His Best Friend's Girl

March 2025

True love might be patient…but how long is too long?

Ethan Bravo had been in love with Matilda Hunt since…well, since before she was Matilda Hunt, actually. Because he and Gabe Hunt had been best friends since high school. So Matty was off-limits to Ethan. Even now, after Matty has been a widow for three years, he considers her forbidden fruit. It was easy when she lived in LA, but now Matty’s moved home for good. And instead of betraying his best friend’s memory and revealing his heart, Ethan settled for being her confidant.

Except Matty is pregnant with the child from her now ex-boyfriend—a man who wants nothing to do with Matty or the baby. So Ethan is stepping up, becoming the one man Matty can trust. Sharing his true feelings now would shatter that trust. And Ethan can’t risk losing Matty—again. He can be the one man she deserves, even if keeping his secret could break his heart.

Bravo Family Ties:
The Next Generation

Chapter 1

On the first day of March, after two long days on the road, Matty Hunt pulled into her parents’ driveway towing a U-Haul trailer.

Her mom and dad came rushing out to greet her. Waving and beaming, they descended the front steps. Matty pushed the driver’s door wide and slid out from behind the wheel, her boots crunching on clumps of old snow from a recent storm. The cold Wyoming wind blew her hair into her eyes. She guided it back behind her ear as her mom and dad came at her.

Her mom got there first. “At last!” Simone Gage cried, enfolding Matty in her soft arms. The well-remembered rose scent of her mom’s favorite perfume mingled with the smells of pine and woodsmoke and the sharpness of the wintry air. It had been sixty degrees out when Matty left North Hollywood. Here in Medicine Creek it was in the high thirties.

“Here’s our girl…” Neal Gage, his wire-rim glasses glinting in the gray afternoon light, piled onto the family hug. “It’s so good to have you home…”

For a moment, they just held each other, the three of them, their little family reunited for the first time in almost a year.

And then her mom cupped the side of her face and chided, “You really should have let us come and help you. Packing up everything you own and then driving all the way from Los Angeles with a trailer hooked on the back is no job for a pregnant woman.”

Matty laughed through a sigh. “I’m fine, Mom—great, in fact. No morning sickness at all in the past couple of weeks. And before I left, my doctor in LA gave me the okay to make the drive.”

“But travel can be so stressful.”

“It’s done and it went great. I had a rideshare straight through to Salt Lake City. She was nice. She did half the driving, and we split expenses down the middle. It was fine—I promise you.”

A pickup slid in at the curb.

“Here’s Colin,” said her dad.

All long arms and rangy legs, Colin Trask got out of the pickup and came up the driveway toward them. Colin was…what? Seventeen or eighteen now? He worked part-time at the family bookstore. “Hey, Matty.” He gave her a shy smile.

“Colin! Good to see you.”

Her dad tightened his hold on her in another quick hug. “I cleared plenty of space in the garage. Colin and I will unload that trailer for you.”

“Thanks, Dad.” She kissed his bristly cheek, and he and Colin got to work.

Matty and her mom carried her suitcases inside and up the stairs to her old bedroom, which had been redone as a guest room years ago. Long gone were the Paul Theroux, Bruno Mars and Rihanna posters Matty had once tacked up with push pins. Instead it was all very adult and tasteful. There were framed posters from events at the bookstore and large botanical prints hanging above the tufted headboard.

In the thirteen years since Matty had moved to Los Angeles for her freshman year of college, she’d stayed in this room often. When she and her husband, Gabe, would come home to visit, they’d slept in here. And since Gabe’s sudden death three years ago, she’d stayed here alone several times. She’d always thought the space was pretty in a generic sort of way. Now, though, it made her feel oddly disoriented—like she was suddenly a stranger in this place she knew so well.

She had a sudden overwhelming urge to jump up and get out—run downstairs and keep going out the front door, to zip right past her dad and Colin unloading the U-Haul. Her breath came too fast and her heart beat a wild tattoo under her rib cage as she pictured herself racing off down the street, never once pausing to look back.

Her mom brushed a lock of hair away from Matty’s forehead. “You want some time to yourself to start unpacking, get settled in a little?”

Matty moderated her breathing and took care to answer in an easy tone. “That would be great.”

