shook her head, upset with herself for getting emotional. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t, that she’d simply tell Jane and Molly the facts about what had happened and then talk practicalities. The last thing she wanted was to upset them.
Molly, hands encased in oven mitts, was sliding a muffin tin out of the oven as they walked into the sunny kitchen. The smile on her face faded as she saw Chloe’s expression. Putting the tin down on the stove, she walked over and enfolded Chloe in a hug. “Is it Todd?” she asked.
Chloe nodded, then managed to get a grip. Sighing heavily, she extricated herself from Molly’s embrace and sank onto a kitchen chair. The smell of the cooked bacon permeated the kitchen. Molly took off the oven mitts, tossed them onto a counter and took a chair opposite her. “Tell us,” she demanded.
“The engagement is off,” Chloe said.
“Oh, Chloe,” her aunt said. She was already pouring a mug of coffee, which she handed to Chloe.
“What happened?” Molly asked. Her brown eyes, the exact shade of her mother’s, were filled with worry.
Chloe grimaced. “What happened? He married Meredith. Even now they are on their honeymoon. In Fiji.”
Molly’s mouth dropped open, and Jane gasped. “Married!” they both exclaimed at once.
“What a dirtbag!” Molly said. “How did you find out?”
“He sent me a letter. Via FedEx.”
“Via FedEx!” If anything, Molly’s voice had risen an octave. Her eyes now flashed fire and outrage.
Jane shook her head. “I am so sorry, honey. That must have hurt.”
“You could say that.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m going to be. I’m determined to be, actually. I don’t think Todd is worth wasting too many tears on.”
“You can say that again,” Molly said indignantly. “I never did like him.”
Chloe couldn’t help it. She laughed. “You did so.”
“No, I didn’t. He’s altogether too good-looking and too sure of himself. I don’t trust men who have everything. They always think they’re somehow entitled. He seemed … I don’t know … weak, the way he never stood up to that mother of his. And you said yourself that he’d had some problems finding himself.” She rolled her eyes. “Finding himself. That’s a good one.”
“You never said anything.”
Molly shrugged. “You were so happy. I hoped I was wrong.”
“I wasn’t crazy about him, either,” Jane said quietly.
“You weren’t?” Chloe was shocked by this admission. She’d believed that her aunt and her cousin were thrilled with the match she’d made. In fact—and it shamed her to admit it, even to herself—she’d thought Molly was probably secretly envious.
“He’s just a little too slick for my taste,” Jane said. “But I, too, hoped I was wrong.”
“We talked about it,” Molly confessed. “Whether we should tell you about our reservations.”
“I wish you had,” Chloe said bitterly.
“Would you have listened?” Jane asked.
Chloe sighed. “Probably not.”
“Chloe.” Molly hesitated. “Why did you get engaged to Todd? I never could figure it out. I mean, to me, you were a mismatch from the beginning.”
“I don’t know,” Chloe admitted. “I think I was flattered. Plus—” and this was hard to admit, even to these two, whom she loved more than anyone ”—I think I wanted a family of my own so badly that I allowed that to color my judgment where Todd was concerned.”
“Oh, honey,” Jane said. “You do have a family of your own.”
“We’re your family,” Molly said.
“I know.” But an aunt and a cousin were not the same as a husband and children. And all three women knew it.
“Anyway,” Chloe said, sighing again—good grief, she was doing a lot of sighing. “That’s part of what’s been keeping me awake the last two nights.”
“Last two nights,” Jane said, frowning as Chloe’s words sank in. “You mean you’ve known about Todd’s marriage to Meredith since Thursday?”
Chloe nodded.
“And you didn’t call me?” Molly squeaked.
“I’m sorry. I … wanted to settle some things in my mind first.” Chloe knew she’d probably hurt her cousin’s feelings—after all, in addition to being cousins they were best friends and had been since they were toddlers. Molly was two years younger than Chloe, but the difference in their ages had never mattered to them. “One thing I did figure out is that there are probably going to be some rough patches ahead.”
“Look, honey,” her aunt said, reaching over to pat Chloe’s hand, “I know it’s hard right now, but you’re a strong person … you’ll weather this … and in the end, I believe you’ll be better off.”
Just get it over with. Tell them. “There’s something else.”
Jane and Molly both frowned. Chloe could almost see the wheels turning.
“I’m pregnant.”
For one long moment, the only sounds in the kitchen were the ticking of the wall clock and the humming of the refrigerator. Then cousin and aunt spoke at once.
“Oh, Chloe.”
“Oh, dear.”
Chloe sighed. Nodded. “Yep.”
“Does … does Todd know?” This came from Molly.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I’m only about three—at the most four—weeks along. I had no idea when he left. And then, when I suspected and had it confirmed with a pregnancy test—actually, two pregnancy tests—I wanted to wait to tell him in person.” At this, tears threatened, but Chloe forced them back.
Molly’s gaze met hers steadily. “So when do you plan to tell him now?”
“I don’t.”
“You don’t?” Jane asked.
“No.”
“But, honey—”
“Don’t tell me he has a right to know, Aunt Jane. As far as I’m concerned, Todd Hopewell has forfeited any
