"Of course I do, Waverly. A very good friend."
I felt a few tears welling up. "When I got your message, I thought you hated me. I thought I"d totally blown it."
"I know. I"m sorry. When he told me you"d seen him at your holiday party, I didn"t know what to say to you. So I just sort of retreated, which is how I tend to deal with things when they get uncomfortable."
I smiled. "Join the club." I looked around the office, then back at her. "So since you don"t hate me, does that mean you"re not quitting? This whole operation would fall apart without you."
She didn"t reply.
"Please tell me you"re staying."
She still didn"t reply.
"Paige?"
She took a deep breath, and I held mine.
"The thing is..."
I stared at her.
"The thing is..." she started again.
"The thing is what?"
She looked at me. "I"m pregnant, Waverly."
"What? You"re pregnant?"
She nodded. "Six weeks."
"Oh my G.o.d, Paige, what are you going to do?"
"I"m going to keep it."
"Really? So this is...good news?"
She finally broke into a smile. "It"s not ideal, but I"m happy."
"So what"s going to happen with Gary?"
She smiled wider. "Well...I thought I was going to end up moving to Nashville, but we"ve been talking about it, and he"s moving to New York."
"No way. For real?"
She nodded. "For real."
"What about his kids?"
"The youngest graduates from high school in May, so as soon as he"s off to college, Gary"s going to pack things up and move here."
"And Wendy?"
"She"s keeping her own apartment in the West Village. She"s basically been living there all this time anyway, traveling back and forth to Nashville every other weekend or so."
"Are they getting divorced?"
She nodded. "He filed yesterday."
"On New Year"s Eve?"
"He told me he wanted to start the year fresh, so he could focus on me and the baby."
"Are they going to make the divorce public?"
"Not yet, but soon. Wendy"s worried about the news leaking, but she knows she can"t keep up a front forever."
"You mean the news about the divorce or the reason behind it?"
"Both, but mostly the latter. Gary says she"s terrified of coming out. She thinks her fans are going to turn on her."
"Maybe she"ll be the next Ellen. Everyone loves Ellen, right?"
"That"s what Gary keeps telling her. He still cares for her, you know, and he doesn"t want to see her get hurt. But they both know it"s time to accept reality."
It was no wonder Wendy had ended up turning to the bottle with the false facade she"d insisted on presenting to the world. Maybe coming clean with the public will liberate her from that, as well, I thought.
"I still can"t believe all of this," I said.
"I know. It"s a lot to swallow at once, isn"t it?"
I took a drink of my water and nodded. "I"m so happy for you, Paige. I mean, I know this probably isn"t the way you imagined it would all happen for you, but you seem really happy."
She smiled. "That"s the way I look at it. It"s definitely not your ideal *how we met" story, but it certainly makes for interesting dinner-party discussion, or at least it will once everything blows over."
"You can say that again."
She stood up and looked around the bare room. "So anyhow, now that it"s all out in the open, I guess you and Waverly"s Honey Shop are stuck with me."
"Thank G.o.d for that."
She put her hands on her stomach. "Although it will be a little tricky down the road. I"ll need to figure out a part-time schedule or something after I have the baby."
I smiled. "Honey, I"ll take you any way I can have you."
We spent the next half hour talking shop, and I was so engrossed in all the expansion plans that for a brief window I stopped thinking about what was happening later that day. But that changed the moment Paige asked a question.
"So hey, with all this talk about Gary and Wendy, I completely forgot to ask you. How was it meeting Jake"s family over Christmas?"
My stomach dropped. I ran to my purse and pulled my phone out to check the time. It was nearly two o"clock. There was also a missed call from Jake, plus a text message saying he was in a cab on his way to my apartment.
"Oh my G.o.d, I need to run. He"s going to be at my apartment any minute!"
She laughed. "I"m glad I asked."
"I can"t believe I almost missed him."
"Just goes to show how dedicated you are to your own baby," she said.
"My own baby?"
She gestured around the room. "Waverly"s Honey Shop. You created all of this."
Suddenly, I felt like I was going to cry.
"Hey, are you OK?" she asked.
I walked over and hugged her. "Thanks for everything, Paige. None of this would have happened without you."
"Waverly, are you sure you"re OK?"
I nodded and fought back the tears. "I will be. Listen, I really need to run. Will you lock up?"
"Sure thing. Scoot."
I put my coat and gloves on and grabbed my purse. "Thanks, Paige. I"m so glad you"re not breaking up with me."
She laughed. "Breaking up with you?"
"You know what I mean. And congratulations on the baby. And, um, please tell Gary I said hi."
She nodded. "Will do."
I turned and bolted out the door.
I ran all the way home. By the time I was a block away from my apartment, I was totally out of breath. This is pathetic, I thought as I rounded the corner. I really need to join a gym.
I was leaning on the front door of my building, trying to catch my breath, when I heard a car pull up alongside the curb.
Oh, no.
Please don"t let that be Jake"s taxi.
I turned around.
It was Jake"s taxi.
Are you kidding me? I don"t even have time to brush my hair?
Still a bit out of breath, I forced a smile as he got out and shut the door.
"Hey, you," I said. "Fancy meeting you here."
He set his carry-on bag down on the sidewalk as the taxi drove away. "Happy New Year, Miss Bryson."
I ran toward him and hugged him tightly. "Happy New Year, Jake."
Please don"t break my heart please don"t break my heart please don"t break my heart.
a a a Ten minutes later, we were sitting on the couch in my apartment, mugs of hot chocolate in hand. I was trying my best to act normal and had just finished telling Jake about Paige and Gary and Wendy.
He shook his head. "Wow, I did not see that one coming."
"You and me both. Wendy is the epitome of the boy-crazy girly girl. With her stiff, poufy hair and pancake makeup, it"s like she"s single-handedly trying to bring back the fifties."
"Just goes to show that you never know."
I nodded. "That"s definitely been the theme of the year around here. You want some more hot chocolate?"
"Sure."
I stood up and walked to the kitchen, dreading the inevitable next phase of our conversation. "So you had a nice flight?" I said over my shoulder.
"Yeah, uneventful. People tend to be mellow on New Year"s Day. It"s like the whole world is operating in first gear."
"I definitely feel in first gear today, if not neutral. I"m exhausted." My hands shook as I ripped open the hot chocolate packet.
Please don"t break my heart please don"t break my heart please don"t break my heart.
"So the show went well last night?"
I half-cringed at the memory. "I think so. Um, I haven"t seen it yet." I knew he hadn"t either because of his flight, thank G.o.d.
"My mom saw it," he said.
I froze.
"She did?"
"Yep. She called me about it, actually. Left a message when I was on the plane."
I slowly walked out of the kitchen holding two steaming mugs of hot chocolate. I handed him one and sat down next to him.
"What did she say?"
"She asked if I"d broken the news to you yet."
I dropped my mug. Hot chocolate splashed everywhere.