“All right, then.” Pressing a kiss to her temple, Simone said, “I’ll leave you to it.”

Matty rose and trailed after her. Shutting the door quietly, she let her head droop against it and closed her eyes. What next? she thought. The two words echoed in her head.

She did have a plan. She was home for a reason. Still, her life felt as though it had somehow gotten away from her. She had no idea what might happen next. Sometimes her lack of confidence in herself and her future terrified her.

How had she become so completely…unmoored? The Matty Hunt she used to be had desire, determination and focus. Yet nowadays she couldn’t help wondering where the old Matty had gone.

Head down, feeling crappy, she wandered back to the bed. As she sank to the cream-colored duvet, that sense of complete unreality rushed over her again.

Back home. In Medicine Creek. And this time to stay—with a baby on the way. Who would ever have imagined that could happen to Matty Hunt? Matty Hunt, who was a successful travel writer, one who’d made Los Angeles her home base and had no problem living out of a suitcase much of the year.

Matty Hunt, whose babies were supposed to be Gabe’s babies, too.

Gabe. Even after three years, it hurt to think of him. She missed him still. The loss of him was a hollow place just beneath her beating heart. She knew she would never stop missing him.

Matty put her hand to her still-flat belly, closed her eyes and imagined sending pure love flowing straight from her heart, down her arm and out her fingertips, pure love transmitting through the cage of her flesh to where her baby slept. Her baby was very much wanted. And her choice to move back home was just that—her own.

She wanted to be here, she reminded herself.

And this disoriented, freaked-out, not-really-here feeling? It would pass, hopefully soon.

But it didn’t pass, at least not right then. The rest of the afternoon went by as if in a dream.

Once her dad and Colin had unloaded all her things, her dad wanted to go with her to return the trailer. She insisted that she could manage it just fine. And then she got back behind the wheel of her Jeep Cherokee and headed for the U-Haul dealer in nearby Buffalo.

When she returned to Medicine Creek, she finished unpacking her suitcases and helped her mom with dinner. They sat down to roast chicken, baked sweet potatoes and a tossed salad. She wouldn’t have minded eating in silence.

But she probably should have known that wouldn’t happen.

Right away, her dad had a question about her ex-boyfriend, Ted. “So, sweetheart, any…change of attitude from the baby’s father?”

A change of attitude? From Ted Lansing?

As though that could ever happen—as though she would even want it to happen. Because she didn’t. No way.

“No, Dad,” Matty replied firmly. “Ted is never changing his mind—believe me.”

“Then you’ve had more talks with him?”

“No. I haven’t spoken to Ted since I told him about the baby. You’ve already heard how that went.”

Telling Ted about the baby had not gone well. He’d put up both hands and backed away shaking his head. No, he’d said, his eyes round with horror. Uh-uh. You and I are already through, Matty, and I never signed on for any baby. Just leave me out of it.

Her mom suggested, “Maybe he only needs time to—”

“Mom. Honestly. Ted has made it painfully clear that he doesn’t want the baby.”

For a moment, nobody spoke. Her mom and dad shared a speaking look. “Ah,” said her mother in a soothing tone. “Well, all right, then.”

Just in case they still didn’t get the point, Matty clarified it for them. “I’m going to be a single mom. And I’m good with that. It is what it is, and I’m just fine with how it’s worked out. I don’t want to be coparenting with Ted. We broke up, as I’ve told you both before, and Ted does not want anything to do with this baby.”

“Got it,” her mother said.

Her dad patted her shoulder and predicted, “It will all work out.”

“I know it will,” Matty replied in a mild tone—and it would work out. She would make it so. “I love you both and I am so grateful for how good you are to me, but…”

“We love you, too,” said her dad, reaching over and giving her shoulder a squeeze.

“Yes, we do,” her mom agreed. “And what else were you going to say?”

Matty laid it on them. “I would greatly appreciate it if you would never mention Ted Lansing to me again.”

Her mom glanced away as her dad looked at her with real pain in his brown eyes. The silence went on forever.

Finally her mom said, “It’s that bad, huh?”

“Yeah,” Matty replied. “He is completely out of the picture, and that is never going to change. Plus, it’s all so…fresh, you know? One of these days, I’ll be over it. Then maybe I’ll share all the gory details with you. But not right now.”

