What Lovers Do(75)

“Hey,” he answers in a somber tone.

“Hey,” I echo him.

What I wouldn’t give for him to ask me what I’m wearing.

He doesn’t.

“Everything okay?”

I nod, dragging in a shaky breath. “Yeah. I just …”

Miss you. Want you. Love you. Yeah, I love you, Shep.

“I feel like things are weird, and they don’t have to be. I didn’t think I needed another friend beyond Jules. But I think I’ll miss you if I don’t see you. And that’s unnecessary. I mean, I’m pregnant. So what? Really, why can’t we talk, golf, take the dogs to the park? Maybe catch a movie or … anything. Before we were best friends, we were normal, regular, run of the mill friends. Can’t we go back? I … I thought we agreed to go back to that before the trip to Santa Monica. What happened?”

Silence.

I start to question if he’s still on the line.

“I’m walking the shelter dogs Friday afternoon. Meet at the park?”

“Sounds perfect.”

“Bye, Sophie.”

“Bye, Shep.”





CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR





“No. Just … no, Sophie.” Jules looks as devastated as I felt when I caved two days ago. I get it. I really do.

I nod to the waitress when she holds up a pitcher of water. After she refills my cup, I frown at Jules. “I realize it seems so simple right now, sitting here in a cafe with upbeat music playing. But there was no upbeat music. The sun had set. It was just the heartbreaking sobs of a man grieving the loss of his mom. I didn’t cave. I waited all night. I let him sleep at my door because I didn’t trust him, and I didn’t think he’d still be there in the morning. But he was. Really, you can’t honestly say you wouldn’t have done the same thing in my shoes.”

She deflates, rubbing her hands over her face. “I know. I do know. It’s just that he had left the premises. You changed the locks. Gah!”

My nose scrunches. “Yeah. It’s like two big steps forward and fifty steps backward. He doesn’t leave the bedroom. I set food just inside the door. He eventually eats a few bites, and later I replace it with the next meal. And Cersei … Jules, I swear Cersei feels his grief because she spends all her time with him. All day and all night. I have to drag her out for walks. She hasn’t been eating well either.”

“Jesus.”

I nod, sucking on my water straw.

“When’s the funeral?”

“No funeral. She was cremated. I don’t think she has friends or family beyond Jimmy and her sister who can’t get off work to come be with Jimmy or get the remains because she visited right before his mom died.”

“What a shit show.”

“It’s sad. I mean, my family is far from perfect. But we’re there for each other.”

“Not true. No one went home for Prince Harry’s funeral.”

I grin. “True. I’m a terrible daughter.”

“How was California?”

My cheeks puff out as I hold a big breath for several seconds before blowing it out in one big whoosh. “Unexpected.”

Her eyebrows lift a fraction. “Unexpected good or unexpected bad? Did your dad love Shep?”

“Yes. Of course. Everyone loves Shep. But I had to keep the pregnancy a secret, which is hard to do when they’re used to me downing bottles of wine on my visits. There was a forced cleanse. The most embarrassing GI issues in the history of mankind. A terrible game of golf. Incredibly intimate sex. And a pregnancy confession.”

Jules opens her mouth, but nothing comes out.

“My dad and Taryn don’t know about the baby, but I had to tell Shep.”

“Was he mad?”

“Mad? No. I don’t think so anyway. Definitely surprised. I think he’s not sure where that leaves us. And that should be fine. I wasn’t going to let things with him go on forever. But after the Jimmy fiasco, I broke down and called Shep, basically begging him to keep being my friend. So we’re meeting at the park with the dogs tomorrow. And honestly, I’m feeling stupid for being so weak and calling him.”

Jules eyes me for a few seconds, a cheesy grin on her face. “Incredibly intimate sex, huh?”

I shake my head. “Just my luck. My sister and her husband knock me up and weeks later I meet the guy.”

“I think you’re forgetting that he could be Jimmy in a prettier package. Jimmy was the shit until he moved into your house.”

I sigh. “Shep’s different.”

“Jimmy was different.”

I frown. “I know. Shep wanted kids; when he was married, he really wanted kids. His wife didn’t. And I swear, I just swear, Jules, that when I told him I was pregnant and it wasn’t his baby, he looked disappointed.”

Her painted eyebrows slide up her forehead. “That’s …”

I nod slowly. “Yeah …”





On Friday, Cersei and I meet Shep at the park. Once again, he has a whole pack of dogs, and my heart goes all aflutter because I love Shep with his huge heart and his pack of dogs just looking for someone to love them.

“Wow. Ten? Shep, that’s mighty brave of you. Hope no one starts a fight.”