“Yes.” Mo’s eyes soften. She pulls out a chair next to me and sits down. “You’re going to make a wonderful mother, Adley.”
“I am?”
She nods. “You’re kind, loving, smart, and loyal, just like your mother.”
“Thank you.”
She nods. “Now, tell us who the father is.”
I shove the rest of the brownie in my mouth, chewing it as slowly as possible, because once the words are out there, I can’t take them back, and it doesn’t feel right to tell the girls about the baby before I tell Lincoln.
“Shouldn’t I tell him first?”
“You haven’t told him yet?” she asks.
I shake my head.
Claire places her hand on mine. “We’re your best friends, Adley. You can tell us. We promise we won’t say anything.”
I swallow the brownie and take a cleansing breath. “It’s Lincoln.”
“Lincoln Bennett?” Tess asks.
I nod.
Claire drops the rest of her brownie on the table. “Rhett’s best friend, Lincoln?”
I nod again.
“Oh.” Mo’s eyes go round. “Oh, this is bad.”
“So much worse, right?”
She nods. “Rhett is going to kill him. This is it. My fiancé is going to end up in jail before we even get married.”
“No.” I shake my head and grab her hand. “No, he won’t because you’re not going to tell him.”
Mo blinks. “Adley, please don’t ask me to lie to your brother.”
“You promised you wouldn’t say anything.”
“No, Claire promised she wouldn’t say anything.”
This isn’t good. Standing up, I push my fingers into my hair and walk to the opposite side of the room. My heart feels like it’s going to jump out of my chest.
“I can’t believe I told you,” I say softly, mostly to myself.
A gentle hand lands on my shoulder, and I whip around.
Mo takes a step back, watching me as though I’m a wild animal. “I’m glad you told me because it means you trust me. You just caught me off guard. I promise I won’t tell Rhett, but if he flat-out asks me if Lincoln is the father, I can’t lie to him—not after everything we’ve been through.”
“Thank you.” I nod. “I appreciate that. And I’m going to tell him—I’m going to tell everyone—but I need to tell Lincoln first. I just found out.”
“Are you and Linc together?” Tess asks.
I shake my head. Dropping into the seat I just vacated, I resign myself to telling them the whole sordid story, starting with the very first time I met Linc, every crazy moment after that, and ending with what happened at the hospital last night.
“Wow,” Claire breathes. “That’s some affair.”