“We understand,” her mom replied.

Matty felt terrible. Her mom and dad just wanted to help. And she really was grateful for their love, their care and their understanding.

But still, as the too-quiet meal continued, she kept picturing herself jumping up out of her chair and whirling for the front door at a run. She ached to fling that door wide and get out of there, to keep on running forever, never pausing, never once looking back.

She kept taking slow breaths, reminding herself that she was doing exactly what she wanted to do, that she was grateful for her baby, that everything really would work out just fine in the end.

Still, as each moment went by, her feelings of unreality only got more so. All she wanted was to get out of that house, away from the tenderness and honest concern in her dad’s eyes. She just needed to be somewhere else, someplace where people she loved didn’t have to wonder if she knew what she was doing, if she had any kind of real plan for her new life as a single mom.

Maybe she should go over to Heather’s later…

Her cousin, who was her mom’s sister’s daughter, lived right there in town. Heather already knew all the gory details about the breakup with Ted. Matty had also shared the news of the baby with her.

But Heather had four kids and a loving husband, and after dinner would no doubt be family time. Matty didn’t want to break in on that. Plus, Heather could get so emotional about things. The last thing Matty needed right now was someone to cry over her. She could manage the crying part all by herself.

So if not Heather, then who?

The answer came instantly. Ethan.

Ethan Bravo had been Gabe’s lifelong best friend. Over the years, he’d become Matty’s friend, too.

Yeah. Ethan…

Ethan would offer her drama-free support. Also, it really was past time to bring Ethan up to speed on all the stuff she’d never quite managed to get into with him since Ted Lansing had entered her life.

It would be tough, having a long talk with Ethan.

But she needed to do it.

“Sweetheart, did you hear me?” Her mom smiled at her across the dinner table.

“Hmm?”

“Pass the sweet potatoes?”

Matty blinked. “Oh. Yeah. Here you go…” She passed the bowl and went back to thinking about Ethan.

Thirteen years ago, when Matty and Gabe left after high school for college in Los Angeles, Ethan went with them.

She and Gabe chose UCLA, while Ethan went to USC. Four years later, they all three had their bachelor’s degrees. That summer, Matty had found a slightly rundown but charming apartment in Los Feliz. She and Gabe moved in. A month later, when another unit became available, Ethan took it.

Matty and Gabe had quickly discovered their well-matched career paths—Gabe as a travel photographer, Matty as a writer. As for Ethan, he’d always wanted to be a lawyer. He’d started law school there in Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount.

But at the end of his first year as a graduate student, he’d said he was burnt out on LA. He’d moved home and ended up finishing his JD at the University of Wyoming.

Now he lived a few blocks from her parents’ house. He’d partnered up with another lawyer right there in town. They shared a law office on Main Street.

Ethan didn’t know about the baby yet. He didn’t even know about Ted. So far, Matty hadn’t been able to bring herself to tell her deceased husband’s best friend that she’d met someone six months ago and three weeks later, that guy was living in her house with her—let alone that now she was having that guy’s baby.

Before Ted, she’d only ever been with Gabe. That was how Ethan had gotten to know her—because she was Gabe’s girl. Would Ethan be shocked that she’d lived with some guy she barely knew and also managed to get accidentally pregnant by him?

So far, she’d been afraid to find out. Their conversations had become infrequent. In the past six months, since she started in with Ted, talking to Ethan was downright awkward. She’d been evasive. He hadn’t called her on that. She’d known that he was waiting for her to tell him what might be going on with her.

He hadn’t pushed her, though. He never did.

But they were drifting further and further apart.

And she missed him.

She figured she could handle telling him the truth in stages. Maybe talk about the thing with Ted tonight and save the news of the baby for later. As of now, she’d only told her parents and her cousin Heather about the baby. She’d sworn them to secrecy until she gave them the go-ahead to start spreading the word. She needed to tell Ethan.

Tonight, she thought. I need to go see Ethan tonight. I need to tell him about Ted, at least, so he has some idea of what is going on.

As soon as she’d helped her mom load the dishwasher after dinner, she went up to her room. Her fingers were shaking as she texted him.

