Chapter 32
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
‘W ell, I guess that’s it,’ Lacie said with a sigh, scanning her bare apartment. ‘Lucky we’ve got a hotel booked for tonight before the flight home, I don’t fancy sleeping on that skeletal bed frame.’ She chuckled. They’d cleared the apartment of everything but the furniture and appliances, and the estate agent had already lined up a renter to move in next week as it was such a popular building that hardly ever had vacancies.
‘I’d join you for a farewell dinner at the hotel tonight if I could, but the opening of the new exhibition at the museum is pretty important to my husband, so I better be there with him!’ Madeleine smiled but her eyes looked teary. She’d helped Lacie and her sisters pack up the apartment over the past couple of days and take various items to goodwill, not to mention finalising the legal and logistical details of the salon she’d be taking over in the new year. Madeleine had bought the business off Lacie, thanks to the help of her savings, a small loan, and her husband’s promotion bonus at work. She’d be able to see Lacie’s clients who wanted to stay, and find new clients as well. Maria Elvarez had shed a few tears at her last appointment with Lacie, after she’d booked in a few last-chance appointments for her extra special regulars. She didn’t have time to see everyone, but she had sent them all a thank-you letter and small gift in the mail, also thanks to Madeleine’s assistance.
‘Thanks, Maddy, I don’t know what I would have done without you.’ Lacie embraced her ex-employee and her eyes welled up. ‘I’m going to miss working with you.’ She sniffled. ‘Make sure you send me updates and keep me posted on your new beauty menu when you’re ready to start.’
‘I will. And I want all the baby spam, please.’
Lacie smiled. ‘Thanks for everything. And good luck!’
Maddy gave her a kiss on the cheek then turned to Ellie and Penny. ‘Nice to meet you!’ She hugged them both, and blew a kiss as she exited the apartment.
Lacie sighed. She’d said all her goodbyes now. She’d seen Rosie this morning and Lulu yesterday, plus some other friends she knew from the industry. Now it was just her and her sisters, then back home to her family, and the new member yet to arrive.
Apart from the chaos of packing up her life in two weeks, they’d also found time to enjoy Chicago’s best offerings together, making many happy memories. Penny had loved the art gallery and Ellie the library. Each of them had also had to buy a coat as the chilly air had reared its head now they were in November, and one wasn’t usually needed in Tarrin’s Bay. Lacie had enjoyed playing tourist with her sisters, it had been a while since she’d first explored the city.
‘I can’t believe I’ve reduced my life to this one suitcase, plus the few extra things I squeezed into both of yours!’ She grasped her large pink suitcase by the handle.
‘Goes to show we don’t need much in life,’ Ellie said. ‘There was something in that Wisdom of Nature book about that, like getting back to basics, simplicity, that sort of thing.’
‘It’ll be good to start again. Think of all the new clothes and beauty supplies I can buy once I’m back. After I’ve made use of my maternity fashion collection that is!’
‘Speaking of buying things,’ Penny interjected. ‘We need to go shopping back home for all the baby things you’ll need. I wish I hadn’t sold all of my kids’ things!’
‘Let’s all go together,’ Ellie suggested.
‘Great idea. And maybe we should have a regular “sisters only” outing every month or so. We need to keep connected, all of us.’ Lacie eyed Ellie mostly. ‘And no keeping secrets. If something’s bothering us, we talk about it. Yeah?’
Ellie nodded. She’d had a psychology session via Zoom while she’d been in Chicago. Penny and Lacie had left her in the apartment for some privacy while they grabbed a coffee at a local café. ‘Well, you know all my secrets now, but what about yours?’ Ellie placed her hands on her hips.
‘Me?’ Lacie placed her hand on her heart as if she didn’t have any. ‘You obviously know I’m pregnant, so…’
‘C’mon. Anything else?’
She gulped. ‘With everything that happened I didn’t want to talk about my own stuff. But Nathan is really upset with me. And so I’ve been upset about that.’ Lacie sat at the dining table chair. ‘After I went back in July, we stayed in contact and ended up texting and chatting almost every day. It was a welcome distraction from all the uncertainty I was going through. Anyway, I don’t know how it happened but we got really close, probably because we’d already kissed back in Tarrin’s Bay before I left, and–’
‘Wait, you kissed?’ Penny’s eyes widened.
