When Amy didn’t answer, Gwen prodded more. “Did you suddenly forget to speak? Don’t piss on our legs and try to tell us it’s raining. Who is he?”
Amy shook her head. She stared at the phone in her hand. “I…I just needed some time—”
“Bullshit! Amy, who the hell is he? What’s the guy’s name?”
If Amy didn’t start coughing up some answers soon, Gwen was going to lose what little hold she had on her temper. Amy wasn’t the only one with personal problems.
Amy’s face went red, a sure sign she was lying. “What guy are—”
“Amy, knock it off!” Liam barked. Gwen and Amy both jumped. Gwen couldn’t remember ever hearing her brother sound so angry. “We were born at night but it wasn’t last night. Quit bullshitting us. Just tell us what the fuck is going on. You owe us answers, dammit!”
Amy burst into tears. Before she realized what she was doing, Gwen stepped over to her and hugged her.
Amy threw her arms around Gwen, squeezing tightly, holding on with a desperation Gwen could never remember her sister expressing.
That frightened her. Amy was always the picture of the utmost composure. Whatever this was, it was bad.
Amy cried for several minutes while Gwen held her. Finally, without lifting her face from where she had it pressed against Gwen’s shoulder, she mumbled, “I’m pregnant.”
Gwen froze and stared at Liam, who looked shocked.
“What did you say?” Liam asked.
Amy lifted her head and, with tears still streaming down her face, wailed, “I’m pregnant!”
Gwen closed her eyes. Part of her wanted to burst out laughing. Her Goody Two-shoes sister had gotten herself knocked up?
Part of her wanted to cry. Her sister would never hear the end of this from their parents.
“Who is he, Amy?” Gwen asked.
She shook her head. “No, I can’t tell anyone right now. I don’t want anyone to know.”
Liam flopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. “He’s married, isn’t he?”
Amy nodded. “Yes,” she softly admitted. “He’s going to divorce his wife. He was already planning on it before I found out about this.”
Gwen bit her tongue.
Liam asked, “How long have you known you were pregnant?”
“I found out after I got here.” She finally pulled away from Gwen and wiped at her face with her hands. “I’m sorry I put you two through this. I got scared. I didn’t know what to do.”
“Why didn’t you just come home to us?” Liam asked. “Don’t you know we would have helped you?”
She shook her head. “I can’t face Mom and Dad right now. He…he’s going to make some arrangements and find us a place to live and break the news to his wife that he’s leaving her. I wanted some time alone before I had to go back. And I wanted to give him time to do what he needed to do.”
“So you scare the crap out of us by going radio silent?” Gwen heard her voice getting more shrill.”
“Gee, calm down,” Liam softly said. “It’s okay. Come here.”
Gwen went to sit next to Liam. He slung an arm around her, pulling her close and comforting her. “Amy, I wish you could have trusted us enough to come to us,” Liam said.
“I figured it was better if you didn’t know. That way Mom and Dad couldn’t throw any of the blame on you two.”
“You mean on me,” Gwen bitterly said. “Dad will blame me regardless.”
“Enough, Gee,” Liam chided. “Look at the three of us. It’s not like we’re kids anymore. We’re all adults, and they have us crapping our pants.” He started laughing, and Gwen couldn’t resist his infectious tone. She started laughing too, and eventually Amy joined them, a sad smile on her face despite her laughter.
“Okay,” Liam eventually said. “We need a plan. We need to have our stories straight for when we get home.” He looked at Gwen and brushed a strand of hair from her forehead. “We’ve all had a rough few days. If we stick together, we can make it through this a lot easier than letting Mom and Dad divide and conquer.”
Amy sniffled again. Gwen felt a little less sorry for herself. At least she wasn’t in Amy’s shoes. She stifled her righteous indignation that Amy was involved with a married man. After her divorce, Amy had heard Gwen rail against cheating men for countless hours.
No wonder she didn’t want to confide in me.
“Just tell them I had a mental breakdown,” Amy said. “It’s close to the truth anyway.” She rested her hand on her stomach and it hit Gwen that in a few months she would be an aunt.
It also struck a painful twang in her soul of what she’d just lost.
No. I won’t think of that right now!
“You need to get your stuff packed and come with us,” Gwen said.
Amy shook her head. “No. I can’t go back yet. I’m not ready.”
“If you think any time is a good time to go back, think again.” Gwen took a deep breath in what she knew was a futile attempt to rein in her anger. “You need to come home with us.”
“I can’t face them yet,” Amy whispered, sounding like a frightened teenager instead of a woman almost forty.
“So you’re going to leave us holding the bag with Mom and Dad?” She felt her temper ratcheting up again.
“Gee,” Liam warned.
“No, Liam, I’m sick of this.” She turned to back Amy. “You want to stay here? Fine. I’m sorry your life sucks right now. But let me tell you something, we’re not going to lie to them for you anymore. You’re on your own.” She stormed over to the door. “Come on, Liam. Let’s go.”
He sighed and got to his feet. “Amy, you’re an adult. But I have to agree with Gwen that there never will be a good time to face Mom and Dad about this. Sooner will be better than later.”
They returned to the rental car. Liam let the silence lay between them all the way to the airport. Before they drove in to the rental car return lot, Liam pulled out his phone.
“What are you doing?” Gwen asked.
“I’m biting the bullet.” He dialed. After a moment, someone answered. “Hi, Mom. Yeah, listen, we talked to Amy.” Gwen heard a burst of excitement from her mom, but couldn’t make out her words. “Just listen, okay? She’s fine, she’s healthy, and she’s not coming back yet. Gwen and I are coming back late tonight…We talked to Amy and she’s fine. She’s just taking some downtime, like I thought.”
He looked at Gwen, who resisted the urge to grab the phone from him and tell their mom the full story. Liam let their mother vent another burst of excited-sounding words. “Mom, she’s fine, okay? She’ll be home when she’s ready, and right now I need to get off because my phone’s almost dead. Good-bye, Mom.” He hung up, then shut his phone off. He looked at Gwen. “I suggest you shut yours off, too.”
She was reaching for it when it went off. The caller ID showed their parents’ number. Gwen sent it to voice mail and shut the phone off.
Liam shook his head. “We’re in for a few rocky days, sis.” He reached over and squeezed her hand.
She squeezed back. “Sure seems like it, bro.”
There was still an hour before their flight was scheduled to take off. At least dealing with Amy had provided Gwen with a little bit of a diversion from thinking about her men.
She suspected from the way things went down with Jack that Tim was in the dark about it. Regardless, she needed to make a clean break.
Gwen wouldn’t split the men up. If she couldn’t have Jack, she would have to walk away from Tim, too. She pulled out her laptop. Liam arched a quizzical eyebrow at her but she ignored him. He didn’t speak, knowing that at times like this what she needed most was to be left alone.