Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
The kind that comes with a baby.
My hand drifts unconsciously to my stomach, even though there’s nothing to feel yet. Ten weeks. The doctor says everything looks good, but ten weeks still feels fragile somehow, like saying it out loud might scare the universe into changing its mind. That’s why we’re keeping it quiet for now. No announcements, no big family reactions, no social media posts with tiny shoes or ultrasound photos.
Just Reid and Bellamy.
They’re the only ones who know, and I plan to keep it that way. I refuse to take any of their spotlight from their big reveal.
My stomach knots as I find Will’s eyes across the room. He’s standing with Knox and Landry, talking, I’m sure, about football. My eyes scan the room, and I find Candice sitting on the couch, holding Coral. Coral jumps off her lap and races off, and I know this is my opening.
I force one foot in front of the other until I’m standing next to where she sits on the couch.
“Amanda, how are you?” she asks, patting the seat next to her. “Take a load off. Let’s catch up.”
I feel sick, and I’m pretty sure it’s not the pregnancy, but my nerves. “Hey, Candice,” I say, taking a seat before my legs give out and I fall to the floor. No doubt she’ll learn about us then.
“Are you okay?”
“I have something to tell you.”
“What is it, honey? You can tell me anything,” she says.
I almost laugh at that. Almost. “I don’t know how to say this. There is no good way, at least none that has come to me, so I’m just going to blurt it out, okay?”
Candice reaches over and places her hand on my arm. “Anything.” She smiles kindly.
“Will and I are dating.” She doesn’t react. Her smile doesn’t falter. “Did you hear what I said? I’m dating Will. Your ex-husband, that Will.”
“I heard you. Are you happy?”
“Yes.” I nod without hesitation.
“Good.”
“That’s it?”
Candice laughs. “Amanda, I was married to Will. He’s my daughter’s father. And even though he didn’t see Bellamy often, I still kept in contact with him. I know him. He’s a good man. Our relationship changed. We were so young when we had Bellamy. All that said, I’ve been watching. I see the way he knows where you are in any room. He does the same with Mia. Not to mention you’ve looked at him no less than a dozen times before you got the courage to come over here and talk to me.”
“Who told you?”
This earns me another laugh. “I was looking out the window when you pulled up together.”
“You’re not mad?”
“What? Of course not. I’ve moved on with Cliff, and I want you and Will both to be happy. Is it a pairing I would have guessed? No, but seeing the two of you together, it works.”
“Wow, and to think I almost bailed today to put off this conversation,” I admit.
“I’m glad that you didn’t. Love is funny that way. It shows up quietly, often when you’re not searching for it at all. One moment you’re just living your life, and the next, someone walks in, and suddenly things feel a little warmer, a little brighter, a little more meaningful. You don’t always notice it right away. Sometimes it grows slowly, in small moments, shared laughs, comfortable silences, the way someone remembers the little things about you. Other times, it arrives all at once and catches you completely off guard. But when you do find it, when you feel that kind of connection, it’s something special. It’s rare and fragile in its own way, but also incredibly powerful. It has a way of changing how you see the world and reminding you that the best parts of life often come unexpectedly. So, when it finds you, you have to hold on to it. Nurture it. Be patient with it. And most of all, appreciate it, because the most beautiful things in life are often the ones we never planned for, yet somehow needed all along.”
Tears well in my eyes as I lean over and pull her into a hug. When I release her, there’s a shadow looming over us, and I don’t have to look to know that it’s Will.
“Hey, baby. You good?” he asks me.
“I’m perfect.” I smile up at him.
He leans down and pecks a kiss on my lips.
“Hold up!” Landry calls out. “Rewind that.”
Will takes a seat next to me on the couch, and his body shakes with his laughter.
“Did you just kiss Amanda?” Landry asks.
“I did,” Will tells him.
“As a joke?” Landry asks.
“Why would kissing my girlfriend be a joke?” Will asks with humor in his voice.
“Girlfriend?” Baker asks. “This is worse than missing the first fifteen minutes of the movie.” Baker laughs. “What’s going on?”
“What’s going on is that Amanda and I are together,” Will explains.