Chapter 9
“Thank you for joining us, ladies,” Matilda said, sounding annoyed.
“We had an issue,” Gigi replied. “It’s been addressed. Where do you want us?”
Matilda gave a look that indicated she had more to say, but wisely held her tongue.
Gigi was in no mood to go ten rounds with her, but she’d do it to protect Jordan, who was not only her best friend but also her client.
“Over there.” Matilda pointed to a spot on the main pier where the camera crew was set up.
Gigi and Jordan walked the short distance to join them next to a cutout in the main dock that ramped down into the water.
“This is your bucket of crabs,” one of the crew said to Gigi. “And that one is Jordan’s. The plan is to dump them on the ramp, and then each of you cheer for your team.”
It sounded like the dumbest thing Gigi had ever heard, but if it would get them out of there sooner, she’d do it.
“Needless to say, we’ve got to get this in one take unless you guys want to catch another bucket of crabs.” The director gave them pointers about where he wanted them positioned in the scene so they could capture the action. “Everyone ready?”
“Ready.” Gigi glanced at Jordan, who was a million miles away and going through the motions. “Get your head in the game, girl. We don’t want to have to redo this.”
Jordan nodded. “I’m good.”
When the director called for action, they slipped into character, squealing predictably at the buckets of crabs as they dumped them onto the ramp and then screamed at them to go faster.
Gigi was surprised to find herself more engaged in the race than she’d expected to be as the crabs scurried down the ramp and jumped in the water. “I win!”
“No way! Mine got there first!”
“You can’t prove that.”
“Let’s go to the film.”
“And cut,” the director said. “That was perfect. We can do a slow-motion roll of the race that’ll be funny.”
“Are we good?” Gigi sensed that Jordan was on the verge of a complete meltdown.
“We’re good,” Matilda said. “See you tonight.”
“See you then.” Gigi took Jordan by the arm and directed her toward Gigi’s car, which they’d dropped off earlier so they could leave as soon as they were finished filming. “Get in.”
Gigi started her car and did a U-turn to head away from the marina.
At the three-way stop sign, she took a right for Eastward Look, Evelyn’s longtime summer home where Nikki and Riley lived.
They’d talked Evelyn into spending the summer.
Thank goodness for that, because having Evelyn around made everything better for all three girls.
Gigi knew it was weird to glom on to other people’s grandmothers, but when you didn’t have family of your own, you created one from the people who mattered most to you.
Evelyn, Jordan and Nikki were the three most important people in Gigi’s life.
Without a doubt, she knew any of the three of them would be there if she needed them.
She tried not to need them or anyone. Independence was her middle name, but she liked having a backup plan.
Just in case.
Of what? She had no clue. But life had gone sideways for her often enough that she tried to be ready for any possibility. “Say something.”
“What should I say?” Jordan asked.
“Tell me what you’re thinking?”
“My brain is spinning.”
“You’re not worried about what Mason will say, are you?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“It’s just that we’ve only been together a few months, and if it’s true, it’s a lot to put on a new relationship.”
“It’d be a lot with a twat like Brendan-slash-Zane,” Gigi said of Jordan’s ex-husband. “I used to hold my breath and pray you’d never get pregnant with him and be tied to him for life through a child.”
“Thank God that never happened.”
“Everything about your relationship with Mason is different.”
“I know that.”
“So don’t worry. He’ll be elated. He loves you so much, Jord.”
Jordan sniffled and dabbed at her eyes. “I love him, too.”
“Everything will be fine. If you’re pregnant, you guys will have a baby, and that will make what’s already great even better.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“When have you ever known me not to be?”
Jordan laughed even as tears spilled down her cheeks.
Gigi couldn’t bear to see her upset, even over something good.
After everything she’d endured with her ex, Jordan deserved nothing but happiness.
Gigi was determined to make sure nothing and no one ever hurt Jordan again.
The time she’d spent with Brendan/Zane had been torture for the people who loved her.
Gigi had had many a difficult conversation with Nikki about what they were going to do to get Jordan free of him.
But when Jordan had gone back to him after he released a sex tape that featured her without her permission, Gigi had thrown up her hands and walked away.
She regretted that.
Jordan and Brendan’s relationship had blown up in one violent night in Charlotte, North Carolina, landing Jordan in the hospital and Brendan in jail.
