As she pushed the stroller into Annabeth’s shop, she nearly ran over Gavin. He blocked her path, his arms crossed over his chest. Gavin wasn’t quite as massive as Will, but he was well muscled and nearly as tall. Whereas Will’s face was chiseled and hard, Gavin’s was more rugged, with laugh lines bracketing his twinkling eyes and a pair of devastating dimples. His wavy hair was always in some disarray from where he’d pulled his fingers through it. Of the two men, Gavin always looked the most approachable.
Except for today. The hard line of his mouth warned Julianne that Patricia’s son was clearly in Will’s camp. Not that it surprised her. Once again, she was relieved that his friends were still loyal to him.
“What is it with you women?” Gavin stood there as if he expected an answer.
“I just don’t get it,” he continued. “You think it’s okay to just sucker punch a guy like that. To ruin his name. His career. The sad part about it is the dumbass would have given you anything. Anything.”
Julianne had to look away because she felt the tears threatening again. Owen whimpered, stretching to try to reach his foot. Gavin crouched down on his haunches as he reached into the stroller to let Owen play with his finger.
“He loved you, you know. I didn’t think it was possible he’d ever find anyone to love, he’s such a stubborn asshole. But he did.” Gavin’s voice was gravelly, as if he were wrestling with his own emotions. “It hurts when you women rip a guy’s heart out and stomp on it. Some guys don’t ever get over it. Unfortunately, I think Will is going to be one of those guys.”
She forced the lump in her throat down as Gavin kissed Owen on the head. He didn’t bother to look at her when he stood and walked out the door. Shoulders slumped, she pushed the stroller deeper into the store. Lynnette, Annabeth’s assistant, swooped from across the room to pull a now-fussy Owen out of the stroller.
“I think he might want a bottle,” Julianne said, handing her one from the diaper bag. “He’s really out of sorts today, so don’t take it personally if he doesn’t drink too much.”
“Likely the boy misses his daddy.” Lynnette gave her the evil eye before disappearing into the back office with the baby.
Annabeth sat at her computer eyeing Julianne over her reading glasses. “Has he called you?” she asked.
There was no point asking who he was. Neither woman had heard from Will in nearly twenty-four hours. Julianne shook her head.
With a resigned sigh, Annabeth removed her reading glasses. “So what’s your plan, Julianne?”
“My plan?”
“Yes, Julianne, your plan. Surely you have one?”
She didn’t, actually. Not a single one. All her life, she’d never needed a plan, simply moving from one thing to the next. She’d started designing on a whim when a wealthy friend from boarding school fell in love with one of Julianne’s sketches and just had to have it as her wedding gown. From there, her business had spread by word of mouth. When Sebastian had come along and taken her under his wing, she’d left all the planning to him, enjoying life as it came.
“Flying by the seat of your pants.” She cringed as Will’s description of her echoed through her mind.
Her pregnancy had altered her lifestyle. Now she was responsible for another human being. But she hadn’t planned that well, either. She skirted around the truth, keeping secrets from those around her. And look where that landed her. She’d acted brashly selling JV Designs, not thinking how she’d support herself in the future. Regrettably, she hadn’t planned, and the results were stupid choices. The one decision she didn’t regret, though, was marrying Will.
“Do you love him, Julianne?” Annabeth’s delicate voice interrupted her thoughts. “Do you love my son?”
Julianne nodded through her tears. “Yes. Yes I do.”
“Then you have to have a plan.”
The antique Hepplewhite chair creaked as Julianne sat down on it. “I don’t even know where to begin. Will won’t answer my calls or respond to my texts. He doesn’t care about listening to my side of things. He just assumes the worst.”
“Can you blame him?”
Annabeth’s words stung, but she spoke the truth. Their relationship didn’t have much of a basis in trust. And it was Julianne’s fault.
“One thing is for certain, you’re not going to get to talk to him by hiding down here in Chances Inlet.” Annabeth stood and walked out from behind the counter. “I, for one, am done with hiding.”
“You think I should go to Baltimore?”