Ivy smiled. “Oh, I think he’ll talk to you all right.”

My bottom lip slipped between my teeth as I wrote out a text.

Hey, if you have a minute, do you think—

I deleted it and started over.

I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch—

Are you busy? I wanted to—

Ivy rolled her eyes. “Oh my God, stop overthinking it.”

With a laugh, my fingers flew as I reminded myself to have faith in Luke, myself, that everything would be okay. But before I hit send, Ivy drew a sharp breath.

My gaze snapped to her face, but hers was locked behind me. Judging by her expression, I imagined who was there before I looked, my neck turning slowly, deliberately to find Wendy Westham.

She seemed smaller, dimmer than I’d seen her. The fever in her eyes was gone, replaced with a quiet sadness, her hands clasped in front of her. She looked frail. Fragile.

“I … I’m sorry to bother you, Tess. Could we talk for a minute?”

Fear straightened my spine—not of her, but of what she might say. There was news on her tongue, and I found myself certain that no matter what she spoke, things would inevitably change.

Uncertainty is part of life. Have faith.

I tried to smile against my anxiety, wiping my hands on my apron as I stood. “Sure.”

Ivy grabbed a couple of vases and headed toward the front. “Let me just take these to Jett for delivery.”

A moment later, she was gone, and Wendy and I were alone.

I didn’t know how to start, what to say, and it seemed that she didn’t either. For a moment, we just stood there with our thoughts whizzing and our mouths firmly closed.

And then she spoke. “I’ve done a lot of things in my life that I’m not proud of, and almost all of them I’ve done to Luke.” She took a heavy breath and held my eyes. “I love him, I always will, but I just keep hurting him, over and over. And he’s always been there, despite it all. Until now.” Her throat worked as she swallowed. “The baby’s not his.”

My lungs contracted, emptied like I’d been kicked in the chest. In that moment, I realized I’d convinced myself that it was his child, that everything he and I had to face, we would have to face it with a child and his ex-wife between us.

Somehow, the knowledge that she had lied about something so serious was a thousand times more shocking.

“Why?” I breathed. “Why would you do this to him? To the Bennets?” To me?

She swallowed visibly, her face tight with pain and regret. “Because I didn’t know what else to do. You … you have to understand—I know you’ve seen it for yourself. He is my safe place. No matter what happens, he’s always there. The man who fathered this baby doesn’t want it and doesn’t want me. I … I’ve never been able to support myself, and now? This baby’s future depends on me, and I don’t know if I can provide it. So I did the only thing I knew to do—I came to Luke. Because I knew he would take care of this baby and me. I thought maybe he could even love me again. But I was wrong. I didn’t know he was in love with you.”