Page 55 of Just Like That
Lark scoffed. “Iknowso. Sure, he’s still bristly and kind of a snob, but he’s softer somehow.” She nodded toward them. “Being a dad looks good on him.”
I exhaled and pushed away the sharp pinch under my ribs. “We’re still waiting for the paternity results.”
Lark hummed. “Maybe so ... but, I mean ...lookat them. The dark hair, the eyes, the grumpy scowls? And don’t even get me started on the neckties.”
I chuckled. “I see it too.” I squinted against the sun and sipped my water to quell the tiny wave of nausea that rolled through me. “Plus, I believe my sister.”
Lark pushed her sunglasses onto her head. “He really didn’t know?”
I crossed my legs and picked at the blanket. “It’s something that still doesn’t make sense. Olive wrote me a letter. In it, she was very clear that JP was Teddy’s dad. She did say that their romance was brief, but she was certain. She listed him on the birth certificate application. She even came to Outtatowner once.”
“No!” Lark’s eyes were saucers as she hung on my every word.
I shrugged. “It did not go well, apparently. She didn’t reach out again. Olive always said it was his loss and that he knew where to find her if he ever changed his mind. I guess toward the end she had second thoughts, and that’s why she finally asked me to find him.”
Lark’s hand covered mine as my voice went thick. “I’m sorry you lost her.”
“It’s okay,” I lied. I looked at Teddy’s sweet, smiling face. “To be honest, it’s Teddy I’m worried about. He doesn’t really talk about Olive, and now he’s got stars in his eyes for JP. I just don’t want him to get hurt.”
A tear slipped from my eye and I brushed it away.
“Maybe he should talk with someone—process what’s happened and have a support system once everything gets worked out.”
Lark was right. Teddyshouldtalk to someone about losing his mother and all the changes he’s experienced.
She was a good mother.
Unlike me, who didn’t even remember things like school registration or who thought it was a good idea to just show up and confront the man who was supposed to be his father.
The kind of woman who was okay with fooling around with her sister’s ex was not prime mother material, but maybe I could learn to be better.
Beside me, Lark groaned and pressed a hand into her round belly.
Thankful for the distraction, I asked, “How are you feeling?”
She laughed and gestured toward the water. “Like if you rolled me out there, people would think I was an actual whale.”
I smiled at her. “Aww, I think you’re glowing.”
“I think that’s sweat, mostly.” Lark wiggled her toes. “I have forgotten what my ankles look like. Wyatt joked that he thought cankles were sexy.” Together we laughed. “At first I laughed, then I cried and I made him sleep on the couch, until I got mad at him in the middle of the night for not being in bed. All he did was hold me, and I cried all over again. These hormones arewild.”
I wondered what it would be like to be pregnant—to have a life growing inside you and a partner that could laugh and cry with you through it all.
My sister had endured it alone, and I didn’t know if it was something I would ever experience for myself—or if I even wanted to, for that matter.
Lark exhaled as we watched the other people on the beach. “You know ... Wyatt’s not here today because they’re dredging the lake.”
“Oh ...” My gut churned. “I didn’t realize that was today.”
Her lips pressed together in a sad twist. “The DNR showed up yesterday and closed public access to all of the trails. I just didn’t want Penny around there today ... just in case they find anything.”
Like JP’s mother.
Wyatt and Lark lived at Highfield House, and I had learned that Wabash Lake was set in the forest between Sullivan Farms and their property, connected by hiking trails and walking paths.
She motioned toward JP. “How’s he been handling it?”
“Fine, I guess.” My brow furrowed. “He doesn’t talk about it. Ever.” I shrugged. “At least not to me.”