Kian (Undercover Billionaire, #1)(22)

“We’re getting old,” Eden said with seriousness, her eyes wide as if this were a fate worse than death.

This did make Roxie laugh, a real laugh, something she’d needed to do for a while now and something she couldn’t remember doing in so long, the sound was odd to hear.

“How sad for us that we think being in our midtwenties is old,” Roxie said when the laughter faded away.

“When the average marriage age of our group is about twenty-two, I feel old,” Eden told her.

“What about . . . ?” She trailed off. She probably shouldn’t say that name and was glad she stopped herself when sadness entered Eden’s eyes.

“We haven’t been together in a while. He left,” she said, a sparkle in her eyes. “And it was for the best.”

“Then we won’t speak of it,” Roxie assured her. She could see questions in Eden’s eyes, but she was grateful her friend hadn’t brought up Kian. Since the two of them had dated brothers, they were very aware of each other’s circumstances.

“I think that’s enough talk about men or husbands or any of that,” Eden said. “It’s better to focus on the fact that you’re a mother now.”

“I’m not a mom; I’m an aunt,” she said as she reached over and ran her fingers through Lily’s hair. The amount of love she felt for this child was unbelievable. Lily was oblivious to the conversation they were having as she played make-believe with her small horse figures.

“You are a mom now,” Eden insisted. “Your niece can’t be more than three,” she pointed out.

“Almost four,” Roxie said. Her heart was racing.

“She’s going to think of you as her mom. You will be, in every sense of the word,” Eden said gently.

“I . . . I don’t . . .” Roxie couldn’t even form a thought to that statement, let alone say actual words.

“I’m not trying to stress you,” Eden quickly said. “Maybe I should keep my opinions to myself. A few people have told me that.”

Those words pulled Roxie from her panic attack as she focused on Eden. “Your advice always had a way of grounding me,” she admitted. “But that’s just something that hasn’t crossed my mind. I don’t know why not. I guess I’ve never really thought of myself as being capable of being a mother.”

“Because this is all happening so quickly,” Eden said. “But why don’t we push it out of your mind for now and take a stroll? It’s my lunch hour, and Sal isn’t here right now. He got stuck over at Ms. Martha’s house and probably won’t be here for another hour.”

This made Roxie grin again. “Is it an official meeting?” she asked with a sly smile.

“He thinks we all actually believe that,” Eden said with a chuckle.

Martha and Sal had been secretly seeing each other for more than ten years under the pretense of client and attorney, but everyone knew the truth. Why the two of them wouldn’t admit they were in love was a mystery. Maybe the clandestine meetings added excitement. Roxie wasn’t even offended he was late to see her.

“I would love to take a walk,” Roxie said.

“Perfect.” Within a minute, Eden set the phones and had the place locked up. They stepped outside, and Roxie took in a breath of fresh air as Lily once again clung to her hand and looked around.

“We have this great new park that an anonymous donor contributed to, but we all know it was the Forbes family. They just don’t like to be in the limelight for some reason. There’s a great new volunteer program in town, too, that is helping higher-risk kids do things in the community and giving them a chance to earn scholarships for college and put résumé-building skills on their applications. I’ll take you over to the park, where we will probably see some of the kids doing cleanup work and repairs,” Eden said with excitement.

“Sounds like a lot of things have changed around here since I’ve been gone,” Roxie said.

“I know. I remember we used to take part in community projects, but it was so difficult to get someone to head things, and now there are more than enough people willing to jump in and lead the kids. I give as much time as I can, and I love every minute of it,” Eden said.

“Who heads the volunteer program?” Roxie asked.

“Martha’s in charge of it, so she’s coming into the office all the time and asking for me to do something or other. I think I get caught in the middle in her excuse to visit with Sal,” she said with a wink.

“Martha is perfect for the task since it was always impossible to say no to that woman,” Roxie said with a chuckle.

“Tell me about it. I’ve even done trash cleanup,” Eden said. “But let me tell you, after doing that, if I see so much as someone throwing a gum wrapper on the ground, I won’t hesitate to yell at them until they pick it up.”

“I’m glad to be warned,” Roxie said before turning to Lily. “Better be careful, little girl, or Eden will be putting you to work.”

Lily clung a little tighter to Roxie’s hand as she glanced at Eden with a shy smile.

“I wouldn’t make you do anything that wasn’t fun,” Eden promised with a wink at Lily. “And sometimes, treasures can be found when you’re going through garbage.”