“And how old is your baby?” Alyssa asked.

  “Kate turned one last month.”

  “That's great,” Alyssa murmured. “That’s such a cute age.”

  “Yeah.” Derek’s gaze dropped to the floor, and it seemed as if he spoke to himself. “It comes with its burdens, though. Kids aren't cheap.”

  Alyssa pressed her lips together, not knowing what to say. Not for the first time, she remembered how fortunate she was. Before Ali, she'd made a decent living as a paralegal, although money had sometimes been tight. Marrying a man whose family was worth billions meant she'd never have to worry about basic needs again. She could quit her job if she ever wanted to. Not that she did. Alyssa loved working at the nonprofit; she loved feeling like she added something to society.

  “Is your wife excited?” Alyssa asked, purposefully changing the subject. She'd been through hard times herself when it came to money, but now that she had enough dough to take a private jet anywhere in the world, she didn't feel like she had any right putting her two cents in when it came to finances.

  “Yeah, she is.” Derek’s face lit up. “Hey, you should meet her sometime.”

  “That would be nice.”

  Alyssa remembered the beautiful woman from the class reunion. She'd been so jealous of Derek's wife, then, but now, she found herself wondering if she was as nice of a person as the one Derek had turned into.

  “What are you doing tomorrow night?” Derek asked.

  “Um…” Alyssa searched her mental calendar. It didn't take long. “Nothing.”

  “Come over for dinner.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. Shannon would love to meet you.”

  Alyssa hesitated, then realized she didn’t know why. So far, her negative assumptions about Derek had proven to be full of air. Their high school days were long behind.

  And it would be nice to get out of the house and do some socializing. With Ali gone, Lucy busy, and all of her other friends typically available for brunch once or twice a year, Alyssa was low on hangout options. She also needed something to distract her from the awful, needling feeling that grew every hour she went without telling Ali about the baby.

  “That sounds nice,” Alyssa said.

  “Sweet. Give me your number and I’ll text you the address.”

  After entering her number in his phone, Derek slapped his palm against the yearbook cover and stood. “I need to get going. See you tomorrow night.”

  “Yeah,” Alyssa agreed, leading the way into the hall. “What can I bring?”

  Derek shook his head. “Nothing. Shannon’s a great cook, by the way. You won’t leave disappointed.” Derek jerked his head in the direction of the kitchen. “Although, I guess you never are, huh, with a personal chef around?”

  “Oh, Marnie just comes a few times a week,” Alyssa said quickly. “I cook the rest of the time.”

  She pressed her lips together. So, she and Ali had a part-time chef. It wasn’t anything to be embarrassed about.

  Except it did make her feel kind of weird. Six months ago, she was stashing change all week long so she could splurge on brunch with Lucy come Sunday morning, and now, she lived in a luxurious apartment where, thanks to the housekeeper, she hadn’t plugged in the vacuum once.

  “See you tomorrow,” Alyssa said, opening the door for Derek.

  “Thanks again.” Derek waved using the yearbook.

  Alyssa closed the door behind him right as her phone buzzed in her back pocket. Pulling it out, she found a picture from Ali—one of him with his mother.

  Alyssa smiled, and then a text came in.

  Mother is coming back with me. She wants to spend some time in the States. Hope you are well. Love you and miss you.

  Biting her lip, Alyssa sighed. She wasn’t exactly sure where she stood with Noura. Judging by her behavior the last couple times Alyssa had visited Baqar, her best guess was Ali’s mother was accepting of the relationship…but not loving it.

  What would Noura say when she found out that Alyssa and Ali were having a baby before getting married? Ali’s parents were pretty traditional. In their minds, everything had to be done in a certain order, and if you didn’t follow that order, shame was the appropriate response.

  But things didn’t always work out the way you planned. Sometimes life threw you curveballs, and you just had to deal with them the best way you could.

  “You can’t please everyone,” Alyssa muttered, pocketing the phone.

  Too bad that, at the moment, she also felt like she couldn’t please herself.

  CHAPTER 8

  ALYSSA

  Stopping on the brownstone’s stoop, Alyssa took a moment to run her hand over her hair and check for flyaways. Around her, the Brooklyn neighborhood murmured with the noises of dusk. A bike bell rang. Kids shouted at each other. And, like always, cars honked.

