So Revealing (Happy Endings Book Club, Book 3)

by Kylie Gilmore

  Hailey piped up right away. “Did he propose? Please let me plan your wedding.”

  Mad leaned around Charlotte to shoot Hailey a dark look. “She means congratulations.” She stared at Charlotte. “Wow, I can’t believe Ty’s going to be a dad.”

  “Yes, congratulations!” Hailey hugged her. “I knew there was something there. Two physical people, both of you enjoy working out and a healthy lifestyle. I predicted this match!” She lifted a finger. “In fact, I think I might’ve helped it along by speaking so highly of Ty. Am I right?”

  Charlotte gave her that one. “Sure.”

  “We’re so happy for you,” Lauren said, wrapping her long light brown hair around her hand. “Is Ty happy too?”

  Charlotte nodded, smiling like a fool. “He is.” She glanced down the hallway, where Ty had disappeared, probably to make plans for their future. She turned back to her friends. “You guys, he is so sweet and tender. I’ve never met a man like him.”

  “Wait, my brother Ty?” Mad asked. “The one who told Park he’d kick his ass if he touched me? That guy?”

  “He was only looking out for you,” Charlotte said. “He loves Park like a brother, you know that. He just wanted Park to step up and he did.”

  Mad tsked. “I could have done without the interference.”

  “So that’s why we’re here?” Hailey asked. “This is all happy news. I must confess I was a little worried about the emergency nature of this meeting.”

  Charlotte got serious.

  Hailey grabbed her arm. “Should I be worried?”

  Charlotte took a deep breath. “I want to be real with you. I find it hard to open up to people, but I need to, starting now.”

  Hailey’s eyes widened. “What is it? Are you feeling okay?”

  “I’m great!” Charlotte flashed a smile. “Okay, let me start at the beginning. Back in February when I missed our book club meeting, it was because I was recovering from surgery.”

  “Surgery!” Hailey exclaimed.

  “Why didn’t you tell us? We could’ve helped you!” Lauren exclaimed.

  “Because I’m not used to leaning on anyone,” Charlotte said. “It was laparoscopic, which makes it less invasive. Anyway, it was because of severe endometriosis. Very painful periods. They took out a lot of scar tissue and cysts. Later the doctor told me it would be difficult for me to become pregnant. Like only a one percent chance. She recommended I think about in vitro sooner rather than later. I’m a little older than you all, thirty-one.”

  “That’s not that old,” Lauren said in a soothing voice. The women all murmured agreement.

  Charlotte inclined her head. “Thanks. For fertility, age makes a big difference. I was considering doing in vitro with a sperm donor before I missed my window, and then I met Ty.” She found herself smiling again. “And he was just…amazing. I can’t even believe how much I love him. Even before he knew about the pregnancy—by the way, we both just found out today—he told me he wanted a future with me, marriage, kids, dog, the whole deal.”

  The women exclaimed excitedly over this news. “Sisters!” Mad exclaimed, high-fiving Charlotte.

  “Are you engaged?” Hailey asked, squirming with excitement.

  “Yes, and we want you to plan it as soon as possible,” Charlotte said.

  Hailey squealed and whipped out her phone. “I’ll set up an appointment for both of you right now.”

  “Can you wait on that?” Charlotte asked. “I need to share a little more.”

  Hailey’s head shot up, her jubilant expression fading. “What is it? Are you okay?”

  Charlotte stared at the bright pink lines on the pregnancy test. So much hope and promise in two little lines. She lifted her head. “I’m thrilled about the pregnancy, but here’s the part I need you all for. I already know I’m high risk. I want to stay here with my doctor, and the hospital in the city is the best for high-risk pregnancies. As much as I want to be with Ty, I don’t want to move out to LA while I’m pregnant. I could get put on bed rest and I don’t know anyone there.”

  “You know Ty,” Mad said. “He’ll help for sure.”

  “Yes, but he’ll also be working,” Charlotte said. “And this is just one of those times when I need to be…” She couldn’t speak for a moment with all the emotion clogging her throat. “I’ve never asked for help from anyone before, but I’m asking now, hoping you’ll all be there to help me get through whatever this pregnancy brings.”

