He sighs. “I would’ve told you if that’s where we were going.”
At the end of the exit he turns away from the clubhouse. That’s a relief.
Eventually, he guides the truck to a posh residential neighborhood that looks like dozens of others. “Who are we visiting?”
His lips curve but he doesn’t answer. He stops in front of a massive house with a long driveway already full of cars.
“Isn’t that Rock’s SUV?” While there are plenty of GMC Yukons on the road, Rock’s extra-long edition has a distinctive blacked-out look that’s hard to miss.
“No, I don’t think so,” Gray says absently, shutting off the truck. “Wait for me.”
I study the vehicles and the house while waiting for Gray. He helps me out of the truck and closes the door behind me.
“Gray, who are we visiting?”
“You’ll find out in a minute.” He gently nudges me up the long stone path leading to the front steps of the house.
Gray lifts his hand to knock on the front door but it swings open before his knuckles touch the wood.
Lilly, beautiful in a royal blue wrap dress, her long dark hair tumbling in waves over her shoulders, beams at us. “You’re here! Welcome.” She reaches for my arm, tugging me inside.
Duh, this is Z’s place. I should’ve figured that out. But why didn’t Gray just say so? There’s no chance to ask him now.
He follows with his hand at the small of my back. The house is huge and it takes a few seconds to get my bearings while Lilly leads me into the cavernous sitting room to the left.
Balloons in a variety of pastel shades, streamers, and other baby-themed items fill the space.
All the upstate old ladies, a few women from the upstate and downstate clubs, Emily and Libby are all standing in a semi-circle. “Surprise!”
Lilly claps her hands and hugs me. “Happy baby shower!”
“Oh,” I breathe out. “This is…” I turn and stare at Gray, hoping he’ll explain what’s happening.
His lips curve into a gentle smile as he leans closer. “Lilly and Emily planned this for you. They consulted me for the best time, but the party was Lilly’s idea,” he says against my ear.
Still confused, my gaze tumbles around the room. My vision clouds with unshed tears. Gray hugs me to his side. “You all right?”
“I’m fine,” I whisper. I force a shaky smile to reassure him.
“The guys are downstairs,” Lilly says, taking Gray by the elbow. “I’ll show you. They’re hammering up some drywall or painting or something.” She waves her hand in the air and laughs.
“I’ll find my way. You guys go on.”
“Oh my God! It was killing me to keep this a secret!” Emily shouts, bouncing on her toes. She squeezes her hands together as if she’s really proud of herself for not spilling the details. Her antics push away my tears and finally pull laughter from me.
“You nut.” I reach for her, hugging her tight.
“She didn’t tell me until yesterday.” Libby elbows her sister. “I’m offended, you know. I can keep secrets.”
I’m having trouble processing everything. “How did you and Lilly even…”
Emily turns, searching for Lilly. “Your friend called and asked what we were doing for your shower. We’ve been conspiring together.”
“Guilty.” Lilly grins. “I know you still have a way to go but since it’s your first baby, we wanted to get our hands on you early.” She turns, reaching for Hope and tugging her closer. “We wanted to share all the stuff that worked for us.”
“And warn you about the things to avoid,” Hope adds.
Twin trails of warmth slide down my cheeks. I quickly swipe the tears away. “I’d like that.”
Shelby squeezes in and hugs me. “Hiya.”
“Hey, thank you for coming. I know you’re not into baby stuff.”
“Yeah, but I like you.”
Libby’s eyes are bugging like she’s about to burst.
“Did you get to meet my friend, Libby?” I ask.
“Sure did.” Shelby grins.
Laughter ripples over Trinity’s expression as she approaches. She leans in and hugs me. “Are you surprised?”
“Completely shocked. Gray wouldn’t tell me where we were going. I was starting to wonder…” I still can’t believe they did all this for me.
Charlotte hugs me next. “Trinity and I made sure there were no weird baby games.”
“Oh, please,” Lilly says. “We wouldn’t.”
Shelby wrinkles her nose. “I went to one back home once where they had a contest to see who could chew a piece of gum into the shape of a baby.” She sticks out her tongue and pretends to retch. “Couldn’t get outta there fast enough.”
“That’s…gross.” I glance at Lilly. “Thank you for not doing that.”
“Fair warning,” Heidi says, “Hope had a magical unicorn birth so take what she says with a grain of salt. Not everyone is so lucky.”
“Well, after losing two, I was relieved something went right for me,” Hope murmurs, glancing at her feet and smoothing her hands over her dress.