Arianne's chest caved.
She hadn't let herself think it. Not fully. Every time she saw Alex and Layla in their faces she pushed it down. But now she couldn't stop seeing it — Leo's brow pulling down the same way Layla's did when she was working something out. Lily's head thrown back, mouth open, the exact way Alex laughed when he forgot to be careful about it.
She'd thought she was prepared. She wasn't. She was nowhere close.
"I'm sorry," Jessica said. Her voice cracked on it. "I just — seeing them here, in this place—"
She stopped. Pressed her hand flat against her chest. Her fingers curled into the fabric of her shirt like she was holding herself in.
"It felt like yesterday," she said. "The first time. After they started dating. He was so nervous. I had never seen him nervous before. He kept asking if the pie was good enough, if the coffee was fresh, if I thought she'd like him."
Arianne remembered.