  The women all rushed to assure her they’d see her through the whole thing.

  “Huddle up,” Mad said, standing and bringing them all in for a group hug. Mad put her hand in the center of the circle. “Hands in, bitches got your back on three.” She counted off.

  “Bitches got your back!” the women chorused.

  Charlotte’s eyes welled, tears leaking out. That must be why she’d been so emotional the last couple of weeks. Hormones. It wasn’t just Ty heading back to LA. She found herself blurting everything she usually kept buried deep. “You ladies are like the sisters I never had. I love you all so much.”

  The tears must’ve been contagious. Soon everyone was crying and taking turns hugging and congratulating her. Finally they all settled back in their seats. Her friends kept smiling at her, as happy as she was, it seemed.

  Hailey put a hand on her arm. “Are you scared?”

  “I’m a little scared,” Charlotte admitted, “but mostly crazy happy.”

  Carrie, a young blonde woman with glasses, piped up. “Don’t forget I’m a pediatric nurse. I can stay overnight whenever I’m not working. Whatever you need, Char.”

  “Thank you,” Charlotte said, near tears again.

  “Knock wood it doesn’t happen—” Lauren knocked wood on the coffee table even though it was glass “—but if you end up on bed rest, I’ll organize us in shifts to visit and bring you food.”

  “Thank you, everyone,” Charlotte said. Somehow knowing she had a little human to look out for made it easier to open up about what she needed. “The thing that scares me most of all is Ty’s job. It’s so dangerous. I want him around for this.”

  “It’s just a broken leg,” Mad said. “That’s happened before.”

  “People die from stunts gone wrong,” Charlotte said.

  “You want him to give up his job when he’s got a kid on the way?” Mad asked. “That doesn’t sound like a good idea.”

  “Not completely,” Charlotte said. “I want him to do something safer. Like be a personal trainer. He can’t do his job forever.”

  Mad shook her head. “He used to be a personal trainer. He got bored. You don’t want him to feel restless and bored forced into a job he hates, do you?”

  Charlotte thought about that. Both she and Ty were high risk now. She was willing to accept risk for herself for the reward of the baby at the end. He loved being a stuntman and was willing to take that risk for a job he loved. They were the same that way. Shit. She got it now. She was asking him to love her and accept her high-risk situation, so that meant she had to do the same for him. She had to allow herself to love him unconditionally, accepting that he might die doing what he loved. She wasn’t happy about it, but there it was. She didn’t want to be the reason he gave up his dream career and definitely didn’t want him to resent her and the baby.

  She suddenly realized everyone was looking at her expectantly. “Of course I want Ty to be happy. I just worry with both of us being high risk. We’ll work it out.”

  “Is there a chance you might…die?” Mad whispered.

  “I don’t know,” Charlotte said. “Maybe. I guess there’s more of a chance. I didn’t talk to the doctor yet.”

  “How can you not know?” Mad barked.

  Charlotte turned to Mad, shocked at her friend’s tone. “Pregnancy and birth are always risky.”

  “No, you said you were high risk,” Mad snapped. “What does that mean?”

  Charlotte spoke carefully, not wanting to alarm Mad given what had happened to Tammy.
“The risks I know about so far are manageable. The baby could be born premature. I might need a C-section. I could get preeclampsia, that’s high blood pressure. I could hemorrhage.”

  Mad hissed out a breath.

  Charlotte rushed on. “But with good care and a good support system, I should be fine. And I’m sure I have both.”

  “C-section,” Mad said in a hushed voice. “That’s how Tammy died, having Viv.”

  Lauren gasped. “Viv never knew her mom? Poor thing.” The women murmured their sympathies for Alex and Viv.

  “Ty must be freaking out,” Mad said. “Oh, Charlotte.” Her voice choked and she swore a blue streak, dashing tears from her eyes with her fists.

  Her friends all stared at Charlotte for a long solemn moment.

  “But the odds are still good for a healthy pregnancy,” Charlotte assured them. “I just need to be monitored closely.” She hadn’t known Tammy and she was much too excited over her little miracle to spend time dwelling on the risks. She’d take precautions, yes, but she also planned on treasuring every moment. This might be her one and only pregnancy.