Hey. I’m here in town at my parents’ house and I want to see you. Okay if I come over—I mean if you’re free tonight?

She hit Send and stared at the screen. The check mark appeared: Delivered. And then it showed Read. Several seconds went by. At last, the phone dinged with Ethan’s reply.

Matilda! I’m here. Come on over.

Her heart just melted. He really did want to see her. Suddenly she could take a deep breath again. She realized she felt better about everything.

She ran downstairs, told her parents she was going to Ethan’s, pulled on her boots and her puffer coat, and set out.

The first sight of him put a big, fat smile on her face. He was waiting for her at his front door in his stocking feet. “About time you showed up. It’s been too damn long.” He held out his arms.

“Ethan!” She ran up the steps and jumped on him. He caught her, wrapping her up in a hug, spinning her around in the glow of the porchlight. They were both laughing as he let her boots touch the ground again.

“Safe flight?” he asked.

“I drove. And it was great. No problems.”

“So how long are you staying?”

She just went ahead and told him. “Well, actually, I’m thinking the rest of my life.”

“Whoa.” He took her by the shoulders and looked at her for the longest time. “You’re moving home?”

She nodded. “I’m essentially already moved. I’ll be staying at my folks’ house until I find my own place.”

He shook his head. “I had no clue.”

Guilt tugged at her. “I’m sorry. I…Ethan, I didn’t know where to start—I really didn’t.” Unwilling tears welled in her eyes. “I, um…well, a lot has happened in the past several months. And that’s why recently, I decided I needed a change, that I needed…” She didn’t know how to go on.

“Hey.” He pulled her close again. “It’s okay. You don’t have to explain anything. You’re here and I’m glad…”

She buried her face in the warmth of his soft flannel shirt, breathed in his scent of soap and a faint hint of some woodsy aftershave, and let herself sag against his solid strength. He stroked a hand down her hair. It felt good, his touch—like all the comfort she’d been longing for lavished on her, at last. Then he caught her face between his palms and tipped her chin up so that she looked in his eyes.

“Let’s go inside…” Grabbing her hand, he pulled her across the threshold.

She loved Ethan’s house. It was roomy and comfortable. He’d bought it soon after he graduated from law school using trust-fund money from his wealthy grandparents. The main floor had an open-plan living area with a big, beautiful kitchen. There was a roomy laundry room and an office in the back. The bedrooms were upstairs. He even had a home gym in the basement.

Once she’d shucked her boots and hung her coat and scarf at the door, Ethan led her through the foyer to the great room. He gestured at the fat leather sofa. “Sit.” She ignored his command and followed him to the island that marked off the kitchen. He turned to face her again. “How about a drink?”

“Got decaf by any chance?”

“I do. It’s from the Perfect Bean. It’s really good, too.” The coffee house and roastery on Pine Street off Main had opened almost a decade ago. Matty and Gabe used to joke that no small town in America could get by now without a cozy place that offered espresso and lattes and whatever other fancy coffee creation one might desire.

“Decaf from the Perfect Bean, please.” She took a comfy high-backed padded stool at the island as Ethan turned to the counter by the sink and started fiddling with a coffee machine. “So?” she asked. “How’s Sylvia?”

He and Sylvia O’Grady, a local accountant, had been dating for over a year now. Matty had yet to meet her.

“Sylvia’s good,” he said.

“Meaning?”

“She’s fine, honestly. We’re still together—but right now, I want to hear about you.” He slanted her a look over his shoulder, a thick wave of his brown hair flopping on his forehead the way it always did. “You, Matty Gage Hunt, moving home? Really?”

“Really. It’s…I guess it’s just time, you know. Gabe’s gone…”

There was a silence. Ethan turned his whole body to face her. They stared at each other, the memories seeming to crowd the space between them. Gabe had died on an assignment to photograph endangered black rhinos in Africa for a big piece in a major magazine. His plane went down in the jungle.

She’d been told that he died instantly. Getting that news had actually made her knees buckle. One moment she was on her feet, staring at the solemn-faced policewoman she’d let into the North Hollywood duplex she and Gabe had bought the year before. The woman broke the news gently—and Matty crumpled to the floor.

“Matty?” Ethan looked at her with concern.

