Chapter 1

At our Thanksgiving dinner, my boyfriend's childhood friend tells both our families I got pregnant to trap him into marriage.

Then she points at my seven-year-old brother and says he is probably my secret son.

I wait for Ethan to laugh—until he turns to me and asks, “Claire, is any of that true?”

-

Three hours earlier, I am still smiling at the two pink lines in my hand.

Ethan and I have been together for three years. We met in college. We are each other's first love.

He has already invited both families to Thanksgiving dinner to talk about getting married.

I almost tell him about the baby over the phone.

Instead, I decide to wait.

I bake his mother’s favorite pumpkin pie, pick up Grandma and Noah, and drive to the restaurant Ethan booked.

We are barely inside the private dining room when I hear Vanessa’s voice.

“She’s doing the whole perfect-girlfriend act.”

I stop at the door.

Vanessa Reed has known Ethan since they were kids. She reads romance novels like they are instruction manuals for real life.

Ethan once told her I was good to his mother.

Vanessa laughed.

“Sweet girls from small towns are always the dangerous ones in those books.”

Ethan said she was joking.

I let it go.

Now Vanessa is sitting beside him, scrolling through something on her phone while both our families listen.

“Think about it,” she says. “No parents. A grandmother. A little brother. She cooks, she buys gifts, she acts like she wants nothing.”

Her eyes lift to me.

“And now she’s pregnant.”

My fingers tighten around the pie box.

Ethan’s mother goes still.

Vanessa smiles like she has just solved a mystery.

“That’s the whole setup. Get pregnant, get married, and suddenly he’s supporting her entire family.”

Grandma’s face turns red.

Noah looks up at me, confused.

I expect Ethan to shut this down.

Instead, he stares at the phone Vanessa has pushed toward him.

Then he looks at me.

“Claire.”

His voice is quieter than hers.

“Did you get pregnant on purpose because you knew I’d marry you?”

For a second, I honestly think I misheard him.

“What?”

His mother looks away.

One of his aunts clears her throat.

No one laughs.

No one tells Vanessa she has gone too far.

I put the pie on the table.

“I found out today.”

Ethan’s eyes drop to my stomach.

“That doesn’t answer me.”

Something cold moves through my chest.

“We’ve talked about having kids.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you asking me this?”

Vanessa leans back in her chair.

“See? Defensive.”

I turn to her.

“You don’t get to call me manipulative because you read too many novels.”

She shrugs.

“I’m just saying the pattern is obvious.”

I look at Ethan again.

“Do you believe her?”

He rubs a hand over his jaw.

“I’m asking you a question.”

That is my answer.

I pick up the pumpkin pie.

Ethan frowns.

“Claire, what are you doing?”

I walk to the trash can by the service counter and drop the entire box inside.

His mother gasps.

Vanessa gives a soft laugh.

“Now she’s offended. Also predictable.”

My hands are shaking, but my voice is not.

“If my pregnancy looks like a scheme to you, there is nothing to celebrate.”

Grandma reaches for me.

“Claire…”

I take her hand.

“We’re leaving.”

Noah pouts.

“But Ethan said we could go to the amusement park this weekend.”

Ethan opens his mouth.

Vanessa gets there first.

She looks at Noah, then at me.

Her smile slowly changes.

“Wait.”

The room goes quiet again.

She tilts her head.

“How old is he?”

“Seven,” I say.

“And you’re twenty-five?”

I know exactly where she is going before she says it.

Vanessa looks at Ethan.

“Or maybe he isn’t her little brother at all.”