I'll Take What She Has by Samantha Wilde

Author:Samantha Wilde [Wilde, Samantha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-345-53576-4
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2013-02-26T00:00:00+00:00

The dinner party carried on in a much subdued manner. Even Elle seemed affected by the news despite the fact that she didn’t know Tabitha. Either that, or she’d become too sleepy to talk much. Every time I looked her way she appeared two blinks away from slumber. Once I saw her close her eyes completely and sway in her seat. Alfie and I exchanged whispers during dessert and agreed to leave as soon as possible.

Once we’d excused ourselves and gathered up Elle, I noticed she wasn’t walking very well. “She drank too much,” Alfie said, putting an arm around her.

“Oh.” I hadn’t noticed, truly I hadn’t, because so many other incredible things demanded my attention. I wanted to process what it meant that Cynthia, glamorous, perfect, gorgeous Cynthia, was, like me, adopted. I wanted to process that more than I wanted or needed to think about poor Tabitha Hunter, the flagship teacher of our school, who Dixbie would now lose.

“We’ll walk with you,” I heard Annie say. She and Ted stepped out the door moments after us.

“Oh, good,” Alfie replied as the wind slapped around us. “I could use your help, Ted.” He gestured wordlessly to Elle, who’d almost sunk entirely into his side. This seemed a little worrying, but Annie grabbed my hand and pulled me ahead of Elle and the men.

“Did your cousin mean what she said or does she hate me?”

“Elle suffers from a terrible case of verbal diarrhea.”

“Clearly.”

“I’m sorry about what she said.”

“Never mind. She’s clearly boozed out of her head.”

“Really?”

“That’s what I love about you, Nora. Your innocence.”

“Truthfully, I didn’t notice.”

“You’ve been preoccupied lately.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Annie said, pulling her scarf up around her face. “You’re providing me with a great opportunity to get in better touch with my anger.” I looked to see if she was kidding. Her eyes were serious.

“I have some wonderful news,” I said, wanting to steer the conversation clear away from our dissolving friendship.

“You’re pregnant,” she said.

“How did you know?”

“Cynthia told me at the party. I’m happy for you. Really I am.” She began to stride away from me. In a few paces, the path would divide into two, one leading up toward Zucker House, one toward my dorm. “You deserve it. You certainly waited long enough.”

“Hold on!” I ran several steps to catch up with her. “You don’t sound happy. Why aren’t you happy for me?”

“Did I mention Cynthia told me about my own best friend’s pregnancy, when for years I’ve been listening to you wail helplessly in longing for just this day?” Her voice was icy now.

“I’m sorry. I meant to. We haven’t talked much. And Elle came. I’ve been busy.”

“Forget it. I don’t want to rain on your parade. Congrats.”

“Annie.” I searched for what I wanted to say, how I wanted to reach out and grab hold of that moment we’d shared during the dinner, that commonality that bound us to one another. “You’ve been in such a bad mood lately,” I said and instantly regretted it.

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