Page 91 of Her Christmas Wish

“We need to talk,” he said. As though they’d been communicating in some other fashion for the past few minutes.

She nodded. “Not with Leigh...” She broke off. “As soon as her show is over, she’ll be out here...”

Right. Made sense. Leigh.

A big sister.

Thewhooshthat hit him left him a bit lightheaded for a second.

Siblings.

Shoving the thought away, he was hit with another. “Have you told anyone else?”

“Of course not.”

“Can you hold off, with Scott in particular, until we have a chance to talk?”

“We, as in you and Scott talk? Or you and me talk?”

He looked at her. “Really?”

With a nod, and a hint of an eye roll, she said, “Yes, I’ll hold off. I was planning to shop today. Usually take Leigh with me, but with as busy a day as she had yesterday, I could ask Scott or Iris to watch her. We could meet somewhere...”

The where...had to be someplace unromantic. With reminders all around of their changed status. No longer lovers. Or friends. But parents.

He shook his head. Couldn’t grasp it. Wondered at a fate that would push them into such a situation. Even as he knew that he and Sage had made a choice a couple of weeks ago, a split-second decision to act rather than think...

“Let’s meet at my cottage,” he told her. “Text me with a time. I’ll get showered and contact the Realtor for a key. You can give me pointers on renovation ideas. Tell your brother whatever you like,” he added and turned to head down the steps.

He’d had no business asking for her silence. She might need Scott’s shoulder to lean on as she and Gray traversed turbulent, murky waters.

Both feet on the sand, he stopped, turned slowly back. Sage stood there, watching him, and he couldn’t figure out her expression at all.

She wasn’t mad. Or crying. She was...there. With him.

“I’m not walking away, Sage.” It was the only guarantee he could give her.

Her smile was odd, too. Trembly. But it was there.

With a nod, he strode up the beach.

He had a purpose.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Sage knew her twin was onto her the second she asked him to keep Leigh for her Sunday morning. She didn’t say why. He didn’t ask. The pause on the line was enough.

Also odd was when he asked where she needed him and when. As though only her schedule mattered. Accommodating her alone, not the both of them as was their way.

Something generally done only in emergencies.

And still, she didn’t say where she was going, or why.

Which would be more of a “tell” to him.

She was pregnant. Was going to be a mother for a second time. And was going to be growing the child, inside her. Would feel her baby move there. Would breastfeed.

Sprinkles of delight burst through her.