  Opening the gate to Derek’s ground-floor apartment, Alyssa knocked on the front door. The sound of a baby wailing came from somewhere inside the apartment, and Alyssa swallowed hard.

  It’s going to be awesome being around a baby, she reminded herself. You need the practice.

  Still, that didn’t change how nervous the thought made her. Alyssa didn’t have a ton of experience with little kids to begin with, and currently growing her own kid made her doubt that miniscule experience even more.

  The door opened, and Derek’s wife stood there, beaming and smiling with cherry-red lips. Alyssa had seen her at the high school reunion earlier in the year, but close-up, she was even more beautiful.

  “Hi,” she said. “You must be Alyssa.”

  “That’s me,” Alyssa said, in way too cheery of a voice. She cleared her throat. “Shannon, right? I brought a bottle of red.”

  Shannon took the bottle and, somehow, smiled even wider. “Ooh, thanks. I love Malbec.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Come on in.” Shannon waved her hand. “Derek is just giving Kate her bottle.”

  “Thanks.”

  Unbuttoning her coat, Alyssa entered the home. A quick once-over of the surroundings revealed a cozy living room with family portraits on the walls, a plump couch with a patchwork quilt tossed over the back, and a bin with baby toys. A closed door to the right had to be a bedroom.

  “Here, I’ll take your coat and purse,” Shannon said.

  “Thanks.” Alyssa handed them over with her scarf, and Shannon hung them up on a hook by the front door.

  “The kitchen is back here,” Shannon said, leading the way into the next room.

  “Nice backyard,” Alyssa commented, noticing the sliding door that led to a small patio and patch of green space right away.

  “Oh, yeah. Thanks! We were so fortunate to get a spot with one. Do you live in Brooklyn?” Shannon asked.

  “Manhattan. With my fiancé.”

  How much had Derek told Shannon about Alyssa’s life? Or about their history together?

  “That’s right.” Shannon nodded. “And he’s gone right now?”

  “Traveling for work, yeah.”

  “Have a seat,” Shannon said, gesturing at the table and then scooting around a wall-mounted kitchen counter. “I just need to get this chicken out of the oven. Are you vegetarian? I also made a sweet potato quinoa casserole, and that’s completely vegan.”

  “No,” Alyssa answered, taking a seat. “Not vegetarian or vegan, thanks. I tried going veg for a while in college, but I was just hungry all the time.”

  “Oh my gosh, me too! A person can only eat so much tofu.”

  “I know, right?” Alyssa laughed. “They do have more alternatives now, though. The pea protein burger is pretty good.”

  “I know.” Shannon opened the freezer and showed Alyssa a frozen fake meat patty. “I use it as a ground beef substitute because Derek eats way too much red meat.” She winked and lowered her voice. “Our secret.”

  “Absolutely.” Alyssa laughed.

  Okay, so Derek’s wife wasn’t just nice. She was super nice.

  “I thought I heard your voice.”

  Alyssa looked over and found Derek standing in the kitchen doorway, holding his daughter. Feeling weird about sitting, Alyssa jumped to standing—but then, she felt even weirder. It wasn’t as if they were going to shake hands.

  “Hey, Derek.” Alyssa smiled at the baby, who looked at her with wide eyes. “And this is Kate, right?”

  Derek waved Kate’s chubby hand at Alyssa. “Say hi, Kate.”

  “Mm,” went Kate.

  Derek put the baby down on the kitchen floor, and she immediately crawled over to a walker in the corner that had all kinds of toys on it. With her spread hand, she hit a bright red button, and all the different parts of the walker lit up.

  “Ooh, fun.” Alyssa crouched down next to the walker. As Kate watched her warily, she pushed a blue button and “Mary Had a Little Lamb” started up.

  “Would you like a beer, Alyssa?” Derek asked.

  “Um.” Alyssa stood up.

  “She brought a red,” Shannon explained. She already had a wine opener and was getting busy popping the cork.

  “Nice,” Derek said.

  Shannon grabbed two wine glasses from an open cabinet. “It turns out we share a love for Malbec.” She grinned. “Also, we’ve both smooched your goofy face.”

