“I’m fine.”

“Obviously! Pregnant? Sheesh! You have some questions to answer, lady! But you know what, I know this is a selfish thought, but after I got over the bomb of your pregnancy, I was like, ‘Well shit, all three of us will be pregnant at my wedding!’ ”

Piper laughed along with her because she had thought the same thing. Audrey and her older sister, Fallon, were only weeks apart in their pregnancies, while Piper was actually ahead of Audrey by three weeks. By August they would all need the waistbands let out on their dresses.

“Yup, we’ll be big and beautiful in the pictures!”

Audrey laughed, but then she paused.

“Wait, Fallon and I will be but you’ll be barely showing at four months, not big at all.”

“Actually,” Piper said, clearing her throat, “I’ll be thirty-five weeks.”

There was complete silence on the other end of the line. Then Piper could hear Tate asking Audrey what was wrong, but she didn’t answer him. “I’m sorry, what?” Audrey asked.

“I’ll be almost nine months. I’m due the twenty-first of September.”

More silence, and then suddenly Audrey screeched, “You’ve been pregnant since before me and I’m just now hearing about it?”

Piper giggled nervously. “Audrey, I don’t know if you remember but you were in the hospital, and then in physical therapy and then you went to Sweden! You’ve been a little busy!”

Piper hated that it had taken her so long to tell her best friend, but like she said, Audrey had been through a lot. After getting beaten up by her ex-boyfriend, Audrey spent a long time in the hospital in a medically induced coma, and after that she went through rounds and rounds of therapy. Piper didn’t feel that her drama and news were that important; Audrey getting well mattered a whole lot more.

“I can’t believe it. Who in the world—OH MY GOD!” Audrey paused and Piper knew that she knew. “Piper, who is the daddy?”

“My husband?” Piper asked sheepishly.

“Your what?!?!”

Erik grunted beside her, and Piper couldn’t help but shoot him a dirty look. His best friend knew what was going on; she was going to have to lie to hers.

“Yeah, a lot has happened.”

“Oh my God, for real! You’re married? This is insane, but what’s more insane is that I’m pretty sure, your husband is the same guy who blew you off after one night with him. This I’m guessing primarily by the process of elimination, since you’ve not dated anyone else. Please tell me I’m wrong.”

Piper didn’t say anything. She sat wondering how this was going to go. Tate and Erik were great friends, and Audrey liked him in a way, but hated him in another since she was a loyal friend to Piper. Now though, what would she think?

“Um, hello?”

“I can’t tell you you’re wrong,” Piper said softly. “I married Erik.”

“Oh my goodness! Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“I am speechless.”

Piper laughed. “It’s no big deal.”

“Um, yeah, it is, but craptastic. I gotta go, I just pulled up at the cupcakery and already I see something wrong. I’ll see you tomorrow, right? At the party? With Erik?”

Piper answered, “Yeah, we’ll be there.”

“Awesome, but know, Mrs. Titov, you have a lot of explaining to do!”

Piper laughed nervously. She wasn’t the best liar and it scared her that Audrey might see right through her.

“Yeah, I guess I do.”

They said bye and Piper hit end before tucking her phone back into her purse. She leaned back against the cool leather seats of Erik’s expensive car and took in a shallow breath. This was going to be hard. She didn’t like all this lying. She had always thought of herself as a very up-front and honest person. Then Erik comes into her life and she is hiding her pregnancy from everyone and now lying about being happily married. She had no problem saying she loved him, because she did, but there was no way she was happy.

How could she be happy when the person she loved was counting the seconds until this marriage was over?

The car ride home was quiet, and Piper was glad when she saw their turn for Sweetbriar. The little town that Elli had lived in most of her adult life was now Piper’s haven. Turning off the main road and onto the back road that would take them to Piper’s home, she leaned against the window and closed her eyes. It had been a tough day, and all she wanted to do was go to bed. She wished that when she woke up in the morning all this would have been just a bad dream but she knew it wouldn’t be. Tomorrow, Erik would probably be playing his video games all day and would completely ignore her until it was time to go to the grand opening of Audrey’s cupcakery.

Erik pulled into the driveway behind her tattered truck and shut off the car as she got out. She couldn’t get out of the car fast enough; Erik was an overwhelming presence. Shaking her head, she made her way up the sidewalk to Elli’s cute little house. She loved the bright yellow shutters against the dark brick and the porch was spectacular. It was so big, and held the custom-made beach chairs her neighbor had made for her as a housewarming gift.

This was now her home, and she couldn’t wait to bring the baby home.

Resting her hand on her tummy, Piper opened the front door and almost lost her balance when Stanley came barreling out into the yard. The dog turned out to be the best thing about Erik moving in with her. Stanley was a great dog and she loved having a pet, even if it would only be for a short time. She laid her purse on the counter in the kitchen and got herself a drink of water as Erik entered the house.