She shook herself. “Sorry…”

“Don’t be,” Ethan said, his voice low, his eyes dark with understanding.

“I’m thirty-one, Ethan. And I’m ready to…” She laughed, but it just came out sounding sad. “Settle down, I guess. Mom’s going to retire in the next year or two. Dad retired in January.”

“I heard about your dad retiring.”

Neal Gage had worked as a critical care nurse at the hospital in nearby Sheridan for as long as Matty could remember. “They want to travel. Mom’s turning the bookstore over to me.”

“Damn. Never saw that coming.”

“Yeah, well.” She made jazz hands. “Surprise!”

He was looking at her so steadily. The wordless moment stretched out, full of all the things that had yet to be said. Finally, he spoke. “Go on, get comfortable on the sofa. I’ll bring you your decaf, and you can tell me everything.”

Five minutes later, he set her coffee on the low table in front of her and then dropped down beside her on the sofa.

She sipped. “So good. Thank you.” He’d even frothed the milk.

“Talk to me, Matilda.” Laying his arm along the back of the sofa, he turned his body toward her and hiked one stocking foot across the other knee.

She had no idea where to begin. So she just started talking. “I met this guy on Tinder six months ago…” Already her face was burning up. As for Ethan, he actually looked stunned. That made her laugh—a real laugh this time. “What? You thought I would be a sad, lonely, celibate widow for the rest of my life?”

“No. No, of course not. It’s just, I…” He looked away.

“Say it,” she prompted softly.

He groaned. But then he straightened those broad shoulders. “Full disclosure?”

“Please.” She gave him an encouraging smile.

“I’m, uh, yeah…”

“Gee. Thanks for clarifying, Ethan.”

He shrugged. “Okay, you’re right. I’m surprised. I never thought of you with someone who wasn’t Gabe, and I…” He shut his eyes and shook his head. “Aw, hell, Matilda. I’m sorry. It’s just that you and Gabe were together since…”

“Ninth grade,” she finished for him. And then, in an attempt to reassure him, she reached out and awkwardly patted his shoulder. “I know that it’s hard not to think of me as Gabe’s girl. I do get it, and it’s okay. Because it’s been hard for me, too—but anyway…Tinder. When it’s just for tonight, right?”

“Right.” He looked doubtful. Guarded, too.

She forged on. “Because that was what I wanted. Just a night with a hot guy. To start getting out there, to find out how to be more than a lonely, celibate widow, you know?”

“Matty, I—”

“Wait.” She showed him the hand. “Just let me get through this?”

“Of course. Go ahead.”

“I matched with a guy named Ted. He was nice looking and friendly.”

“Was? Is he dead?”

“No. Ted is not dead.” Though he’s dead to me. “Anyway, Ted is a charming guy. And the night we had together was…” She frowned, thinking that the less she said about her Tinder date with Ted, the better. “Ted was smooth and easy to talk to. That night was okay. I got home to my empty duplex, and I didn’t know whether to cry from this weird feeling of total loneliness—or to jump up and down that I’d finally put myself out there. I mean, it felt all wrong, to be with someone I hardly knew. But at least I’d done it. I’d slept with a man who wasn’t Gabe. It seemed like a big step in the right direction, you know?”

“I get that, Matty. I honestly do.”

She almost laughed. He spoke so slowly, kept his voice low and steady, as though he might be worried she was on the verge of losing her ever-loving mind. “Ethan?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m okay.” She said that in the same low, steady tone he’d just used on her.

He drew a slow breath. “Gotcha. Continue.”

“Okay. So anyway, Ted asked me out again, and I figured, well, the first night was okay, so why not? And suddenly, we’re dating and then we’re exclusive. And it’s three weeks since that first night and he’s at my place all the time…”

“So what you’re telling me is that you fell for this Ted guy?”

“Fell for Ted?” She winced. “Yeah, that is what I told myself at the time. But looking at the situation in retrospect, did I really fall for him? No. Not by a long shot. What I’m saying is that, hey, at least he was there in the house with me at night, you know? Because really, Ethan, I’ve been alone for what seems like the longest time now…” Her throat clutched and her eyes were getting all misty again.

