“Come on. It’s not like he’s competition or anything.” She paused. “Is he? I didn’t know Emily and Connor were friends.”
“I didn’t either,” he retorted, mood once again black as he tossed his empty beer into the recycling bin.
“Does he know about the baby and your part in that little miracle?”
Ethan glanced up at the ceiling and counted to five. When he was fairly certain he could carry on a conversation with his sister without losing his temper, he turned back to her.
“I don’t know anything, Georgie. After Jenkins left, Emily got sick and wanted to be alone.”
His sister’s mouth dropped open. “And you believed her?”
Ethan frowned. “Why would she lie about being sick?”
Georgie swore like a trucker. Said some impressive words he’d never heard before. She slapped her forehead dramatically. “Why are men such idiots? Seriously, Ethan. Your baby mama was sick, and you left her alone. Who does that?”
“She told me to leave.”
“She gave you an out, and you took it.”
“I didn’t leave right away,” he admitted, wincing at the sound of her vomiting in the bathroom. He’d waited at least ten minutes before she’d stumbled out of the bathroom, pale and green at the same time, if that were possible.
“You should have stayed, but I guess it’s not your fault, Eth. You don’t know where you stand, so I get it.” Georgianna gave him a half smile. “You’re both tiptoeing around the fact that you’re having a baby together, and what makes it harder is that you’re not together. And you guys have a lot of history that’s all tangled up in Rick and what happened five years ago, and…” She paused and watched him closely.
A headache began to crawl up either side of his temples. “Just say it, Georgie.”
“And you love her, and that complicates things more.”
He glared at his sister hard, denial hot on his tongue, but then realized there was no point. His sister was a romantic, and she’d see what she wanted to see. For her, this whole scenario was a fairy tale come true. Her brother and his best friend, the tragic young widow, coming together over their shared grief and finding a happily ever after.
“Yes, I love Emily,” he said, moving away from the bench because it sure as hell seemed like he wasn’t going to get any work done. “But not the way you think.”
“Whatever,” Georgie said with a smirk. She reached for her hat and mittens and pulled them on slowly, giving him some serious side-eye as she did so. “It’s kind of a moot point anyway.”
“Then why did you drive all the way out to the lake to see me?”
She yanked her hat back onto her head. “We’ve already established I’m a crap liar, and I’m pretty sure Mom and Dad will have heard about Emily by tomorrow because Mom goes to church every Sunday. Other than the Coach House or the hair salon, it’s the best place for gossip. If they ask me about it, about if I know who the father is, I’m not sure I’ll be able to convince them I don’t. And if they press me about it, I don’t know what I’ll say.”
“You’re blackmailing me so that I’ll come to dinner?” Un. Fucking. Believable. As if he didn’t have enough to worry about.
She reached for the door. “I’m suggesting you come is all. But before you do, you might want to check in with Emily and maybe have that conversation you didn’t get to have.” She winked. “Trust me, you’ll feel better if you do.”
Chapter Eight
Emily checked the clock on her bedside table one more time and swore. Ethan was going to be at her place at any moment and she was standing in front of her closet, staring at racks of clothes, wearing a bra and thong.
“Wear whatever you want,” he’d said when he called earlier and informed her he was taking her out for dinner. She’d protested. He wouldn’t accept her protestations. And now they had a date. Well, not a date in the normal sense of the word. He wasn’t her boyfriend.
She got hung up on the thought, and she realized she’d only ever had one boyfriend. Rick had been her first.
She heaved a sigh and blew at a strand of hair that hung in her eyes. She was looking forward to getting out of the house, and truthfully, things would be said that needed to be said, stuff sorted out that needed sorting, and finally, she and Ethan would