He laughed. “I wasn’t sure what it was at first, but when I realized it was sea glass, I knew you’d love it.” I smiled curiously at the look on his face. He looked proud of himself. “And I don’t think you’re a nerd. I think you’re amazingly talented.”

I was quiet, processing his words and the enormity of the gift. To me, this wasn’t just a piece of sea glass. To me, it meant Jack really got me. Did he realize that? I wasn’t sure. “Thank you.” I said, closing my hand around the glass.

Jack nodded once.

I turned back to the view outside before confiding my piece of news. “Guess what? Jazz took that chandelier I made to Faith’s boutique yesterday. It sold. In one day.” I couldn’t keep the incredulity out of my voice, and it sounded even crazier now that I’d said it out loud.

“Seriously? That’s fantastic, Keri Ann. Congratulations!” He turned me around. His huge grin was infectious. “It was gorgeous, and I didn’t even see it finished. I’m not surprised. You should have told me, we could have celebrated.”

“We did, anyway, didn’t we?” I grinned back at him stupidly and cocked an eyebrow. He laughed, kissing me with minty lips and gathering me in a tight hug. “Yeah, I guess we did.”

* * *

I was due to pick Jack up in about twenty minutes. The two kayaks were in the back of the truck ready to go. Once I got out of the shower and toweled off, I texted Jazz a not-so-cryptic message.

Me: Thank you for the small package addition to the back pack ...

The phone pinged back immediately. I laughed.

Jazz: OMG, OMG, OMG. You okay?

Me: More than ok! We’re going kayaking, I’ll chat with you later. Just ... thank you.

Jazz: xxx

* * *

When I neared Jack’s house a few minutes later, I had to stop to allow a black executive sedan from an airport car service pull out of Jack’s driveway. A weird feeling flipped over in my gut as I waited for it to pass, nodding to the suited driver. I fingered my phone for a second wondering if I should call Jack. It could have just been a delivery but I had a feeling it was a person. The owners of the house, perhaps? His agent? Katie?

I took a deep breath and turned into the driveway. Perhaps the car had only been turning around. I climbed out and headed up the stairs. Jack had told me to come straight inside when I got back, but I knocked just in case. I heard voices inside, and then Jack flung open the door. His face was grim, and he hauled me inside.

“I’m sorry, Keri Ann. I didn’t know she was coming.”

“What?” I stumbled forward into the house and faced my worst nightmare. Jack’s firm grip on my hand didn’t detract from the impact of Audrey Lane, dressed casually in jeans and a white t-shirt, her long, glossy black hair swung over one shoulder. She was beautiful. I swallowed hard against the bile threatening to come up and glanced back at Jack with confusion. Why had he pulled me in here? I wanted to be as far away from this awful realization of my worst fears as fast and as soon as possible. I took a step back, trying to untangle my hand from Jack’s.

“Auds,” I heard Jack’s voice from far away, ”This is Keri Ann. Keri Ann, this is Audrey Lane.”

“Carry-Anne? How southern.” Audrey’s voice was soft like honey and way too familiar from her movies. “This yours?” She dangled my pink cashmere scarf on a finger, and then flicked it toward me.

“Don’t be a bitch, Audrey.” Jack’s voice lowered dangerously. He quickly picked it up and handed it to me.

“Why, Jack? How much does she mean to you? You’ve known her, what, a few days?”

How did she make it sound so trite and sordid? I ground my teeth but tried to remember she was fighting to save the man she loved. Wait, she’d cheated on him.

She turned her gaze to me and her eyes grew frosty. “Look, Carry Anne, I’m sure it seemed really special and everything, but just because—”

“At least he didn’t cheat on you,” I snapped and made to turn. I had had enough of her snide attitude, and I didn’t want to stick around any longer while they sorted this out.

Her brittle laugh grated my nerves. “Is that what he told you? Hilarious. That’s all he did to all his girlfriends. He was cheating on someone when he got together with me. The tabloids don’t always have it wrong, you know.”

A vague memory of Jack Eversea, the playboy, tickled my mind. No. I didn’t care, it wasn’t the Jack I knew.

“Besides,” she went on, “he really hasn’t broken up with me, so I guess that makes you the trashy piece on the side. Waitress, right? So cliché.”

“Fuck off,” Jack hissed at her. For a moment, Audrey looked shocked, but she recovered quickly and appraised us both.

“Oh God, Jack. You haven’t slept with her, have you?” She rolled her eyes like he was an errant little boy. And just like that I wanted to be sick. It sounded like they’d had this situation before. I knew she was a good actress, but surely not this good.

I swallowed. “Um, Jack ... I ... I better go. Let you two sort this out.”

“No,” Jack snarled, gripping my hand tighter. “Stay.”

“Jack, please,” I whispered. I was going to liquidate Amélie-style or lose my breakfast.

“You should stay, Keri Ann,” Audrey purred. “You may be interested in this, too.”

She walked toward Jack and ran a traitorous hand along his cheek. My cheek. He was mine. She took a deep breath and smiled a huge, winning, Oscar-worthy smile. “I’m pregnant, Jack. Pregnant with your baby.”

A tidal wave crashing through the plate glass picture window bringing a man-eating shark to flop around on the tile floor couldn’t have caused more shock. I wasn’t sure I’d heard the words right. But Jack’s hand on mine went slack. His face turned chalk white.

Audrey smiled gently, running her hand down Jack’s arm, disengaging his hand from mine and placing it on her belly. “I know how you’ve always wanted a family. A family like you never had growing up.”

I stumbled back, eyes darting between them like I was in a ridiculous daytime soap opera. I waited for Jack to look at me or get mad at her, or say there was no way it could be true. I thought it was only contractual. But he had mentioned a time when it was real. I just didn’t know it was … recent.

The moment stretched out, and I wobbled slightly before I turned and stumbled to the front door.

This time, Jack didn’t try and stop me.

T H I R T Y

Having been through grief several times before, I could honestly say the first stage of this traumatic loss was to be severely and violently sick.

I did manage to make it back to the truck despite the roaring in my ears and sudden lack of muscle tone in my legs, and I drove as far as the intersection of Palmetto and Atlantic before opening the door and heaving my guts onto the sidewalk. Great.

I wanted to blame the water leaking out of my eyes on the vomiting, but I could feel the traitorous sting. After retching nothing a few more times, the kind where it felt like my eyeballs were going to bug out of my head, I finally rose up in time to see a blurry vision of Brenda running toward me from the grill, holding a bucket and a glass of water.

“Oh my God, Keri Ann, are you okay?”