Page 51

TWO MONTHS LATER…

Astrid twisted the diamond ring on her finger and held her breath.

She wasn’t sure when she’d been more nervous.

The day she’d told Blake they were pregnant, that the emergency pill she’d taken in Springfield hadn’t worked.

The day they’d waited with bated breath for the baby’s heartbeat to appear.

Or today, waiting for her ride-or-die besties to respond to the news that she, Astrid Sinclair, was pregnant!

They’d all come together in her uncle’s NYC pad to celebrate her engagement to Blake.

Only Sissi knew the bonus news. Astrid had been careful to tell her alone, knowing the painful secret of her friend’s miscarriage, she’d wanted to handle the news with all the love and care Sissi deserved.

Bad enough that someday soon Sissi would have to come face to face with Aiden at their wedding, but to do so with her friend pregnant too… it was a lot. A lot, a lot.

But as Sissi took her hand now, her smile was all warmth and encouragement.

‘I knew it!’ Paige declared, slapping down her untouched glass of champagne. ‘It’s a freaking shotgun wedding!’

Astrid gave a choked laugh. ‘It’s really not.’

‘No?’

‘Sounds like a shotgun wedding to me,’ Bella agreed. ‘You know, you don’t need to get married just because you’re having a baby.’

‘It is the twenty-first century,’ Paige stressed, ‘you do have a choice.’

‘I know that, my loves, I do.’

‘And you’re sure about this?’ Bella pressed.

She couldn’t blame her friend for being overly cautious. After being jilted at the altar the idea of walking up it again had to fill Bella with the heebie-jeebies and not even Chase’s love and Olly’s reasoning could rid her of that horror.

‘None of us can know for sure what the future holds,’ Astrid said calmly. ‘But I know what I want right now, and that is to be married to the man I love.’

‘I’ll drink to that,’ said Sissi.

‘But three months?’ Paige murmured, her VA head doing the math. ‘That means…’

Astrid nodded. ‘Karma days.’

‘Oh my God, love, why didn’t you tell us sooner?

’ Bella asked, her brow creasing with concern.

‘You must have been going out of your mind? You kept Blake to yourself long enough but this… I thought we’d made it clear that we’re here for you.

No matter what’s going on in our world, you can tell us anything. ’

‘I know I can. I just wanted to wait for the scans and for us to be sure, and then I wanted to do it in person. And I know how it looks, believe me. The idea that I’ve trapped him into marriage.

The press will have a field day over the headlines.

The Hoe of a Hack has a particularly good ring to it. ’

‘Don’t!’ Sissi squeezed her hand. ‘It’s pointless thinking about any of that, they’ll soon find something else to talk about.’

‘True enough. Blake and his PR crew met with Sports Illustrated this morning to look at how best to manage the news.’

‘Shouldn’t you have gone?’ Bella said. ‘It’s your area so to speak.’

‘Blake thinks it would only incense me further and he’s not wrong. He’s taking this whole protective father, protective husband role to a whole other level. Besides, he has it handled. He’s become something of a media pro with his revamped image.’

‘Something he has you to thank for.’

She smiled. ‘I only told the world the truth.’

‘And you do look so very happy,’ Sissi said softly.

‘I am. Truly. Blake is too. I’m not gonna lie, the day I took the pregnancy test, I was all over the place, but the second Blake walked in the door, I knew it was going to be okay. That whatever we decided, we’d be okay, because we were in it together.’

Sissi’s hand flexed around hers and Astrid bit her cheek, knowing her friend was thinking how different it had been for her. How Aiden had abandoned her. She hated that her happiness could bring her friend the opposite. ‘Sissi…’

‘I’m happy for you,’ she stressed, knowing exactly where Astrid’s head had gone.

And Astrid knew she meant it, but…

‘I really am, honey. Now let us toast to your happiness!’

They all clinked glasses and Astrid grabbed the OJ she’d set aside so as not to hint at the baby surprise. ‘You know?—’

Her phone interjected with a buzz and she glanced at the screen.

Blake

Do I need to wear my jockstrap?

She laughed into her drink.

‘What’s so funny?’ Paige said.

‘Blake’s asking if he’s safe?’

‘Safe?’ Bella asked.

‘He’s scared of what you might do to him for getting me pregnant.’

‘Well, it takes two to tango,’ Paige murmured.

‘That’s what I said you’d say and for the record, it’s what I said too.’

‘Oh my God, he really is a pussycat!’ Bella laughed out.

‘He is and he’s all mine – well, ours …’ She touched a hand to her invisible bump. ‘And in a few months, he’ll be my husband, which brings me to my next bit of news.’

‘Is it twins ?’ Paige asked.

‘No! But I’d really appreciate triplets’ – three sets of eyes bugged out – ‘in the maid of honour sense.’

‘Now you’re talking!’ Paige said.

‘ Three maids of honour, is that even legal?’ Bella said.

‘It’s my wedding, I can have three if I want three.’

The girls squealed with excitement, all save for Sissi who took a calming sip of champagne, then, ‘Is he going to be best man?’

And Astrid had to dampen the mischief in her smile… because though Sissi wouldn’t like her answer now, Astrid hoped with every fibre of her being that come her honeymoon, her friend would be thanking her for more than just the pretty frock.

She’d be heading for her own sparkly rock…

* * *

‘You told them then?’ Blake said, sweeping her into his arms when she returned home to their house in Brooklyn later that evening.

‘Yup.’

He pressed a kiss to her lips. ‘About the baby?’

She nodded.

‘And the wedding plans? The island location, the wedding party, Aiden…?’

‘Mm-hmm.’

‘And Sienna?’ he said, leaning back so that he could search her gaze. ‘She knows she’ll have to play nice?’

‘I think play nice is a bit extreme. Civil, if he’s lucky.’

He gave a low chuckle. ‘Aiden’s gonna kill me.’

‘Sissi didn’t kill me.’

‘That’s because she’s had a hand in this from the start, he doesn’t even know you two know each other yet…’

‘Speaking of which, don’t you think it’s time you had that conversation?’

‘About how my fiancée tried to?—’

‘No, Blake! We can never tell him that!’

‘Just teasing, babe.’ He kissed her mortified lips closed. ‘But yeah, I know it’s time. Though finding the right moment and the right words to tell him his sister-in-law-to-be is best buds with his ex, ain’t easy.’

‘Better now than on our wedding day.’

‘For sure.’

‘And once they’re stuck on an island together for a whole week, they’ll have no choice but to talk and then who knows what might happen.’

‘Alright, Little Miss Matchmaker, don’t get ahead of yourself. I’m still not convinced we should be using our wedding venue as a neutral battleground for them to sort their shit out.’

‘I think it’s genius.’

‘It could backfire spectacularly.’

‘Well if your brother had picked up the bloody phone all those years ago, we wouldn’t be in this situation.’

‘I might never have met you then.’

She grinned. ‘Hell of a Catch-22.’

‘But Astrid…?’

‘Yeah.’

‘We’re not going to spend our wedding taking sides, are we?’

‘That depends.’

‘On what?’

‘Whether you choose the right side…’

‘I’m starting to wish we’d eloped to Vegas, Twinkle Toes.’

‘And miss the opportunity of throwing the best man and maid of honour together… I don’t think so.’

‘What’s a wedding without fireworks, hey?’

‘My sentiments exactly.’