now…” Her mother-in-law eased an arm around her. “Don’t you cry, sweetheart…”
“I’m not—or not much, anyway.” With a sniffle, Riley let her head drop to Annette’s shoulder. They were quiet together there on the sofa in front of the fire. Finally, Riley said in a near-whisper, “I loved TJ so much. And I’m not going to get married again. I’m just not.”
“All right. I don’t agree with your decision, but I do understand. You will do what you think best, and I will support you.”
Riley tipped her head back to meet Annette’s misty eyes. “You sure about that?”
“Absolutely. Why do you even have to ask?”
“Annette, please. We both know you always do what you think is best.”
“True. But from now on, I promise that if I’m going to butt in, I will give you a heads-up first.”
“Oh great,” Riley muttered. “You’re still going to butt in, but now you’re going to warn me first.”
“Exactly.” Annette’s smile was sweetness personified.
* * *
Over the next several days, Josh made no effort to work things out with Riley. But because their sons were best friends, she did see him several times.
Josh had Shane with him that week. And Shane and Dillon were always pushing for playdates.
So Riley dropped Dillon off at Josh’s place.
And he took Shane to hers. He always greeted her with a nod and a cool smile.
They shared clipped conversations about who would pick up which boy when—and then they went their separate ways.
She thought about him constantly and longed to break the silence between them. But she restrained herself.
The distance between them made her miserable. She wondered how he was doing, if he missed her even half as much as she missed him.
But she also felt that Macy had been right. Josh had asked for space, and it was Riley’s job now to respect his wishes. She would not try to talk to him until he reached out to her.
But he didn’t reach out. As the last few days of April crawled by, she could barely curb her yearning to get on with it, to take the initiative and try to smooth things over.
Shane was with Lenore that week. Riley tried to think positive about that. At least now, when the boys got together, she didn’t have to see Josh, didn’t have to resist the overwhelming need to beg him to talk to her, to please be her friend again.
Instead, she saw Lenore.
Which was fine. She and Lenore got along well enough. No, they’d never been good buddies. Not back seven years ago when Lenore had moved to town from Missoula and started dating Josh—and not any time since. They played it cordial and friendly with each other, and that worked out pretty well.
On Tuesday morning, Lenore called and asked if she could pick up Dillon at daycare when she went to get Shane. “The two of them can have a couple of hours together here at my place,” she said.
Riley agreed. “I’ll notify Bright Beginnings that he’s going home with you, and then I’ll be at your house to pick him up at five.”
“Perfect. Thank you.”
They said goodbye.
Several hours later, when Riley knocked on Lenore’s door, Shane’s mom answered with a big smile. “The boys are out in the backyard. Come on in, I’ll get Dillon for you…” Right then, Lenore’s gaze shifted downward. When she jerked her eyes up again, she gulped.
Riley pretended she hadn’t noticed Lenore’s stunned reaction. Yeah, okay. With this second baby, Riley’s bump had appeared sooner. The last couple of weeks it was getting close to impossible to hide.
But now didn’t really seem like the moment to tell Josh’s former wife that she was having his baby. So she said nothing. Because, come on. Shouldn’t Josh be the one to explain the situation to his ex?
“I’ll just wait here,” Riley said, blasting a fake smile to rival Lenore’s.
“Uh, sure. One minute, then.” Lenore left the door open and headed toward the back of the house.
Riley stood there fuming. Because now she was furious—at Josh. Okay, yeah. He’d needed space. But eleven days of space? This was getting ridiculous. She and Josh had to talk. Not next week or the week after.
Now.
“Mom!” Dillon came at her, red-cheeked and grinning with Shane right behind him. “We were playing T-ball. You have to see me. I can really hit that ball!”
“Next time,” she promised. “You have all your things?”
He was dragging his pack. “Right here.”
“What do you say?”
He turned to Lenore. “Thank you, Lenore. I had bunches of fun and the Hot Pockets were great!”
“You are so welcome.” Lenore ruffled his hair and then aimed another fake smile at Riley. “He’s always a delight.”
“Thank you for having him. See you soon.”
“You, too!” Lenore sang out with way more enthusiasm than necessary.