Ethan leaned in. She did the same. They were nose to nose. She could see the flecks of gold and amber in his eyes and smell his clean, familiar scent. “I should have flown out there,” he whispered, “made sure you were doing okay…”

“You’re the best,” she whispered back. “But it was still just something I had to work through. Nobody could do it for me—not even you.”

“Still, I—”

“Wait.” She put two fingers to his soft lips—and then quickly took them away. Sitting back a little, she asked again, “Let me get through this? I just need to tell you this…please?”

“I’m sorry.” He retreated to his own sofa cushion. “Continue.”

“All right. So, about Ted. Did I even like him? I really thought I did at the time. Honestly, Ethan, I’m not sure how it happened, but suddenly he was living with me. And I mean, looking back, I think I convinced myself that it was something good, something real, what I had with Ted. That it wasn’t just a case of me trying to move on and making a hash of it.”

“But it wasn’t real?”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“Matty.” He leaned toward her again. “Just tell me. What did this Ted guy do to you?”

“Oh, Ethan…”

“Just tell me what happened.” His expression was blank, his eyes guarded. She had a feeling he’d already figured it out.

“Fine. Back in January, I flew to Scotland to do a piece on the pub scene. I was finished two days early, so I flew back. I thought I would surprise Ted, you know?”

Ethan nodded. His eyes stayed locked on hers. He definitely knew what was coming now.

She said, “I surprised him, all right. I walked in on him in my bed with someone else. I mean, it took me a minute to register what I was seeing. I just stood there in the open bedroom doorway for what seemed like half a lifetime watching him nail some woman with pink hair and a full-sleeve tattoo of twining vines and roses…”

“And then what?” His voice remained low, coaxing, yet carefully controlled.

“Eventually the woman saw me standing there. She let out a shriek and shoved Ted off her. He turned around and saw me, too. And instantly he started talking, telling me I wasn’t seeing what was right there in front of me. As he was gaslighting me for all he was worth, the woman ran around grabbing her clothes and throwing them on. Finally she snatched up her purse from the chair by the bed and sprinted out the door.”

“What about Ted?”

“It took me longer to get rid of him. He just kept right on trying to convince me that I hadn’t seen what was right there in front of my face—and then when that didn’t work, he moved on to how it wasn’t his fault that he’d cheated on me. He accused me of coming home early just to try to catch him in bed with someone else. He whined that he had to do something, that I was gone all the time, that he was a man and a man had needs and what did I expect him to do? I just kept saying, Get out, Ted. Get out.”

“Did he go?”

“Yeah. Finally. He threw a few things in a suitcase and left. I called a locksmith and changed the locks.”

“Good.” Ethan clasped her shoulders. Then, carefully, like she was something so precious and fragile, he pulled her into his strong arms.

She sagged against him, burying her nose in his shirt that felt so warm and soft and comforting and smelled like everything good. “Oh, Ethan. I’ve been wanting to tell you about Ted moving in with me for months, but I just couldn’t work up the courage. And then, when I found him in my bed with someone else… Uh-uh. No way did I want to tell you about that…”

“Well, now I know. And I’m glad you’ve told me.” He spoke quietly, still holding her. “And I sincerely hope that is the last you saw of Ted.”

A tiny, ragged sound escaped her as she tried to decide what to say next. Her eyes filled and a tear trickled down her cheek.

“Matty?” He held her away again and met her gaze. “What is it? Are you okay?”

“Not really.” She was whining, just a little, and so tempted to blurt out the news about the baby. But wasn’t the awful story of Ted the cheater enough for one night? “I mean, Gabe and me, we always knew what we wanted. With Gabe, I was full of confidence, sure of how my life would go. And, well…” She gestured down her body with a sweep of one hand. “Look at me now…”

“Hey. Don’t be so hard on yourself.” He handed her a tissue from the box on the side table at his end of the sofa. “You’re as smart and beautiful as ever.”

“Yeah, right.”

“I am right. You gave that fool a shot, and he blew it. He showed you who he really was, and you kicked his ass out. Good work.” He seemed to mean that.

And suddenly she felt a lot better about everything. “Thank you.” She wiped her eyes and blew her nose, then grabbed her coffee and had another delicious sip. “I, um, wasn’t sure how you were going to react to the news that I let a complete loser move in with me…”

He pulled back a little. “Matty.” His voice was calm, even tender. “Come on. Look at me.”

