She stirred her drink with her straw. “How does that make you feel?”

“Doesn’t matter to me,” Luke said with finality, but she wondered who he was trying to convince. Her. Or himself. “I just don’t want him to think we’re going to be friends again, you know?”

Nodding, Gracie took a sip of her drink, only to frown. Forced herself to swallow.

“What’s wrong?” Luke asked.

“Nothing.” But she pushed the drink aside.

“Gracie...”

“It’s no big deal,” she assured him. “They used real milk in my drink. I’m sure it was an accident. I’ll just get another.”

But before she could even lift her hand to get Kennedy’s attention, he was on his feet, motioning Kennedy over, his expression hard.

“Yes?” Kennedy asked in a snide tone.

“Gracie’s coffee has milk in it,” Luke said as if Kennedy had laced it with poison.

Kennedy cocked a hip. “So?”

“She’s vegan,” he ground out.

“It’s really not a problem,” Gracie hurried to say because people were starting to stare. Because she felt as if he was using this as an excuse to get into Kennedy’s face. “I’ll just send it back.”

He whirled on her. “Did you ask for soy milk?”

Gracie nodded. “Maybe she forgot.”

“I didn’t forget,” Kennedy said, tossing her head. “The barista must have messed up.”

Luke shook his head. “You did it on purpose.”

Gracie had enough. “I think you two have some things to talk about, so I’m just going to go.” And because she was miffed at him for making a big deal out of something that wasn’t a big deal at all, she didn’t even offer to pay for her drink. Let him buy it for her. Maybe Kennedy could drink it, since Gracie wouldn’t.

He stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Wait. Don’t go.”

“Oh, let her leave,” Kennedy said. “Can’t you see what she’s doing? It’s so pathetic.” Kennedy turned to Gracie. “Andrew told me how you threw yourself at him last fall.”

Gracie went cold. No matter what she’d thought about Andrew, she’d never expected he’d tell Kennedy about what had happened between them. “What?”

“I knew there was something weird going on when you were talking to him in school that one day,” Kennedy said. “The way you were begging him to sit with you at lunch. God, it was really sad. But he told you he wasn’t interested, and now you think you’re going to...what? Insert yourself into the popular group by getting with Luke?”

Gracie could only shake her head. “You’ve been watching way too many ’80s teen movies.”

Kennedy turned to Luke. “Don’t tell me you’re falling for this dork. I mean...God...look at her.”

Gracie couldn’t breathe. She waited for Luke to say something. Anything. Until he did.

“Gracie and I are friends,” he said, his cheeks red. He wouldn’t look at her. “Just friends.”

“Yes,” she said, her voice unsteady, because no matter how hard she tried to tell herself not to let his words hurt her, they did. “What else would we be?” She faced him, held his gaze. “You’re so much better suited for someone like Kennedy.”

He winced, obviously understanding that she didn’t think highly of Kennedy—or of him.

And then she walked out, her dignity wrapped around her. Her heart breaking once again.

* * *

CLINTON OPENED THE door to his room, his carry-on in one hand, laptop case in the other, only to pull up short when he found Ivy there, her hand lifted to knock.

“Hey,” he said, grinning, knowing it was ridiculous to be so happy to see her when he’d just left her apartment half an hour ago but unable to deny it nonetheless. “Everything all right?”

“Fine,” she said, but she was frowning slightly. “I don’t want to keep you from getting to the airport but...” She shook her head. “Sorry. It’s just...I could have sworn I passed Kane on my way here, riding his motorcycle.”

“That was him,” Clinton confirmed. He wondered how long before Charlotte put her foot down about him riding that thing.

“Kane was here?” Ivy asked.

“Surprised me, too.”

The whole weekend had been one shock after another. First, Ivy had come to him for help yesterday. He’d come back to Shady Grove to prove to her that she could count on him. After putting the crib together, she’d had to work at O’Riley’s. He’d gone with her, had eaten dinner there, then spent the rest of the night sitting at the bar with Charlotte, who’d had the night off.

This morning, he’d offered to take Ivy out to brunch, but she’d insisted she enjoyed cooking so they’d spent a lazy day at her place, eating, reading the paper and watching old movies on TV.

And when he’d left to pack before catching his flight back to Houston, she’d kissed him goodbye so sweetly, he’d wondered if she just might miss him while he was gone. Hoped she would.

“Kane was waiting on the porch when I got here,” C.J. told her. “He came to collect the favor I owed him.”

“Ooh, let me guess. He wants you to leave a horse’s head in his biggest enemy’s bed.”

“Nothing quite that bloodthirsty. He asked me to be his best man.”

“Yeah? I guess he likes you more than he lets on, huh?”

C.J. couldn’t help it. He laughed. “I doubt that. Probably Charlotte forced him into it. Kane’s never been the type to have many friends. I was probably the only person they could think of who would say yes.”

“I don’t know about that. You do have two other brothers. He could have asked either of them.”

True. Though C.J. doubted Zach would even show up for the wedding, let alone agree to stand up for one of his brothers.

A family of five walked down the hall and he and Ivy stepped aside to let them pass.

“I’m not sure why he asked,” C.J. said when they were alone again. “But I’m glad he did.”

He and Kane still had their issues, but being asked to be part of Kane’s wedding day made C.J. hopeful they could work through those issues. Eventually.

Though he knew it was going to take a hell of a lot of work on both their parts to get past two decades of resentment.

“Ah, brotherly love,” Ivy said with a cheeky grin. “There’s nothing else like it. Best friends one minute, wanting to eviscerate each other the next.”

“That’s a brutal description. But accurate.” He pulled his door shut. “Are you working tonight?”

She’d told him that she sometimes spent her nights off here doing prep work or trying new recipes.

“No. I was hoping to catch you before you left.”

Shifting his briefcase to the hand holding his carry-on, he laid his other one on the small of her back. Led her toward the stairs. “Why is that?”

“I felt the baby move.” She laughed. “I mean, I’ve felt it before, like a tiny fluttering, but I could never tell if it really was the baby or just indigestion. And this time I knew, for certain, it was the baby.”

He stopped, just...slammed to a stop at the top of the stairs. “What?”

She nodded, looking thrilled and slightly ill at the same time. “It was right after you left. It was this rolling sensation. Like he was doing a somersault. Here.” She took his hand and laid it against the soft swell of her stomach but C.J. didn’t feel any movement. “It was wonderful and scary and just made me realize how...real...this all is. We’re having a baby.” She looked up, smiled into his eyes. “I’m terrified and excited and I just... I wanted to tell you.”

She’d come to him so he could be included in this moment. So they could share it.

Like a real couple. A real family.

His fingers curled against her stomach and he leaned down to kiss her. “Thank you.”

She returned his kiss but then stepped back. Shrugged as if it was no big deal and cleared her throat. “You’d better get going. You don’t want to miss your flight.”

He bit back a sigh. He was coming to understand her more and more. When he got too close, or when things got too personal between them, she took those steps—figuratively or literally—to maintain control.