“Yes.”

“It’s a really nice picture?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Amelia sat down in a chair across from me, her forearms on her thighs, leaning in close to me. I ignored how her hair fell over her eye. I ignored how beautiful she looked. “I want to be your surrogate.”

I laughed. She did not laugh. Neither of us moved. “Oh God. Amelia, you’re not serious.”

“I am serious.”

“You can’t. I can’t. I mean, Cape Carolina. And our mothers. And paying you. And it’s all too weird.”

Hurt registered on her face, and I wished I could take it back. My instant response was that she couldn’t be my surrogate. But why? Because it’s too complicated and then you could never be with her.

“Oh God. No. Don’t take this the wrong way.” I paused. But I couldn’t be with her anyway, right? I glanced at Greer’s picture on the end table, rubbed my eyes, and got myself together. I would never move on from Greer. That much was clear. So why waste the chance to have someone I really knew and trusted carry my child? “I mean, let’s back up. In your mind, how would this work? With the girls in the folder, it was just a straight business transaction. They give me a uterus, I give them money. That’s it. With you, it’d be a totally different thing.”

I saw the tears spring to Amelia’s eyes, and I felt like a heel.

“I get it,” she said. “It’s all too much for you. I feel so stupid.” She stood up and turned toward the row of floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the terrace.

I sighed, got up, and followed her. Yes, it was complicated. But also, it felt good, I realized. I had serious reservations about choosing a woman out of a file to shepherd my child into the world. I knew Amelia would give this her all. I knew she wouldn’t let me down. She wouldn’t let Greer down. I put my hands on her shoulders and said, “Okay. Thank you.”

She turned around, so close I could smell the cinnamon gum she was chewing. “What? I thought you didn’t want me to do it.”

“Well, of course I want you to. I don’t want some stranger carrying around the most precious thing I’ll ever have. I want to talk to my baby while it’s growing.”

She took my hands in hers, and I saw her eyes land on the wedding band I still hadn’t been able to take off. “I don’t want to complicate things for you, Parker. I really don’t. I just was thinking about how much this meant to you and how I’ve known you forever and you saved my life and all of those things. I mean, yes, I’m kind of at a crossroads, but it feels like time that I thought about someone other than myself.”

“It really is.” I winked at her. “So you’ll move in here with me?”

“Um, no.”