Read Online Once More From the Top (The Women of Willow Bay) by Nan Reinhardt - Free Book Online

Carrie couldn’t help laughing. Julie always made a serious first impression. “And she is hot, but she’s also fiercely loyal. Let that be a lesson to both of you. We take care of each other in this town.”
    After reassuring Liam she would meet him on the boat for supper, she shooed them out.
    Julie was the best, ready to protect her friend at the first sign of trouble. Her attitude wasn’t the problem—Carrie treasured that. No, the problem was the fact that in no time at all, she’d realized Jack was the connection between Carrie and Liam. Perry’s imagination had to be working overtime as well, and since his coffee shop was the town’s gossip hub, the entire population would have the scoop by noon tomorrow.
    Maestro Liam Reilly is Jack Halligan’s long-lost father.
    Just thinking about it made her head throb. Was there any way to get home and into the tub without running into a single townsperson? Maybe—if she scooted out the back door and zipped down the hill behind the boathouse. Despite his smile, she knew Liam was still furious. Why had she ever agreed to dinner? Her shoulders sagged. That event was going to take every emotional resource she possessed.
    And her resources were in very short supply.

 
     
     
    SEVEN
     
     
    “Carrie, where are you?” Julie yelled up the loft steps.
    “Up here. I’m in the tub.” Carrie had settled into the bubbles, hoping to relax. Closing her eyes, she laid her head back against the rounded edge of the bathtub.
    Julie pounded up the stairs, appearing in the doorway a few seconds later. Their camaraderie still amazed Carrie. She was perfectly comfortable with her friend coming in to chat while she was in the tub. Even in college, she hadn’t been one run to around the dorm clad only in a towel or take a shower in front of the other girls. Somehow she’d never developed the confidence to be so unselfconscious. But Julie brought such matter-of-factness to all things that having her make herself at home in the bathroom felt entirely normal.
    “Okay, every detail and don’t even think of leaving anything out.” Julie dropped the toilet lid and plopped down, her legs extended out in front of her on the fuzzy yellow rug. “Talk, kiddo.”
    Carrie gave her a long look, but Julie’s stern stare told her she was brooking no argument about this discussion.
    “C’mon,” Julie prodded. “You didn’t really think I was going to wait until tomorrow morning to hear this, did you?”
    “Foolishly, I thought you might.” Carrie reached through her bubbles for the glass of wine sitting on the edge of the tub. “Do you want some wine? It’s in the kitchen.”
    “Wine? Hell no. Right now I need information.”
    “I think you’ve pretty much got most of the story.” Carrie sipped her wine. “Liam Reilly is Jack’s father.”
    “My God, girl. That man’s to die for. If he’s the high water mark for your love life, no freakin’ wonder you hardly ever date.” Julie’s eyes sparkled. “How did you keep this a secret from me all this time? Oh, and by the way, don’t ever do that again.”
    “I kept it a secret from everyone but Eliot. I couldn’t talk about him. It was—too hard.”
    “Why didn’t you tell him you were pregnant, you idiot? I don’t get that at all. He’s Jack’s father. He had a right to know. It’s not like he’s a serial killer or anything.”
    “We’d only known each other for a week when I got pregnant. By the time I found out, he was in Europe. I couldn’t face him, not with a pregnancy. He’s a decent guy. He’d have wanted to marry me, and his whole life would’ve been completely messed up.” She set her glass back on the edge of the tub.
    “Oh, and yours wasn’t?”
    “My life was already in chaos with Dad’s death and our farm going up for sale because of his gambling debts.” Carrie squeezed creamy shower gel onto a bath sponge. Lathering it up, she spread some on her leg and reached for her razor. “By the time I