Riley hustled Dillon down the walk and helped him into his booster seat. He chattered away through the brief ride home. She’d calmed down a little by the time they got there. Because, hey. People were going to know. It was a simple fact. And if Josh didn’t want to talk to her, fine.
She wasn’t all that happy with him either right now.
Two days later Josh still hadn’t gotten in touch, and Riley decided she needed to hold up her end with Lenore and invite Shane over for a playdate.
Things were quiet at the Statesman, so she told Annette she was leaving early and then called Lenore to invite Shane over for a couple of hours that afternoon.
Lenore seemed pleased. “That would be great. I’ll call Bright Beginnings to let them know you’ll bring Shane home with you. And then I’ll pick him up at your place—five as usual?”
“Works for me,” Riley replied. She hung up feeling better about everything. Clearly, she’d overreacted to that moment when Lenore had seemed to notice her baby bump.
* * *
At three that afternoon, Josh had just pulled his truck to a stop next to the office trailer at Bravo Construction when Lenore called with another of her never-ending emergencies.
“The toilet in the hall bathroom is stopped up, Josh. Would you please come over now and take a look at it?”
He glanced at Roger in the passenger seat. The dog let out a whine as though in sympathy for Josh’s issues with his ex. “I’m at work, Lenore. Call a plumber.” He hung up.
But he only got to feel good about shutting her down for a minute and a half before she called again. He considered not answering, but then he gave in and picked up. “What now?”
“So you’re just going to let your son walk around in filthy toilet water?”
What did that even mean? “You didn’t say the toilet had overflowed.”
“Why do you have to be such a jerk to me, Josh?”
“Lenore. Has the toilet overflowed?”
“What do you care?”
He gave in. “I’ll be over in ten minutes.” And then he just couldn’t leave it at that. “But only to pick up Shane. I’ll bring him back to your place as soon as you’ve dealt with the problem.”
“Fine.” And she ended the call.
When he got to Lenore’s, he pulled in behind the plumber’s van that was already parked at the end of the front walk. Lenore must have heard him drive up because the door opened, and she marched out onto the porch. Folding her arms across her chest, she glowered at him.
He told Roger to stay, jumped from the truck and marched up the front walk. “Terrific. You’ve hired a professional.”
“Of course I did.”
“I see they came right over.”
“Yes, they did. And I’m glad for that because it’s obvious I can’t depend on you.”
They glared at each other as he silently counted to ten. Once he could speak without shouting at her, he said, “I’ll take Shane with me now. Just call me when the problem is solved.”
“Shane isn’t here.”
After two slow, calming breaths, he asked, “What is going on, Lenore?”
“He’s at your friend Riley’s house for a playdate.” She spoke softly and furiously. “And I do need to talk to you.”
“About what?”
“Riley, of course. She was over here day before yesterday to pick up Dillon.”
“So…?”
“I got a good look at her then. Riley Thompson is pregnant, Josh,” she accused in an angry whisper. “She’s pregnant, and it’s starting to show.”
He didn’t know what to feel—anger at the woman in front of him for daring to behave as if she had a damn thing to be outraged about. Or maybe guilt because he’d been sulking for almost two weeks now, feeling sorry for himself after Riley turned him down.
Or maybe worse than guilt. Maybe shame. Yeah, that was it. He was ashamed of himself. He’d left Riley on her own with his baby in her belly. Because he’d wanted her to call him, kiss his ass, beg him not to be upset with her.
“It’s true, isn’t it?” Lenore demanded with a hard toss of her blond head. “I knew it. It’s true, and it’s yours.”
What was there to say to that but, “You bet it is. And what is this big act you’re giving me now? Women do get pregnant, Lenore. It’s nothing that hasn’t happened before, and you know that damn well.”
She pinched up her mouth, narrowed her eyes at him and whisper-shouted, “What exactly are you implying?”
He was about to answer that question in no uncertain terms—but then he glanced toward his crew cab where Roger sat, nose pressed against the passenger window, eyes full of doggy concern. It was like Josh could read that dog’s mind. Dial it back, dude. Don’t go there…
Lenore had her hands braced on her hips now. She was waiting for him to deliver the next barely veiled insult that would continue to escalate this petty, pointless argument.