As she rounded the turn, her phone buzzed and she read a text from Libby. Is she there?
Alice examined the small crowd, scanning it for Jess. Surely Jess wouldn’t walk into the heart of Libby’s loyal team? It would be the equivalent of self-flagellation and that really wasn’t Jess’s style. Then again, given what she’d done to Libby, who could predict her thought processes and behavior?
The original plan had been for Libby and Jess to walk the graveyard hours together. Alice remembered the sense of isolation that had jabbed her when she’d heard them organizing it. Although they’d told her they’d taken the time slot to give the other team members a break during the difficult hours, she’d known it was also because it gave them uninterrupted time together. Theirs had always been an intense friendship—one that didn’t require anyone else and it came complete with its own set of gestures and words. Their friendship not only bruised Alice, it often filled her with envy. But now Libby was cleaved in half by the double betrayal of her best friend and her husband, and the once intimate friendship lay shattered. Destroyed. Alice didn’t have to guess how Libby was feeling—it was there in front of her every minute of the day. In a way, it was part of her own self.
But no matter which way Alice came at it, she couldn’t fathom what Jess was experiencing. Was she hoping Nick would leave Libby for her? As soon as the thought percolated, Alice discarded it. Surely if Jess had wanted that, she’d have told Libby about Leo months earlier. Was Jess angry that Nick had spilled the secret and jettisoned her friendship with Libby? Was she grieving too? Or had she known for a long time that she’d sacrificed the friendship the moment she’d slept with Nick and decided to have his child?
Alice understood Jess’s desire for a baby. How one day the intense need appeared out of the blue and burrowed in with fierce determination before spreading its thickening branches into muscle, bone, fiber and cell. How it consumed mind, body and soul with a gnawing need that hollowed a woman from the inside out. Alice was living this—she had been for a couple of years. But despite the all-encompassing yearning, would she squander love and support by hurting the person closest to her to get it?
No.
But what if the choice was having a child with a friend’s husband or no child at all?
Alice felt a sharp tug on her values and hastily reminded herself that Jess could have chosen far more ethical options to conceive. She could have entered a committed relationship or used donor sperm. Those choices wouldn’t have upended Libby’s world. Of course, Nick wasn’t innocent in all of this either, but it was so much easier, and almost enjoyable, to blame the other woman.
Alice’s phone emitted a sound like a frog and delicious delight—an almost Pavlovian response—throbbed through her. Tim. She immediately plunged into a pool of lust, remembering their video session. Reality jolted her—that had been well over a week ago. She’d been so caught up with Libby, Nick and the girls, she hadn’t had time to text or daydream about Tim. Or notice that he hadn’t been in touch either.
I know it’s late, or maybe it’s early, Alice my Wonderland, but if you’re there …
Her fingers flew. I’m very much here&k!zd9
Alice hit something, stumbled backwards and her finger accidentally tapped send. Glancing up, she realized she’d just walked into the back of someone.
“Oh, God, I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you.” Trying to hide the reason for her distraction, she shoved her phone into her pocket, but not before the bloke turned around and caught her.
“Problems with your night vision? Or a phone addiction?”
It took Alice a moment to register that he was the father of the artistic girl she’d met on the pier a few weeks earlier. It wasn’t so much that she remembered his face—although in this light his eyes were an arresting emerald—it was his vibe of world-weary acceptance that nothing in life could surprise him, that rang a bell.
“Dad! You found Alice! Hi, Alice.” Despite the very early hour, Hunter bounced on the balls of his feet.
“She found me, mate.”
“Hello, Hunter.” Alice’s phone buzzed again in her pocket but despite every part of her wanting to swoop on it, she ignored it. “Is Holly here too?”
“She’s over there.” Hunter pointed to the coffee stall.
The first time Alice met Hunter, he and Holly had been on the pier during school hours. Now, when most kids their age were in bed, they were up in the middle of the night. Alice considered herself fairly easygoing but a tween drinking coffee at any hour crossed her boundaries.
“She’s buying hot chocolate,” the man said, clearly reading Alice’s disapproval.
“They’re yum. Do you want one?” Hunter asked.
“Thanks, Hunter. That would be great.” She reached into her pocket for some coins, but he was already haring off, running toward his sister.
“Does he ever stop?” Alice asked as they resumed walking.
“When he’s asleep. Mind you, he thrashes about a lot. It’s dangerous sharing a bed with him.”
“My nieces are the same. They either edge me out or give me bruises.” Alice realized she still didn’t know his name. “So, Holly and Hunter’s dad—”
“Harry.”
“Holly, Harry and Hunter?” She laughed. “Does alliteration run in the family?”
“It was their mother’s idea. Helene. She called us the 4H club.” He must have seen Alice’s confusion, because he added, “She was American. It’s a club for kids.”
Was? “Helene’s not here?”
“No. That’s why we
