Free Some Women by Emily Liebert Page B

cup of steaming tea. “Gotta run to work. Will I see you ladies in class again?”
    â€œI’m afraid so.” Annabel sighed.
    â€œWell, nice to meet you . . .”
    â€œAnnabel.”
    â€œAnd nice to see you, Piper. I’m sure we’ll run into each other in the halls at Mead.”
    â€œAbsolutely.”
    Mackenzie waved and weaved her way through the crowd and back out the door.
    â€œHello? Earth to Piper.” Annabel passed her hand in front of Piper’s face. “Are you starstruck or something?”
    â€œHonestly? Kind of. No one at the company really talks to Trevor or Mackenzie. I didn’t even think she knew my name. Much less Lucy’s. I mean, she really pulled that out of her ass.”
    â€œShe seems like a genuinely nice person.”
    â€œSee, I told you she wasn’t a bitch.”
    â€œThat was when you didn’t know who I was talking about!”
    â€œStill, it’ll teach you not to judge a book by its cover.” Piper rounded a brown eyebrow.
    â€œThat’s unlikely. Nine times out of ten, the cover says it all. Speaking of which . . .”
    â€œYeah?”
    â€œDid you see the look on her face when she was talking about getting pregnant?”
    â€œNo, why?”
    â€œFor God’s sake. Aren’t you supposed to be observant?”
    â€œApparently, according to CeCe Mead.”
    â€œI’m telling you she’s already got a bun in the oven.”
    â€œMackenzie?”
    â€œNo, Madonna.”
    â€œVery funny.”
    â€œMark my words. That girl’s eating for two.”
    â€œYou think?” Piper considered this for a moment. “That would actually be big news. Everyone at the office knows CeCe has been dying for a grandson. Plus, she’s talked about it in every interview I’ve read with her.”
    â€œAnd yet we’re the first to know.” Annabel’s lips curled smugly.
    â€œWell, she didn’t actually come out and say it.”
    â€œShe didn’t have to.”
    â€œMaybe you should be the one doing the sleuthing.”
    â€œBelieve me, I would if I could.”
    â€œOkay, I have to get to work.” Piper stood up.
    â€œYou’ll call me if you find out anything else about Henry?” She’d forgotten about him for a few blissful moments.
    â€œYes.”
    â€œPromise?”
    â€œPromise.”
    Once Piper had left, Annabel sat for a while, gazing out the window at the passersby—a middle-aged mother with a triple stroller packed with two toddlers and a screaming baby; an elderly woman hobbling across the street, pushing a metal cart full of groceries; and a young couple with their arms linked and their sides fastened to each other’s like Siamese twins. Without warning, the lump that had been residing in her throat erupted into a wretched howl she just managed to suppress in time. After throwing some cash down on the table, Annabel raced out of the café toward her car, where she hunched her body over the wheel and released a torrent of savage wails.
    If this was what it felt like to be alone, she wasn’t sure she’d survive it.

Seven
    Everything felt different when there was life growing inside of you. Even if it was only an embryo, somehow Mackenzie knew she was no longer responsible for just herself. And each decision she made—even the ones that had seemed trivial before—suddenly necessitated the vigilance of an air-traffic controller.
    She hadn’t told anyone yet. Not her mother. Not her childhood best friend, Trish. Not even Trevor. She’d expected she’d want to scream the news from the rooftops, maybe issue a press release—she knew one would be forthcoming anyway, if CeCe had anything to say about it. Which, inevitably, she would. But, instead, she’d felt instinctively protective of the new life—a natural maternal impulse, she’d decided, allowing herself to keep her