‘Yeah, yeah, anyway…’ She dismissed it with a wave of her hand. ‘Obviously it couldn’t go anywhere, so we kinda went with the flow and enjoyed some harmless flirtation, even a dinner-slash-breakfast video date complete with bling. We also talked serious stuff, about his past and his ex, and the family he never had, that sort of thing. But every time I went to tell him I was pregnant something stopped me. At first it was because I wasn’t yet twelve weeks and we all know it’s usual to wait till the second trimester to share the news, but then when that had passed, I thought I’d wait till twenty weeks to make sure everything was okay with the baby, and then tell everyone basically. But that was when…’ she glanced at Ellie, ‘and it wasn’t appropriate, and I had to book an urgent flight, and he’d only just told me he wanted to fly to Chicago to see me and find out if anything was worth pursuing.’
Penny and Ellie stood frozen to the spot, mouths agape.
‘You both okay?’ Lacie asked.
‘You’ve been holding that in quite a while, haven’t you?’ Penny said.
‘I feel so bad, it’s just I didn’t think it would keep going, and with my impending motherhood I wanted to enjoy what I had while I had it, before he disappeared, like Xavier.’ She lowered her head. ‘Selfish, I know. I don’t know if he’ll ever forgive me.’
‘Did he find out at the hospital?’ Penny asked.
Lacie nodded. ‘I bumped into him on the way in, and he, well, noticed my bump. I had already asked him if we could meet up after I settled in, so I could tell him and explain, but didn’t expect to see him like that without warning.’
‘Guess you both got a bit of a shock,’ Ellie mused. ‘I can understand why you hesitated to tell him, but he’s a great guy, and if you were getting closer, you should have just told him, sis.’
Lacie’s cheeks warmed. ‘I know. How can I fix it?’
‘You can’t,’ said Penny. ‘You can only apologise and wait for him to process it all, see how he feels after a while.’
‘Thing is, he already had trust issues, when…’ She bit her lip, not sure if she should reveal Nathan’s past. Oh, what the hell. ‘When his ex lied to him, saying he was the father of her baby, when he wasn’t.’
‘Oh man,’ said Penny. I’d sensed he was a bit of a lone wolf, always out and about on his own, but didn’t know the reason why. He’s obviously been holding back in the love department. Until he met you.’
Lacie nodded. ‘He was so open with me, and I was too in some ways, but I left out this one little detail.’ She pinched her thumb and forefinger together. ‘Now he’s probably closed himself off completely and will never trust a woman ever again, let alone me.’
‘Silver lining,’ Ellie said, ‘if he does forgive you, and does want to pursue something more than friendship, there’s no longer the Pacific Ocean between you.’
Lacie smiled. ‘True. But I won’t hold my breath.’
‘Just focus on the baby right now, that’s going to keep you busy for about the next…’ Penny tapped her temple. ‘Oh, eighteen years or so!’
Lacie stood and embraced her sisters. Penny was right. This was what was most important right now – her baby, and her sisters, her family. They would be closer now than ever before, in more than just locality. ‘Oh, Penny, you haven’t shared one of your secrets with us.’
Penny shook her head. ‘I don’t think I have any.’
‘There must be something,’ Ellie probed with a nudge in her ribs.
Penny glanced up at the ceiling, umming and ahhing. ‘Well,’ she gathered them close, ‘there is one thing… when Steve is on night shift and the kids are in bed, sometimes I dance around naked in my bedroom and sing karaoke to eighties music.’
Lacie went to speak but nothing came out.
‘What the?’ Ellie said.
Penny burst out laughing. ‘I’m joking!’
‘Oh,’ Lacie said, ‘had me worried for a minute. That’s a sure sign of needing more fun in your life!’
‘But,’ Penny said, ‘you know what? As much as I love my husband, and I’d be happy to dance around naked in the bedroom with him if he so desired, I actually love it when he’s not home! I can watch a movie without him channel surfing, I can eat the whole block of chocolate without having to share, and I can get a good night’s sleep without hearing him snore or kicking me with his restless legs.’
Lacie and Ellie laughed. ‘That’s hilarious, enjoy those nights when you can! I don’t need a husband for the kicking part, I’ve got a little kicker right here!’ Lacie patted her belly. ‘Oh look…’ She grabbed Penny’s hand to feel the baby moving.
Ellie placed her hand there too. Slight rolls and movements rippled in her belly, and Ellie blinked out a few tears. ‘This little one is going to help keep me going,’ she whispered.
Lacie placed her hand on top of Ellie’s and bit back a sob. Having this baby was going to be a blessing in more ways than one.