Molly kicked off her heels, dropped onto the blanket and kissed Hazel’s cheek.
“I have serious nanny envy.” Brooke sat down across from Molly, stretched out her legs and settled a sleeping puppy on her lap. “If I have a baby, I’m stealing Rebekah. You’ve been warned.”
Molly laughed. “Are you having a baby?”
“Dan and I are talking.” Brooke blushed and fiddled with the puppy’s ear. “And I guess we’re trying.”
“It should be fun, right?” Molly teased. She waggled her eyebrows up and down, earning a giggle from both Hazel and Brooke. “The trying part that is.”
Brooke pressed her fingers against her cheeks and her blush faded. “I’ll be okay if it doesn’t happen. I love my family as is.”
Molly spotted the longing in Brooke’s gaze. Brooke wanted a baby. Molly wanted that for her friend. “It’s okay not to be okay too.” Like Molly. She wasn’t entirely okay still; she was slowly learning to accept that.
“I’ll let you know when I’m not okay.” Brooke set another puppy on her lap.
“And I’ll be right here if you need me.” Nala stretched out lazily against Molly’s leg, but her gaze remained on her puppies and Hazel. Every giggle or squeal from Hazel and Nala lifted her head and ears to check on the little girl. Molly appreciated the support.
Brooke brushed her fingers over the solid black puppy. Only her ear and tail were white as if they’d been dipped in a paint can. “I’m here for you too. If you ever want to talk about things.”
“You want to know about Drew and me.” Why I’m not okay. Molly buried her hand in Nala’s soft fur. But her feelings were harder to bury. Maybe it was Brooke and her quiet compassion that drew the feelings from Molly.
“I don’t want to pry.” Brooke looked at Molly, confusion and disappointment on her face. “It’s just that you two were good together. Drew was happy like we haven’t seen him in years. We were all talking about it.”
Molly had been happy too. Really happy. For the first time in a long while. “I thought we were good together. I was wrong.”
“Or Drew was scared.” Brooke frowned.
“I gave him my word not to involve Gina in the trial. There was evidence enough for Van’s conviction to be overturned. That left only Drew’s situation and no other way to get the right outcome.” Molly handed Hazel her teether. Hazel pressed her tiny toes into one of the puppies sleeping near her feet and grinned. One flex into the soft fur and a grin. Then she’d release and purse her mouth. Flex again. Smile again. Why weren’t all relationships as simple as that? “Trust is nonnegotiable.”
“Love is nonnegotiable,” Brooke argued. “The rest can be worked out if the love is there.”
Love. Molly considered Drew her best friend. Her confidant. She liked him. Admired him. And missed him with a depth that made her hurt all over. But love?
“You do love Drew.” Brooke searched Molly’s face. “I’ve seen you two together. It’s obvious in the sideways glances. The casual touches. The way you turn to each other first. Dan and I are the same.”
Was that love? Real, true love? Molly pressed her hands together. Her palms were damp. Her body was twitchy. “He’s like my best friend.”
“You can fall for your best friend.” Brooke smiled as if she were ready and willing to step over any roadblock Molly put up.
“We’re both lawyers.” Molly tossed out another challenge. That twitchy sensation spread inside her. “Work relationships aren’t wise.”
“Tell me three things your ex and Drew have in common.” Brooke arched an eyebrow as if she were about to knock over the next roadblock.
“They’re both lawyers.” Molly held up one finger and pictured both Derrick and Drew in her mind.
Derrick was an only child, profit-driven and shunned public affection to preserve his image. Drew was family-oriented, justice-driven and held Molly like he never wanted to let her go. That twitch softened into a shiver and a long sigh.
Molly put her hand down. “That’s all I got. They’re lawyers.”
“Then that’s it. You haven’t fallen for another Derrick.” Brooke nudged her tennis shoe against Molly’s bare foot. “You fell for Drew. It can’t be like last time. They aren’t the same man.”
Molly chewed on her lower lip. Hope swirled inside her. But logic overruled her heart. “But you risk losing your friendship.”
“But if you risk and fail, will you be worse off than you are right now?” Brooke pressed.
Right now, Molly did not even have Drew as a friend. But that ache still throbbed inside her like a loss she might never recover from. She set her palm over her heart. “I have a broken heart.”
Brooke grabbed Molly’s other hand, understanding in her gaze. “You have to tell Drew how you really feel about him.”
“I’m terrified,” she whispered. Her pulse raced.
Brooke squeezed her fingers. “That’s when you know it’s real.”
She shivered. Broke out in a sweat. Swallowed a shout. And her heart swelled, bumping aside her resistance and all her reasons not to fall in love. It was too late. She’d already fallen. So much joy. So much terror. Even more wonder.
She loved Drew. Loved him. It was more than real. It was everything.
Now she had another choice. Tell Drew she loved him or keep silent and lock her feelings away?
The choice was simple.
Finding the courage? Well, that was a different matter.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
DREW SMOOTHED HIS hand over his tie and pressed his palm against his stomach. Beside him, Brad gave him two thumbs-up. Dan and Brooke offered the same silent encouragement.
His mother stepped forward and kissed his cheek. “You’ve rehearsed what you’re going to say?”
Drew nodded. He’d been awake most of the night rewriting, revising and finally rehearsing every single word.
“Then it’s time.” His father opened the door to Judge Martina Reilly’s courtroom and squeezed Drew’s
