Shay: I am. Kind of. Give me some space, Easton. We’ll talk, but I need to take care of me right now.

“What do you think about this one?” Carter asks, twisting the solitary diamond band between two fingers. “Is it too simple?”

I shove my phone into my back pocket and swallow my heartache. Because when your childhood best friend wants you to come along to pick out an engagement ring for the love of his life, you do it. “Simple isn’t a bad thing.” I study the diamond. “And that one doesn’t strike me as simple at all. Just . . . solid. Like you two.”

He grins. “I think so too.” His gaze flicks to the pocket where I just put away my phone. “Was that my sister?”

“Yeah.”

“She still avoiding you?”

I drag a hand through my hair. “Yeah.”

“Are you gonna do something about it?”

Do I look like an idiot? “She wants space.”

He frowns. “What’d you do?”

I shake my head. Carter doesn’t know about our history. I never told him about Paris or that she came to me when she found out their father was entering hospice care. Maybe it’s time to own up to all of it. “I didn’t do anything this time,” I say carefully. “But she has every reason to be cautious.”

“Meaning?”

“Listen, I’d like to tell you the whole thing, but if you beat in my face, you’re the one who has to explain your actions to my sweet, innocent daughter.”

His eyes go wide. “Oh, hell. We’re gonna need beer, aren’t we?”

I nod. “We should probably do this at the bar.”

Shay

I’m officially avoiding my apartment. I started packing it up yesterday in an emotional rush of energy. Even if I planned to stay in Jackson Harbor, and I don’t, I’d have to leave my tiny third-floor walk-up. It won’t be practical with a baby, never mind that it only has one bedroom.

I go to Teagan’s and smile when she opens the door. “Can I hang for a while?”

“Always.”

“Want to order in? I think I’m officially past the no-appetite part of this pregnancy and into the clichéd cravings part.”

“I . . .” Her gaze shifts to the living room just beyond the foyer.

And that’s the moment when I realize Teagan isn’t home alone. In the living room, Carter stops with a beer halfway to his lips. And halfway between me and the couch, Easton stands paralyzed, staring at me in wide-eyed shock.

“Easton’s here,” she says quietly. “Nic took both girls to gymnastics.”

Shit. I wasn’t ready for this yet. I might not ever be.

I turn around and open the door she just closed, pushing outside onto the porch.