With a sniffle, she straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. “What?”

He stared back at her with years of affection and understanding in his eyes. “Ted’s the loser. I mean, come on. What a clown to let you get away.”

She grinned then. Slowly. “You always did know just the right thing to say.”

“That creep is out of your life, right?”

“Yep. Ted is as gone as they get.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear.”

She scooted a little closer and dared to lean on him again. He wrapped his arm around her, and she rested her head on his shoulder. “I was finally ready to move on a little. To get out there, meet new people, start picking up the pieces after losing Gabe, to make a life that was more than the next assignment. And then I messed it up royally and ended up making myself nothing short of pathetic.”

“No. Uh-uh. Don’t be like that.” He waited until she looked at him. “You are not pathetic, not in the least. You’re Matty Gage Hunt and you are strong, smart, and beautiful.”

“Oh, Ethan. Thank you.” She dropped her head to his shoulder again. “Too bad that sometimes, lately, all I feel is weak and gullible.”

“You’re way too hard on yourself. What happened is not your fault. You got out there, you took a chance on that guy, and he burned you. So you kicked him to the curb. Now you’re free and moving on. Everything is going to be all right.”

Was it? He didn’t have the whole story yet. “Ethan.”

“Hmm?”

“There’s more.” She gulped.

Because what was she doing? She’d said enough for tonight. She could tell him about the baby later. It was too much to lay that on him now.

She stared at the cheery flames in the fireplace opposite the sofa. It was so good to be here with him, at last. To be able to let go, to talk freely about her own complete foolishness, to break down and bawl like a little kid and get support and affection in return.

Yes, she’d already told her parents and her cousin Heather everything, including about the baby. But she’d tried to be strong around them, both to salvage some semblance of pride and also so they wouldn’t worry too much. Now, though, with Ethan, she could let her pride go and sob all over his broad, strong shoulder.

He and Gabe had been like brothers, after all. That made Ethan family to her in the truest sense of the word. She should have come to him earlier, she realized now. She should have admitted the emptiness she felt in her heart, confessed to the lack of joy in her work and in every aspect of her life after it became a life without Gabe. If she’d done that, she just might have avoided all the ridiculousness with Ted.

But then she remembered the baby, and she shook her head. Given the chance to erase the ridiculousness with Ted, she would say no.

Because if there’d been no Ted, she wouldn’t have the baby coming. The baby was well worth making a fool of herself over a bad guy. The baby had given her back what she’d lost when Gabe died.

The baby had given her love. And love, she knew now, was so much more than an emotion. Love was also a promise. And a sense of purpose.

She pulled a tissue from the box and blew her nose again. Her face felt blotchy from crying, her eyes tired and swollen.

Ethan gazed at her so steadily. “What else? Don’t look so miserable. Come on, Matilda. It can’t be that bad.”

“You’re right. It’s not bad. It really isn’t. Because I’m happy about it. But it is…a lot, you know? It’s not how I expected it to happen.” Far from it.

It was supposed to have been according to the plan she and Gabe had laid out for themselves when they were still in high school. According to the plan, they were going to start trying for a baby when they turned thirty.

But Gabe never got a chance to turn thirty.

“So much for all of our happy little plans…” she whispered, her throat tight again, her eyes blurring with a fresh surge of tears.

Ethan took her hand and pressed another tissue into it. She wiped her eyes and then sagged against him.

They sat there holding each other for an indeterminate period of time. It was good in the most basic way. Just Matty and Ethan, sitting on the sofa together. She was a mess and he was there for her and everything felt better than it had in a long, long time.

“Whatever it is, just tell me,” he said into the comfortable quiet that had settled between them. “Just get it all out and let it go.”

She pulled away from him and sat up straighter. As she met Ethan’s beautiful green eyes, she felt such gratitude—that she’d had Gabe, however briefly, and that Gabe had given her a friend like Ethan.

And when she thought of it that way, she couldn’t hold the truth back for one minute longer.

“I’m pregnant,” she said. “Thirteen weeks. It wasn’t planned, but it happened. It’s Ted’s—except it isn’t. Because Ted wants nothing to do with this baby. And you know what that means? That means this baby is mine.”