  “Hey, now,” Derek protested. “That’s low.”

  “I don’t really…” Alyssa started to speak up, but Shannon was already filling the two glasses.

  Dang it. Why had she brought wine when she hadn’t planned on drinking any? Also, Derek had told her Shannon was pregnant. She should have brought a dessert instead.

  Maybe I can pretend to drink it…

  No. That was a stupid idea. You couldn’t pretend to drink wine. Not unless there was a chute under the table she could dump liquid into.

  “I’m actually good,” Alyssa said. “I’m not drinking right now.”

  “You’re not?” Shannon’s brows pushed together.

  “Yeah, I’m…” She couldn’t tell them she was pregnant. She’d promised herself that no one else would know until Ali did. “Just taking a break,” Alyssa finished. “Cleansing, you know? We got back from a vacation recently and I had more than enough booze for a while.”

  Shannon nodded. “Oh, yeah. Totally understandable. I’m not drinking either, but for another reason.” She placed her hand on her tummy. There was the slightest roundness there, but not enough for her pregnancy to be obvious.

  “That’s right,” Alyssa said. “Congratulations.”

  “Thanks.” Shannon smiled.

  “Cleansing,” Derek chimed in. “You’ll never catch me doing that.” He took a hearty sip of wine.

  Shannon pursed her lips at her husband. “Why does that not surprise me?”

  A timer rang out, and Alyssa breathed a sigh of relief as Shannon pulled the casserole out and the three adults got busy settling at the table. Kate, amid a bit of kicking and fussing, was placed in her high chair. Once she had some sweet potato casserole in front of her, though, she calmed down and began eating with gusto.

  “This looks amazing,” Alyssa said honestly, gazing at the casserole, roasted chicken, and spinach salad in front of her.

  “What did I tell you?” Derek asked. “Best cook I know.”

  “So, tell me about you, Alyssa.” Her shoulders back, Shannon cut her chicken with sharp, careful moves. Her poise made her seem like she belonged in a fancy restaurant, not at home with a baby in a high chair next to her. “What do you do?”

  “I used to be a paralegal,” Alyssa said. “But I left that this year to work at an environmental nonprofit.”

  “Oh! That’s so nice.”

  “Yeah.” Alyssa nodded. “It really is. My position is starting, so it’s not fancy at all. There’s a lot of grunge work. I love it, though.”

  Derek swirled his wine, his gaze on Alyssa. “It’s nice you can quit a good job like that.”

  Irritation pricked Alyssa’s chest. Had he meant to say that in such a patronizing way?

  “I count myself very lucky.” Alyssa smiled at Derek. She was being paranoid. He’d invited her over to dinner, invited her to meet his family. He wasn’t trying to beat her down.

  “And you’re engaged,” Shannon said.

  “Yep.” Alyssa lifted her ring hand. “We’re pretty excited.”

  “Gosh, I bet.” Shannon cut chicken into tiny pieces. “When is the wedding?”

  “We don’t know yet.” Alyssa took a sip of water. “We’re still discussing that.”

  Shannon put the cut-up chicken on Kate’s plate.

  “No,” Kate said.

  “Try it,” her mother said, picking up a piece of chicken and holding it to Kate’s lips. “It’s yummy.”

  “No!” Kate wailed.

  “Sorry,” Derek said with a sigh. “We couldn’t get a babysitter tonight.”

  “Oh my gosh,” Alyssa said around a mouthful of salad. She hurried to swallow so she could continue. “That’s all right. I’m so glad I could meet her. I love kids.”

  Shannon glowed. “Do you and your fiancé have plans for any?”

  Alyssa struggled to answer. She couldn’t tell them the truth, but she also didn’t like lying. “In the future, yeah,” she settled with saying. “We’ve talked about it.”

  Alyssa tried to keep her face neutral. She had always been awful at hiding things.

  “We’re pretty excited about our second,” Shannon said.

  “I bet,” Alyssa said. “Do you stay home with Kate?”

  “I haven’t been, no. I work at a tutoring center teaching math. When the new baby comes, though, I’ll stay home. Daycare is just astronomical. It wouldn’t make sense to pay for two kids. All of my paycheck would go to that.”

