Joe and I sat in his truck outside of Lilly's apartment in silence. My stomach was churning with nervousness and I didn't feel good.
"Ready for this?" I asked. My voice wobbled.
Joe cleared his throat. "As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose."
I looked down at my left hand, where Joe's tiny engagement ring sparkled on my fourth finger. I wasn't sure if I was ready to tell Lilly about that yet, since it meant I'd have to tell her about the baby. But I didn't want to hurt Joe's feelings and take it off. I didn't know what to do.
Joe took my hand and kissed the back of it. He touched the small diamond and smiled sadly. "I'll understand, darlin'."
I nodded and swallowed the lump in my throat. Was it fair to Joe to pretend that the ring didn't exist; that the question had never been asked? I took a deep breath. Maybe it was time to put on my big girl panties and deal with it. Lilly was an adult and besides, I couldn't control her reaction. If she was giving me a second chance, then I should be honest with her from the beginning.
"Well, let's get this over with," I said in a fake bright voice. I opened the door to Joe's truck and slid out. He did the same. We crossed to the stairs of Lil's second storey flat.
"You first?" I prompted.
Joe nodded and took a deep breath. He reached out and squeezed my arm and then led the way to Lilly's front door.
She answered his knock with a shy smile and I couldn't read her expression. She seemed warm and friendly enough, but she was a Tanner and I knew all too well how still and deep the waters ran with that clan.
"Adele's in the livingroom with Nate," she said. "Adam's just about ready to go with dinner, so why don't the two of you join them? Would you like a drink?"
Joe requested a rye and water, but I kept quiet. If I turned down a drink I'd have to explain why, since Lil would never believe I was simply abstaining for the fun of it. I knew I'd have to tell her at some point in the evening, but I didn't want it to be the first thing out of my mouth.
Adele's flirtatious laughter drifted from in the other room, which piqued my curiosity. Who was Nate anyway? Did she bring a date and not tell me? I didn't even know she was dating someone. It hurt to think there might be someone new in her life and she hadn't told me about it, although to be fair, I'd had other things on my mind lately.
Adam was leaning in the doorway between the kitchen and living room, his arms crossed over a t-shirt-and-apron covered chest. He flashed me a sexy, welcoming smile over his shoulder which I instantly returned.
"Hey, gorgeous," he teased. His smile was all teeth. The damn man looked like a movie-star, except for the tattoos. A small part of me wished I was the one he had stared at that night at the bar two months ago, but he only ever had eyes for Lilly. "Glad you two could finally join us."
"Thanks for holding dinner," I laughed. "I didn't mean to complicate things."
Adam looked past me to Joe and gave him a crooked grin full of innuendo. "I figured you two had better things to do."
Joe actually blushed, which sent Adam and me into a peal of laughter. Adele inquired into what was so funny from the living room. She sounded happy. She hadn't sounded truly happy in a long, long time.
"Come meet someone," Adam prompted, taking my arm. Joe followed and the three of us stepped into Lilly's cozy livingroom. Adele was seated at one end of the couch, and a blond-haired man at the other. The two of them were smiling at each other with a look I recognized and which might bode trouble. The man rose to his feet and smiled shyly at me.
"Rhi, Joe, this is my best friend Nate. Nate, this is Rhiannon Barnes and this Lilly's big brother, Joe."
The blond man held out a hand, which I took. I knew my jaw had hit the floor but I couldn't keep the shocked expression off my face. The handsome man shaking my hand was clothed in head-to-toe black and wore a clerical collar.
"Reverend Nathaniel Fontaine," he chuckled. "And don't worry, I get that look all the time," he laughed over my shoulder at Joe, who was making mumbled excuses for me, before moving to shake his hand too.
"Your best friend is a priest?" I sputtered to Adam, who was laughing.
"Actually, I'm a Presbyterian Minister," Nate explained politely. "It's a little different."
There was such an odd dichotomy between the two it was positively comical. Like something out of a sitcom really, the dark, tattooed former-bad-boy and the angelic blond man-of-the-cloth. I threw back my head and laughed.
"I'm sure there's a story there," I giggled as I sank onto the couch beside Adele, who joined in my laughter. "Are you going to tell it?"
"Nate saved my life when I was in prison," Adam admitted with a sheepish grin. "Not physically, mind you, more like metaphorically."
"Now if only I could convince him to go to church," Nate muttered with a teasing laugh. He sat down in an empty armchair. "There's not much to tell really. I met Adam while I was the chaplain at a correctional center. Understandably it was a difficult time for Adam but we struck up a friendship as best we could. When I took a parish here on the Island I suggested he move here too. I thought it would be a good place for a fresh start and his parole officer agreed. That's all there is to it."
Lilly entered the room with a rye and water in hand and passed it to Joe, who took a grateful sip. He had said very little since we'd arrived and looked a little awkward and out of sorts. I smiled encouragingly at him. I knew he wasn't completely comfortable with Adam's past and really I couldn't blame him. Joe had always been protective of Lilly, of all his younger siblings. Lilly tended to gripe and moan about it, but she had no idea how lucky she was to even have a brother who cared so much.
Adam told the story of how Nate had put in a good word for him with the owner of the
La Langoustine Fâchée
, a parishioner of the good reverend's. That was how Adam started working at the most exclusive restaurant on the Island. I was struck by how easily the two men worked Adam's incarceration into the conversation, like it was nothing to be ashamed of, although if that was Adam's feeling on the whole thing then I guess it wasn't. It didn't matter to me one way or the other, the man was just too nice to look at to hold past sins against him.
Joe stood awkwardly to one side, watching as Adele asked Nate questions about his parish and life on the Island. I followed along as best I could without really understanding much. I hadn't been to church a day in my life, except for the occasional wedding or funeral. I knew the Tanner family had though; I expected Joe to jump into the conversation but he didn't. He just shifted his weight from foot-to-foot and went through the first glass of rye a little too quickly. I wondered if he felt awkward around Adam, who was just so completely opposite to him and who I knew Joe would probably never feel comfortable with, or if it was something more than just shyness.
