Her statement made me cringe. Was I giving up my chance of ever finding happiness with a man by turning away from both of the Davis twins? Was I going to look back on this decision twenty years from now and regret it?

As if reading my thoughts, Annie continued. “I’m not saying that you’ll never find happiness with a man. After all, look at Harry and me.” She smiled tenderly when she said Mr. Finley’s name. I had known that she and the Treats bakery owner had been on a few dates, but I hadn’t realized that she was starting to have real feelings for him.

At my questioning look, she ran her hand through her already unruly mane of wild, red curls, obviously not overly comfortable discussing her current romantic relationship. “It’s more of a slow burn with us, but we have our share of sparks.” She gave me an ornery smile after uttering the last part, but then she turned serious. “It’s been a long time coming for me, though, Ab. I haven’t been in a serious, long-term relationship since high school.”

I wasn’t certain of Annie’s exact age because she always observed her birthdays as a celebration of life, rather than the passage of a certain number of years. If I had to guess, I would say that she was in her early-fifties, but she had a timeless quality about her, which made it possible that I was off by ten years in either direction.

No matter what her age was, going since high school without a steady man in her life was a long time. Was I dooming myself to a man-free existence? Since my divorce, I had prided myself on building a great life and being happy without needing a man. That didn’t mean that I never wanted one, or that I wanted to wait twenty years for one.

Then Annie delicately pointed out an obvious fact that I had thus far been unwilling to acknowledge. “Sweetie, if you give up both of these Davis boys, you are giving up the father of your unborn child. You are making the decision that your baby will grow up without his or her dad.” She touched my shoulder as her words sank in. “You are a strong, wonderful woman. You have a terrific, supportive friend in Courtney, and you couldn’t get rid of me if you tried. You will probably eventually find a man who loves you and your child. If you’re lucky, he might even love this child like his own, but it won’t be his.”