Page 48 of Forbidden to Fall

“Shoot. I just realized my appointment is at 3:30, not 4. Stupid pregnancy brain!”

“Oh!” I pulled the phone from my ear to look at the time: 3:24. “I’m at the stables right now, but⁠—”

“The stables?” Mia’s excited voice repeated in the background. “I wanna go!”

“Would that be an option?” Lily asked, her voice sounding apologetic but slightly desperate. “I’m so sorry, I just⁠—”

“Yeah, totally,” I interrupted, eager to allay her anxiety. During her pregnancy with Mia, her blood pressure had been a big issue, and I was not about to be the cause of her stress and the reason she couldn’t see the doctor. “Bring her over! You can leave her car seat, and I’ll take her to my place once I’m done.”

“Are you sure?”

“One hundred percent.”

She let out a gush of relief. “Okay, we’ll be there in two minutes. I owe you so big!”

“More time with my Mimi is payment enough.”

Less than two minutes later, the car pulled up the lane to Horseshoe Holler. I waved and walked over to them so I could grab Mia’s car seat. I figured it would be better to get Mia and say bye to Lily before heading back into the stables where Archer and James were.

I hoped the two of them were ironing out the details of our plan so I could do a quick sweep of the stables with Mia, then bribe her to head to my house with the promise of a treat at the bakery.

Lily’s door opened. “I am so sorry to do this!”

“Don’t worry about it for a second,” I said.

“Are you really okay to have her until we get back from our date?” Lily might as well have been asking me to take over as Mia’s guardian for the next ten years for how apologetic she looked as she unbuckled her. “Ry and I are grabbing dinner after my appointment.”

“Yep,” I said as Mia got out and Lily fixed her dress. “Just enjoy yourselves. Right, Mimi?”

Mia grabbed her mom’s hand. “Come see the horsies, Mommy!”

“Oh, baby, I can’t,” Lily said.

But Mia was already tugging her inexorably toward the stables.

“Oh, um,” I said, my heart immediately kicking into gear. But what would I say? I ran after them. “Your mommy has to go, Mia.”

Lily looked at me over her shoulder. “I did call the OB office to let them know I’d be late”—she looked down at Mia— “but I can only look for ten seconds, okay, baby?”

I followed, racking my brains for a reason to stop their progress, but they were already turning into the stables.

I held my breath as we rounded the corner, and Lily slowed.

Archer was gone, but James wasn’t.

He stood there, staring at Lily as she stared right back.

I stared too—at both of them—a thought occurring to me.

Did he still have feelings for her?

I’d seen how he looked at her back in the day. The memory was engraved on my angsty teenage heart. I’d been so jealous of Lily, even though she’d been dating my brother, because I’d noticed it—how James looked at her.

James and Lily, just like in Harry Potter. Every time Ryan and Lily had broken up—a semi-regular occurrence—I’d wondered when she’d realize just how great James was.

“Hi, Lily,” James said softly.

“Who’s that, Mommy?” Mia asked, staring at James with the unabashed curiosity only a little kid could get away with.