Ellen carried the open wine bottle to the table and took her seat. “Hardly shocking, my sweet.”

“You knew?”

“No, but I’m not surprised. You like your life.”

“Not so much lately.”

Ellen filled each of their glasses. “Go on.”

“I want to have a baby.”

Ellen put down her wineglass and stared. “Okay, that’s new. As in you want to get married and have a family or you want to have a baby on your own?”

“I think I want to have a baby with Thaddeus.”

Ellen clutched the table to keep from falling out of the chair. “For real?”

“Maybe. I’ve been thinking about it.”

“So you’re in love with him?”

“I don’t know. I like him. I want to be with him. But I don’t think I love him.”

“But you could?”

“I don’t know.”

Ellen was thrilled and stunned, pretty much equally. “I was gone like three weeks and the whole world changes. I’m going to need time to process this.”

“Me, too.” Unity managed a shaky smile. “There’s other stuff I’ve been thinking about.”

“I’m not sure how much more I can take, but go ahead. Shock me.”

“I joined the swim club.”

“Good for you.” Ellen held up her glass. “I salute you. And?”

“I want to expand the business. I need to get real space and a couple of full-time people working for me. The guys I have do a lot of good work, but there are so many projects I have to turn down because I don’t have enough help.”

Ellen desperately wanted to ask if Unity was finally ready to move out of that mausoleum of a house she lived in, but sensed that would be taking things a little too far.

“For someone who didn’t believe in the challenge, you’ve embraced the spirit of it.”

“I know.” Unity grabbed her hand. “You have, too. I’m kind of proud of us.”

“I’m proud of us, too, all with the growing and changing.” She held up her glass. “Girl power forever.”

twenty-two

Keith gave both himself and his daughter twenty-four hours to recover from the trip. In his heart, he was hoping she would come to him and ask to talk, but when she didn’t, he knew it was up to him. He was the parent—a fact he didn’t like at this particular moment, but he couldn’t ignore it or her.

He knocked on her half-open bedroom door.

“Come in.”

He stepped inside and saw Lissa lying on her bed, headphones over her ears. She had a fashion magazine open beside her. When he turned the chair at her desk and sat down, she wrinkled her nose and took off her headphones.

“You’re not here to talk to me about what I want for dinner, are you?”

“Nope.”

“Sometimes you’re so parental.” She sat up and shifted so she was sitting cross-legged, her expression one of long suffering. “I’m impressed you waited this long to yell at me.”