The story didn’t end there, but Gigi couldn’t bear to think of the day Brendan had come to Gansett looking for Jordan and held Nikki and Evelyn hostage.
She shivered at the memory of being in LA with Jordan when she received that phone call. Her job that day had been to keep Jordan calm on the long flight to Gansett. But nothing and no one could’ve kept her calm as she tried to picture life without Nikki or Evelyn or, God forbid, both.
After that day, Gigi had taken a step back from the three of them.
The fear of losing the only people she loved, and who loved her, took a toll.
She’d been a mess for weeks after that and had started to feel better only when she joined the others on Gansett to begin filming their show on the island.
Being here had been therapeutic for her, but she still couldn’t stand to think of how close they’d come to losing Evelyn and Nikki.
She took a right into the long driveway that led to Eastward Look.
For years, Jordan and Nikki had tried to convince Gigi to visit them at their grandmother’s summer home.
Gigi had never been interested in checking out a remote island off the coast of the smallest state.
But after she’d spent a few months on Gansett, Eastward Look had begun to feel like a home away from home.
There she went again, glomming on to someone else’s home and making assumptions about what she meant to these people.
She’d learned the hard way not to do that.
Putting her faith and affection into people who were under no obligation to return the sentiments hadn’t worked out well for her in the past. Yes, Evelyn, Jordan and Nikki were different from everyone else in the world.
Gigi honestly believed there was nothing the three of them wouldn’t do for her, but she didn’t want to count on that.
Rather, she’d prefer they count on her to be there for them. That’s what she did. She took care of things for Jordan and her other clients. If she’d occasionally like to have someone take care of things for her, well, that wasn’t how things worked in her life.
Evelyn walked out to greet them, hugging Jordan, who collapsed into her grandmother’s embrace.
“I can’t believe I sent you to buy a pregnancy test for me,” Jordan said.
“Proving there’s nothing I won’t do for my girls.” Evelyn released Jordan and hugged Gigi. “Hi, sweetie.”
“Hey, Ev.” Gigi would also never forget the day that Evelyn had told her to call her Evelyn and not Mrs. Hopper.
“How’s our girl?” Evelyn asked.
“Rattled but holding it together. Barely.”
“Let’s get some answers, shall we?” Evelyn led them inside to the kitchen, where a bag from Ryan’s Pharmacy sat on the counter.
Jordan eyed it with trepidation. “I’ve never taken a pregnancy test before.”
“Ever?” Gigi asked, incredulous. She’d never forget the first time she’d thought she was pregnant and the desperation that had come with wondering how she’d ever care for a child when she could barely care for herself.
“I’ve never had so much as a scare.”
“Girl. That’s crazy!”
“I know! Is there any secret to it?”
“Nope,” Gigi said. “Just try not to pee on your hand.”
“Ew.”
“Go.” Gigi gave her a gentle push toward the main-floor bathroom. “When you’re done, leave it on the vanity.”
“Here goes nothing.”
“Or everything,” Evelyn said.
Jordan huffed out a deep breath and headed for the bathroom.
“I hate Brendan for making her uncertain about everything, even things she knows to be true,” Evelyn said when she and Gigi were alone.
“I know. She has nothing to worry about where Mason is concerned. And she knows that, but still… The insecurities never let up.”
“She’s lucky to have you,” Evelyn said. “We all are.”
“Thank you.” Gigi tried to hide her emotional reaction to Evelyn’s kind words. “I’m lucky to have you guys, too.”
“I love that you girls are as close as you were ten years ago.”
“Me, too.” Evelyn would never know how true that was for Gigi.
She recalled the weeks leading up to their high school graduation, when Gigi had feared they’d go their separate ways and never see each other again. Thank God that hadn’t happened. If anything, they’d gotten closer as the years went by, until Zane had come along to wreck their groove.
Now he was gone, Jordan was back, and things were better for all of them.
No way would any of them allow Jordan to have any kind of setback when she’d been doing so much better.
Meeting Mason had been the best thing to ever happen to her, even if they’d met when he saved her from a fire at Eastward Look.
What could have happened in that fire was another thing Gigi couldn’t bear to think about.
“It’s been good for her to be here with you and Nikki this summer,” Evelyn said. “And Mason, of course. She seems more like herself than she has in years.”
“Yes, she seems good.”