And she told them about the pressure she’d felt from Paul and their families to go through with the wedding after all.
Finally, she admitted her reason—reasons?—for running away on her wedding day. The stick turning blue, and her rather sudden realization that she couldn’t walk down the aisle and say “I do” to Paul while carrying another man’s child. Especially while she still had feelings—as confusing, mixed up and jumbled as they were—for that other man.
Juliet wasn’t sure what her sisters’—especially Zoe’s—record was for how many times they could utter “ohmigosh, ohmigosh, ohmigosh” in a row, but she was pretty sure they broke it. But even given their complete and total astonishment at her long list of admissions, when they finally stopped gaping like guppies, they zeroed in on exactly the right aspect of her narration.
“You’re pregnant?” Zoe nearly squealed.
Lily’s reaction didn’t include the squeal, but only because her smile was already so wide and beaming. “Oh, Juliet, that’s wonderful! Congratulations.”
Almost simultaneously, they set aside their empty plates and cocooned her again in delighted sisterly embraces.
When they pulled away, Lily tucked a loose strand of blond hair behind her ear and asked, “So have you told Reid about the baby?”
Juliet nodded and filled them in on the rest—Reid tracking her down at the lake house, catching her in the most embarrassing throes of morning sickness and how she had to tell him about the baby whether she was ready or not. Then coming back to New York and staying with him until the doctor of his choice confirmed the pregnancy.
“Oh, no,” Zoe groaned, covering her face with one hand. “We never should have asked him to help us find you. We messed up everything.”
“Of course you didn’t,” Juliet assured her, peeling her sister’s fingers from her eyes and giving them a squeeze. “I would have told him eventually anyway. He has a right to know he’s going to be a father after all. And it gave us a chance to work things out. For me to let him know I’m not going to ask him for anything, but won’t try to keep him away from the baby, either.”
Lily’s brows dipped. “That’s it? You told him you were pregnant and all he said was ‘okay’?”
Juliet rolled a shoulder, pretending her sister’s frank assessment of the situation didn’t bother her. “Pretty much. I don’t want him to feel trapped, and I’m not going to marry him just because I’m pregnant.”
It was Zoe’s turn to furrow her brow. “He asked you to marry him?”
Clearing her throat, Juliet avoided her sisters’ too-sharp scrutiny and leaned forward to retrieve her glass of soda. Taking a small sip, she said, “Yes, but I turned him down. He only did it out of obligation, and I’m nowhere near ready to try to make it down the aisle again for all the wrong reasons.”
That little revelation was met with silence as her sisters exchanged looks, but neither of them challenged her or tried to change her mind. A moment later, Lily nodded and Zoe reached out to pat Juliet’s knee.
“Whatever you need, however you want to handle this, we’re here for you,” Lily told her.
“And ohmigosh, we’re going to be aunts!” Zoe practically shrieked, bouncing up and down on the sofa cushion.
There was another long stretch of laughter and talk of whether the baby would be a boy or a girl, nursery colors and themes and the like. Then, as they all filled their plates with a second slice of pizza, Juliet turned the conversation to serious matters once again.
“Did Mom and Dad go home after the wedding was called off?” she asked.
“They stuck around for a while,” Lily answered, “until we heard from Reid that he’d located you and you were safe. They weren’t thrilled when he wouldn’t say where you were, but we told them we’d stay on top of things and keep them informed along the way. That was enough to convince them to go back to Connecticut, but they call every single day to see if we’ve heard anything new from or about you.”
The icky, oily feeling of guilt slid through Juliet, and she lowered her gaze to the floor. “I need to go up there and see them. Apologize.” Lifting her head, she sighed. “I should talk to Paul, too.”
“You don’t owe him anything,” Zoe snapped, anger lighting her blue eyes.
Lily’s own protective frown was nearly a mirror image of their younger sister’s. “I agree. He deserves a good, swift kick to the you-know-what, not an apology.”
“I can’t argue with you there,” Juliet murmured. “I should have broken things off with him so much sooner.”