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addition to the array of sides
Adrienne had prepared. She was stuffed.
    At least for an hour or so.
    Given that Alex was watching her with his predatory gaze the
whole time, she probably should’ve curbed her ravenous appetite and picked
delicately at her food, but Peanut would have her way. After a rough first
trimester living on saltines and lemon-lime soda, the hunger and the ability to
keep it down were welcome. Even if the extra pounds were not. The doctor said
she was right on track with her weight gain, but after a lifetime of trying to
get smaller, not bigger, it was hard to change how she thought about things.
    After they were done eating, several of the ladies started
rounding up dishes, and the guys went inside for what promised to be a rowdy and
high-stakes game of poker. Gwen scooped up her plate and a nearby bowl of potato
salad and followed the other women into the kitchen.
    “What are you doing?” Helena chided, snatching the items away
from her the moment she crossed the threshold into the house. “You need to
rest.”
    Gwen frowned. “I’m pregnant, not paralyzed. If washing dishes
is hazardous to my condition, someone needs to tell me, because I’ve been doing
it the whole time.”
    “Of course not. But take the opportunity to relax for once,”
Adrienne said, brushing past her with a platter and another bowl. “We can handle
it.”
    The cherry-and-granite kitchen was quite large, but even Gwen
realized that the four women already in there were bumping elbows and dancing
around to clean up. A fifth one with a protruding belly probably wouldn’t be
much help.
    With a sigh, she snatched one of her favorite peppermint
candies from the bag she left on the counter, turned, and went back outside. The
sun had set, but the sky was still bright with orange-and-red hues streaking
across it. Beyond the pool and the expansive lawn that extended on both sides of
the house, she spied the boathouse and pier that led out into the harbor.
    A walk would probably help things settle, she decided. She
slipped out of her sandals and kicked them to the side, then headed across the
perfectly manicured lawn. The blades of grass were soft and cool, welcoming the
bottoms of her feet to sink into them. It was a beautiful evening, one like she
hadn’t experienced in a long time. Along the tree line, she could see the
blinking dance of fireflies as they appeared for the night. The breeze coming
off the water was warm and salty, mingling with the scent of freshly mown
grass.
    It reminded her of her home in Tennessee. There, of course, the
water was the creek that ran behind her grandparents’ house, but the grass and
the flashing lightning bugs were just the same. She had the urge to climb into
the tire swing her Paw-Paw had hung for her and sway for hours, as she used
to.
    For a brief moment, Gwen was overcome with homesickness. She
loved Manhattan—the energy, the excitement, the culture. But it had never felt
like home to her. It made her wonder if she ever would’ve left Tennessee if it
hadn’t been the only way to get away from her mother. Following a guy she barely
had lukewarm feelings for wasn’t very smart, but it was a sure ticket out of her
mother’s clutches.
    In the end, she and Ty went their separate ways, but she had
gotten what she wanted from him—about six hundred miles of breathing room and
her very own apartment, albeit tiny.
    Gwen reached the pier and opted to walk out to the edge and
watch the water. The occasional boat would sail by and send a ripple across the
surface, but for the most part, the water was calm and still this time of day.
At the end of the rough, wooden planks, she sucked in a lungful of ocean air and
sighed.
    She enjoyed getting away from the chaos more than she’d
expected. There was a serenity out here that seemed to sink into her bones and
force her muscles to unknot. Even Peanut had settled down and stopped squirming
around. It was a shame she wasn’t in the right tax