Lacey’s lips curve. For a while Sal and Luke weren’t sure they’d even be able to have a baby, so to see an adorably pregnant Sal hustling down the hall has her smiling.
“Where are you going?” Sal asks when she catches up with her. Sal’s face is pale. Tired, dark circles beneath her eyes from the bedside vigil she’s kept on Luke.
Lacey’s heart twists. Too much pain. Sal and Luke have had too much pain. She could never do something like that. Have a love she could lose. It’s an overrated risk that’s not worth it, because in the end, no one stays. Not really.
“Home,” Lacey says with a casual shrug. She lifts her chin. “Luke’s okay. And I have a client who needs me.”
Sal’s face falls. “I need you.”
“I’ll be back for that baby,” Lacey promises, clutching at Sal’s hand. She’s going to be the cool, fashionable aunt and can’t wait to spoil that little baby senseless. “I have a go-bag ready to roll.”
Sal smiles faintly, disappointment furrowing her brow. “That’s too long.”
It is. Waiting six more months to see her sister and meet her little niece or nephew is agonizing, but Sal will be just fine. Her sister has a life out here in Nashville and Lacey has hers in LA. Lacey is just a small piece of Sal’s pie.
“It’ll go super fast,” Lacey says. “I’ll be back before you know it.”
Sal pulls Lacey into her arms. “I love you.”
“I love you.”
Lacey hugs her sister, rocks Sal in her arms. Even though Sal lost most of her memory in a horrific plane crash two years ago, it’s as if nothing’s changed between them. She smiles, glimpsing them in the elevator’s reflection. Blond and tall. Dark and petite. Her better half. Her only half.
“Get Luke better, okay?” Lacey’s eyes move to Sal’s belly. “Don’t operate any heavy machinery. And stay off horses. Oh! And no soft cheeses.”
Sal laughs, tears in her eyes. “I will.”
Inhaling a resolved breath, she turns on her heel and does what she does best when she finds herself getting too close to Seth Kincaid.
Run.