  “Charlotte’s right, odds are excellent for a healthy outcome,” Hailey said reassuringly. “We’ll make sure you stay low risk and Ty too.”

  “How you gonna do that?” Mad asked.

  Hailey leaned around Charlotte to speak directly to Mad. “I’m far more than just a matchmaking wedding planner. I have connections in all sorts of industries. We’re going to come up with some way for Ty to have the career he loves with lower risk and we’re all going to take care of Charlotte.”

  A tickling of unease had Charlotte speaking up. “Don’t worry about Ty. I’ll talk to him.”

  Hailey went on as if Charlotte hadn’t spoken, already deep in planning mode. “We’re getting Julia in on this and Claire too. I want all hands on deck!” They both used to be in book club. Julia had left when she had her daughter, Grace. Now she spent all her time taking care of Grace and writing her erotic romance novels during her daughter’s naptime. Claire was absent due to her movie-star career.

  Hailey grabbed her cell and went into the kitchen to talk. Charlotte really hoped Hailey wasn’t doing anything too crazy. Charlotte hadn’t even spoken to Ty yet. She needed him to know she wouldn’t stand in his way of doing what he loved, even if it was hard on her heart. She wanted him happy most of all. Now that she thought about it, who was Ty calling?

  Ten minutes later, Hailey poked her head out of the kitchen to say Julia had invited Charlotte to call or come over any time with any questions she had and even offered her mother-in-law to babysit.

  “Mrs. Marino is great with kids,” Missy put in. “She’s my sister’s mother-in-law too. She regularly has all the grandkids over at the house. You should come to Sunday dinner. I’m sure she’d love to meet you and help out.”

  “But I don’t even know Julia’s family,” Charlotte said.

  “Yeah, yeah, you know them,” Mad put in. “Nico Marino is Park’s boss. Now you’re my sister, so you’re practically family with them too.”

  Charlotte wasn’t quite sure how that all made sense, but given that she had zero family she could count on, she wouldn’t mind having some family in her life.

  “You’d be surprised,” Missy said. “The Marinos, they just take you in, make you feel like family.”

  “That’s what my family does,” Mad said, almost like it was a competition. “You can be part of ours. As soon as Ty gets off his ass and makes it official.”

  Charlotte laughed. “Don’t give him a hard time. I have a feeling he’s already planning something.”

  Hailey poked her head out of the kitchen again and gestured to Charlotte. “Claire wants to talk to you.”

  Charlotte took the phone. “Hey, Claire, how are you? Enjoying married life?”

  “I love it,” Claire replied in her throaty husky voice. “If I wasn’t way the hell up in Vancouver, I’d be giving you a big jumping hug right now. Congratulations! I’m so happy for you. Hailey explained what a miracle it is and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer couple.”

  “Thank you.” She was a little surprised Claire spoke so positively about Ty, since the last time she’d seen them together at her wedding, Charlotte had been furious at him.

  Claire went on almost as though she’d heard Charlotte’s thoughts. “Ty’s a good guy. And don’t let the bulky muscles and booming voice fool you, he’s a mushy teddy bear under all that. You know, the night before our wedding, he brought Jake to tears with his heartfelt wishes for our future. And Jake is not a crier! It was one of those zing under-the-defenses jabs straight to the heart. I wish I’d been there. It was something like he’d always looked up to him as an older brother and as a man, and he taught him by example to follow his heart, and what a huge success Jake was in every aspect of his life. But so much better than that.”

  Charlotte smiled. “Yeah, he does that.”

  “I know I’m not there with you all as much as I want to be, but I’m going to do whatever I can to help.”

  “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

  “Make sure you fill out a baby registry. I’m going to get you absolutely everything on it and I won’t take no for an answer.”

  Charlotte smiled. “Okay.”

  “See? You know better than to argue with me. Okay, stay strong, sister. I’ll be back in Connecticut in time for your third trimester and the birth. You just found out, right? You’re like, what, a month along?”

  “I think so.”

