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Josh stepped to er and bigger every year”
I wasn’t sure what to say Anger flowed through me at Josh’s presence, the memory of how he reacted to the news of the baby still fresh incruel Maybe he deserved it
“I think it was Dad’s way of coping hat happened with Mom She loved Christmas, and he always felt like she went over the top in decorating andthe house a cheerful place for the holidays But when she was gone and we had that first year without decorations, anything she did to e of heart”
I wasn’t sure why he was telling
“And it makes me think about hoe can’t risk our relationships with our families, with the ones we love This fake fiancée plan—it rong I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that”
“Wrong” I repeated the word, feeling its truth “We should’ve never done it”
He nodded “We were careless with our faot so wrapped up in this plan and how it could work out for us that we didn’t realize what kind of toll it would take on them”
Josh was right, of course And I felt like I could finally speak “It’s been tearingtheet so excited about what they think is going to happen…”
“And it’s not only that Sure, us splitting up is part of it But that stillto be there For the rest of our lives, we’d have to keep this buried inside I thought I could do it, but I don’t know if I can”
His words hat I wanted to hear Or, at least, part of what I wanted to hear It still remained to be seen whether or not he realized how nancy the way he had
He took a deep breath and went on “And Sam knows”
My heart skipped a beat “What? How did he find out?”
“He overheard the conversation we had about…” He trailed off, as if the subject of the baby was too ths ent to with keeping this hidden, and being careless for a minute is what screwed it up”
“It was screwed up from the start, to be honest”
He smiled faintly “No doubt”
“Well, you’re not the only one who has a sibling who knohat’s going on”
He raised his eyebrows “Katie?”
“Mm-hmm I couldn’t keep it inside anymore Not after what I found out yesterday” And there I was, having trouble with the word “baby” myself Silly
“How’d she take it?”