"What kind of things?" Lawrence asked curiously.
"I can't tell you how pleased I am that you're going to be my son-in-law. I've been hoping Eileen would settle down with a good man, one that can take care of her and treat her well. Especially now that I'm getting on in years and . . . won't be around forever, it puts my mind at ease that she'll have you in her life. You're a good man Lawrence, and I trust you completely."
"Thank you."
"The two of you remind me of me and Eileen's mother when we were young . . . that seems so long ago now. I hope you don't make the same mistakes that we did when we were together. I don't know if Eileen knows this, she was probably too young to remember, but Abigail, her mother, left me, left both of us for awhile. We almost separated."
"What happened?" Lawrence prompted.
"I was the one to blame mostly. We were just starting the company then and I was so involved with my work that I neglected my wife, and my daughter too. Abigail wasn't the type to sit around at home and she wasn't the most maternal or domestic of women. She kept very active socially. Between her going out and me spending so much time at the office, we started to grow apart. That's when she left. I wasn't sure if she was ever coming back, and at the time I was so angry that she could leave our daughter, I wasn't sure if I wanted her to come back. Eventually she did, when she found out she was sick, and I took her back for Eileen's sake and because I missed her too."
"I'm sorry."
"I don't know how much of this Eileen knows. I suspect she has questions, she took her mother's passing very hard, and I want her to know the answers to anything she wants to know . . . But I'm getting off track. I see a lot of me and Abigail in you and Eileen and I just want to warn you not to make the same mistakes I did. Don't let the business take you from your wife or the family you might have one day. Don't ever take them for granted or you may regret it. Eileen's a good girl. Let her know she's appreciated and let her be herself and I don't think the two of you will have any problems."
"I'll do my best. There's nothing more important in the world to me than Eileen and I won't forget that."
"I'm glad to hear it. It was just the two of us for a long time after Abigail passed away and there's no one and no thing more important to me either. It helps to know you'll be here to take care of her after I'm gone."
Eileen fidgeted nervously on the doorstep as she waited for someone to answer the bell. When she heard the door unlatch, she took a deep breath expecting the door to be immediately slammed in her face. She opened her mouth, prepared to speak up while she had the chance, but she was caught off guard when she saw the look on Lucy's face. Instead of anger or annoyance, she just saw sadness. It looked like she had been crying.
"Lucy?"
"Eileen, what are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see you . . . Are you alright? What's wrong?"
"Why don't you come in?" Lucy said as she turned and walked into the house.
"I can't believe how big he's gotten," Eileen remarked as Lucy sat Stuart on the floor and the two of them sat down in the living room. "It's been a long time since I've seen him."
"I know."
"I should have come by sooner and tried to patch things up, but even now I was afraid you wouldn't want to talk to me. When I was talking to Chloe earlier today, I realized how much I really missed our friendship. Lawrence and I are getting married and I really hope you will be able to be a part of it, at least as a guest. I've been trying to plan everything and I just can't imagine you not being there. I've really missed our friendship and I was hoping we could make amends."
"I'd like that," Lucy said. "I could really use a friend right now. So much has been going on. I just can't go through this all on my own."
"What's happened?" Eileen asked with concern.
"What hasn't? I don't even know where to start," Lucy paused to collect her thoughts, while Eileen patiently waited for her to continue. "I guess I could start by saying that Craig and I are getting a divorce."
"Oh no. I'm so sorry."
"You could say I told you so on that one."
"No, I wouldn't. It seemed quick to me, but I hoped you two would last. What happened?"
"Lots of things. He was never here when I wanted him here, because he had to go out of town a lot for his work. He wanted me to go with him, but I didn't want to leave my life behind. We could never come to an agreement on that. Then I found out that he was having me watched without my knowledge while he was away, because he didn't trust me. Sometimes I didn't trust him either, but I never had him spied on!"
"Oh my gosh. How could he not trust you? And he had you spied on? That's ridiculous."
"Yeah. Well, the thing is, I did have a moment of weakness. I was just so angry with him for leaving me when I needed him after my dad's murder trial. You and I weren't talking then. I just needed someone to lean on so badly. I just lost control of myself. Only once, but that's all it took."
As Lucy laid her hand over her stomach, Eileen noticed something she hadn't before, maybe because Lucy had been carrying Stuart when she answered the door and when the walked into the living room. "All it took for what?"
"To get myself pregnant with another man's baby."
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