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“I’ve been around a long time, you two.” Nana lifted her wrinkled hand and cupped Jamie’s cheek. “You’re glowing, sweet girl.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Jamie let out a little laugh, and Shannon giggled.
“It’s a dead giveaway.” Nana reached down and squeezed Jamie’s hand. “He doesn’t know yet, does he?”
Jamie looked at Nana. “Who?”
Nana tilted her head in the direction of the lake. “Duncan.”
“How did you …?”
“He told me what happened between you two,” she admitted.
Nana’s answer was not what Jamie was expecting. He had talked about her to his grandmother? She was dying to know what he said.
“Is that why you’re here tonight?” Nana asked. “To give him the happy news?”
Jamie made a face. “I’m not sure how happy he’ll think it is.”
“Maybe not at first, but he’ll come around.”
“I don’t know.” Jamie certainly didn’t have Nana’s confidence.
Nana was about to say something else when Dréa suddenly called out from across the yard.
“Duncan and I wanted to thank you all again for celebrating with us tonight. And before the fireworks start, we wanted to share some exciting news.”
Jamie’s stomach flipped.
Oh no! She’s not pregnant, too, is she? It would be just Jamie’s luck for something like that to happen.
“We’ve chosen a wedding date,” Dréa announced.
The yard filled with applause, but Jamie couldn’t bring herself to lift her arms, let alone clap her hands together. Dréa looked so darn happy, but Duncan’s smile appeared half-hearted.
“We’re getting married on January fourteenth in Denver. Save the date!”
Jamie’s heart caught in her throat. January fourteenth?
Of course, they chose the baby’s due date as their wedding day. Of course they did.
The fireworks over Reeds Lake were spectacular, as always. Jamie sat on a blanket in the grass with Shannon and Micah, watching the explosions of red, white, and blue light up the sky. She tried to pretend she didn’t notice Micah running his fingers up and down Shannon’s arm and nuzzling her neck the entire time. She was elated that her friend was back together with her first love. Nobody deserved it more than Shannon, who had sacrificed so much and given up that relationship for such difficult reasons.
Jamie stared across the yard at the man whose arms she wanted to be in. Dréa was seated next to him, leaning into his side, staring up at the show. One of Duncan’s arms was draped around her back, but he wasn’t watching the fireworks.
They made eye contact, and Jamie gave him a weak smile. The right corner of his mouth tilted up in a way that made her heart rate accelerate.
Why was he watching her?
Hope crept its way into her heart, but she tamped it down quickly. She couldn’t dare to dream that he might have real feelings for her too. Because if she started to think that way, if she imagined them as a family with their baby, she would be crushed when it didn’t happen. She needed to let it go and hope Duncan would at least be a part of the baby’s life.
After the fireworks, the crowd thinned out as many of the extended family headed home. Jamie stayed and helped Shannon and her family carry leftover food into the house and clean up trash from around the yard. Duncan and a few of the cousins started up a fire and moved chairs in a circle around it.
“Come on, Jame.” Shannon walked toward the fire. “Let’s make s’mores.”
Jamie wasn’t sure her stomach could take that since she was already nerved up on top of the normal “morning” sickness. But sitting around the fire on a pleasant summer evening sounded nice, so she followed.
Duncan placed the last of the chairs in the circle. “Here, Jamie. You can have this one.”