  “Awesome. I’ll be back to film Fierce Loving September first, and every spare moment I’ll be checking in to see how awesome you’re doing. Oh! I’ll make some phone calls and make sure we get the best specialists lined up for you and the baby too.”

  “Thanks, Claire, that means a lot. More than you know.” She liked her doctor but wouldn’t mind knowing she had others waiting in the wings if she needed it.

  “I’m so glad you’re letting us in for this huge moment in your life. Believe me, I know how hard it is to let people get close. You’re a lot like me that way. I’m going to talk to Jake about Ty and see what we might come up with that lowers his risk level to where we’re all comfortable.”

  “Oh, Claire, you don’t have to do that. I’ll talk to him. I don’t want him to feel—”

  “You just relax. Your sisters got your back. Ciao!” She hung up.

  Oh boy. So many people making so many plans without her. She knew it was all with good intentions, but at some point she had to wrangle them all in the same direction. She shook her head, smiling to herself. It was a good problem to have. She’d spent her whole life doing everything on her own. Now she had more than enough help. Everything would work out.

  Ty appeared suddenly in front of her. “I’m staying in Connecticut until the baby is born. I just took a leave of absence.”

  “Yay!” She threw her arms around his neck.

  “Hey, no sudden movements. Take it easy. Nice and slow back to the sofa.”

  She bit back a laugh, knowing his concern came from a good place. She’d educate him on pregnancy later.

  Chapter Sixteen

  That night Ty washed the dinner dishes so Charlotte could stay off her feet. Everything about this pregnancy felt fragile and delicate. He hadn’t even been able to have sex earlier. Not because of Charlotte, she was all in, trying to seduce him as soon as her friends left. He called a halt to the proceedings because all he could think about was accidentally jostling the baby or poking it or something. Charlotte had laughed and said he needed some pregnancy education, which irritated him because she was just as new at all this, but then she took him in her hot mouth with the perfect amount of suction. If they had to stick to blow jobs for her safety, he’d deal.

  See? He was already getting the hang of being a good husband.

  He finished up, grabbed his crutches, and joined Charlotte where she was watching some reality show about a pregnant woman. He took one look at the woman—hugely pregnant a
nd walking down a hospital hallway with an IV—and immediately felt nauseous. It was just too easy to imagine it was Charlotte. And there he’d be at the hospital, waiting, helpless, not knowing if everything was going to turn out okay. He grabbed the remote and changed the channel.

  “Hey!” Charlotte protested. “It was just getting good.”

  The news blared and it was more than he could take right now. He shut the TV off and ran his hands down her arms, needing the reassuring touch. “What can I do to keep you safe?”

  “I am safe.”

  He snagged her hands and squeezed. “I mean you and the baby. Safe and healthy, that’s all I want.”

  She smiled. “You’re so sweet. Everything’s fine. None of the high-risk stuff happens until I’m further along. We have a few worry-free months.”

  That didn’t cut it for the amount of anxious energy kicking through his body. He wanted to pace or run or kick someone’s ass. Of course, he couldn’t with a broken leg. He drummed his fingers on his thigh.

  “I know what will make you feel better,” she said with a note of seduction in her voice.

  “I don’t want a blow job right now.” He shoved both hands through his hair. “I’m freaking out, if you can’t tell.” He’d made a bunch of phone calls, trying to piece together some kind of plan that made sense to him, but there were too many loose ends, too many uncertainties.

  “You’ve been freaking out ever since you got here. I know it was a shock. Let me help you out.” She gave him a sexy smile and started to take off her shirt.

  He snagged the bottom of her shirt and pulled it back in place. “Keep it on. We’re not having sex until after the baby is born and then only after the doc says you’re okay.”

  “Seriously?” she asked in an incredulous voice.

  “Seriously.”

  She gave him a small impish smile. “We can still hug and kiss, right?”

  He eyed her suspiciously. That sounded like a gateway to heavier stuff to him.

  She lifted one shoulder up and down. “Okay, we’ll just hang out.”

  “Oh no, you can’t fool me with that just hanging out stuff. That’s my line. How do you think we got here? Just hang out is code for let’s get naked.”