Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 51827 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 173(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51827 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 173(@300wpm)
“Are my husband’s nails ... blue?” Mara squints at the phone screen.
“Hallie opened a business giving manis and pedis,” Suki says. “Fifty bucks a pop.”
That’s her youngest, and it makes me laugh.
“My husband paid her fifty bucks to paint his nails?” Mara scoffs. “Good thing I’m already pregnant, because that would have done it.”
A few seconds later, she says, “Uh-oh, Blair. You better pick up a pregnancy test.”
Coop, my five-year-old, grins and laughs while sitting on Magnus’s shoulders. Magnus is skating fast and smooth, one hand on Coop’s back to keep him secured.
I smile and laugh at Mara’s joke, but inside I’m reeling. I’ve worked hard to raise my boys well. Before Jules hit it big as a social media influencer, I was a waitress and I picked up every side gig I could manage just to pay the bills. Now she’s putting me through nursing school and covering the bills, which was hard for me at first.
She convinced me to take her help for my kids. It’s changed our lives. My sons play youth hockey now, and they go to a great school because we live in a very nice neighborhood. I don’t have to make them keep wearing shoes that are getting too tight.
Before, I couldn’t afford extras. We rotated between pancakes and spaghetti for dinner. Jules has taken that weight from my shoulders, but I still feel the heaviness of what my boys will never have.
No matter how great a mom I am to them, I’ll never be a dad. Lots of kids have better homes with a single mom than they do with a mom and a dad. I know that, but it still makes me ache to see how happy my boys are right now.
Magnus is tall and fit, like all his teammates, but he also stands out. His shoulders are impossibly wide and he has light-brown hair that always looks perfectly unstyled. He’s Swedish, and he hasn’t completely lost his accent. I’ve noticed he does things with his teammates, but he’s never as all in as they are. He lives in a downtown Cleveland hotel room.
And that smile. It doesn’t come out often, but when it does, hold on to your panties, ladies.
Jules approaches, dressed in her jeans and hoodie now. “What are we looking at?”
“Carter sent me this video.” Suki turns her phone screen toward Jules.
“Oh.” My sister’s expression turns dreamy. “That’s my baby.”
She means Noel, of course. When they got engaged, they went IG official, and the entire internet has said on her socials that they’re the most attractive couple in human history. I love seeing her so happy.
“Ohh ...” Her lips part as she continues watching the video. “Not number fucking one making your kid smile like that, Blair.”
I roll my eyes, feeling my cheeks warm. Mara’s brows are pinched together in a curious look.
“Number one?”
“From her spreadsheet.” Jules slings her massive handbag over her shoulder. “Let’s get out of here.”
Lorraine just watches us go, probably knowing anything else she says will just make things worse. I shoot her a withering glare on the way out the door.
No one dulls my sister’s sparkle. This wedding day is probably the only one we’ll get between the two of us because I closed the door on men a long time ago. We’re going to enjoy every last second of planning this celebration for Jules and Noel.
“Tell us more about this spreadsheet,” Suki says once we’re out in the ice-cold Cleveland winter wind.
“Or don’t.” I groan.
“The baby wants a cookie,” Mara says, pointing to a bakery nearby.
“That’s in the opposite direction of the car,” Suki grumbles.
Mara angles her belly toward Suki. “Tell the baby Aunt Suki said no. I’m sure the amniotic fluid will absorb all the tears.”
Suki rolls her eyes, smiling. “Fine, drama queen. Is this what Leo has to live with every day?”
“I’m incubating his progeny. Rubbing my feet and bringing me cookies is the least he can do.”
We speed-walk as fast as we can with a very pregnant woman in our group, and when we walk into the bakery, we’re greeted by the smell of baking chocolate chip cookies.
It’s a quaint local spot, the display cases filled with all kinds of cookies and brownies. There are tables with chairs and also a few lounge areas.
Once we all have our orders, we sit down in one of the lounge areas with a green velvet sofa and two pink leather wingback chairs. Suki takes a bite of her cookie sandwich—two chocolate chip cookies with frosting in the center—and hums with satisfaction.
“I’ll be getting a box of these to go,” Mara says.
She ordered the same thing, but her frosting center is also covered with sprinkles. I went for a frosted brownie, and Jules got a German chocolate brownie.
“Back to the spreadsheet,” Suki says.
Jules’s eyes light up. I take a long drink of my iced coffee, dreading what’s to come. I don’t have many friends because I’m so busy with nursing school and my kids. Suki and Mara are about to find out something I never meant for anyone but my sister to know.