  “Right.” Alyssa nodded, knowing there was no way her checks from the nonprofit would ever cover something like full-time care for two kids. Thanks to Ali’s family, they would be able to do whatever they wanted when the baby came.

  Which brought her to a load of questions. Would she keep working at the nonprofit? She loved her job there and didn’t want to give it up, but she also didn’t want to work a full forty hours and be away from her baby. Maybe her boss would be willing to work out something part-time.

  Alyssa glanced at Derek. He’d been quiet through the whole exchange, and he sat there drinking his wine and watching the women talk.

  A short ring permeated the kitchen, and Derek pulled his phone out of his pocket to read a text. “I have to make a quick call. It’s work.” He looked at Alyssa. “Sorry.”

  “Oh, no.” Alyssa waved her hand. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

  “I’ll make it quick.” He hurried out of the room, and Alyssa heard a door in the front of the apartment close.

  Kate banged her palms on her high chair. “Juice. Juice!”

  “No juice,” Shannon said. “Water.” She handed Kate a sippy cup.

  “How is Derek’s work going?” Alyssa asked. “I know in high school he always said he wanted to go into journalism. It’s cool that he’s done that.”

  “It’s…okay.” Shannon hesitated. “He’d rather be working at a larger publication, but it’s nice to just have a job, you know?”

  “Where is he working now?” Alyssa said, realizing she’d never asked. She’d gleaned that Derek did some freelancing, but he hadn’t yet mentioned the name of the place he full-timed at.

  “He was at the Times, but they were forced to make some redundancies a few months back,” Shannon said quietly. “Do you know Whispers?”

  Alyssa blinked rapidly. “Yeah. I do.” Whispers was a gossip magazine. A common cover photo involved Hollywood “it” couples on the beach or news about so-and-so’s divorce…which sometimes didn’t even turn out to be true. Alyssa had thumbed through the magazine before while standing in line at the grocery store, and she was one hundred percent sure they’d never published any kind of real news.

  “Yeah,” Derek’s voice said in the other room. “Bye.” He entered the kitchen, slipping his phone in his pants’ pocket and smiling. “Sorry again about that. Did I miss anything?”

  “Nope,” Alyssa smiled.

  “That was a quick call,” Shannon commented.

  “Yeah, Greg just needed to run an edit by me.” Derek cleared his throat. His knife scraped against his plate as he cut his chicken. “Alyssa, when did you say Ali is back?”

  “In a few weeks,” Alyssa said. Had she and Derek talked about Ali’s trip? She couldn’t remember.

  “You must miss him,” Shannon cooed. “That's a long time when you're engaged.”

  “Yeah,” Alyssa agreed. “I get to travel with him sometimes, though, so that's nice.”

  “Bah,” Kate said. “Mama.” She reached her hand out for Alyssa, and the three adults laughed.

  “That's what she calls anyone who even looks remotely like me,” Shannon explained. “I think to her, Mama means, ‘woman of a certain age.’”

  “That's so cute,” Alyssa said.

  “Do any of your friends have kids?” Shannon asked.

  “Yeah,” Derek said. “What about Rachel?”

  Alyssa shook her head. “Oh, Rachel and I don't stay in touch. We just ran into each other at the reunion. I have a few friends who have families, though.”

  As she said the words, Alyssa wondered if those “friends” were even that anymore. Over the last few years, people had become harder and harder to make plans with. Everyone wanted to stay at home with their families, it seemed.

  Alyssa really, really hoped she didn’t become like that. Yeah, family was important. But so were friends. You couldn’t count on your spouse and kids for everything.

  “But, you know,” Alyssa said slowly, looking between Derek and Shannon. “It’s hard maintaining friendships. And it’s not that people don’t want to. It’s that they…can’t, always, I guess.”

  “Or they choose not to prioritize their friendships,” Shannon said wistfully. “Even though we need friends.”

  “Exactly,” Alyssa agreed.

  “Yeah.” Shannon beamed. “I’m glad you’re over here.” She rubbed Derek’s shoulder. “Honey, I’m glad you brought Alyssa here.”