A Valentine Kiss. Christy McKellen

for the emotional one, too. So she ignored the heartache, the emptiness, and clung to the genuine excitement she felt for her friend.

      ‘Congratulations!’

      She pulled Lulu into a hug, ignoring the distance that had grown between them since her fall. She also ignored the way the swell of Lulu’s belly made her feel incredibly empty.

      ‘How far along are you?’

      Lulu squeezed Mila quickly and then pulled back. The concern still gleaming in Lulu’s eyes was almost eclipsed by the reserve that had now returned. ‘Thank you. I’m twenty-eight weeks. I wasn’t sure if I should come because of...’

      Her voice grew softer as she spoke, and Mila knew exactly what Lulu was saying.

      ‘Well, I’m glad you came. Please come inside.’

      Lulu walked past her and Mila closed her eyes for a second. Lulu had kept her pregnancy from Mila for more than six months because she had been afraid of the way Mila would react. What did that say about her? she thought, and her heart felt bruised at the knowledge. She had never meant for her tragedy to keep her friend from telling her the happy news. It meant Mila had more to atone for than she’d originally thought.

      ‘Is there anything I can get you? Some tea or coffee?’

      ‘Um...no, thank you. I can’t stay too long,’ Lulu said, and Mila realised that she wouldn’t have time to beat around the bush.

      She watched Lulu gingerly lower herself onto one of the couches, and briefly thought that she remembered that perfectly. But she shook her head and decided she wasn’t going to go down that path.

      Instead, she spoke. ‘Look, I know things between us aren’t like they used to be. Our work has suffered because of...everything that happened to me...and now that I know you’re pregnant I feel even worse about not taking on more so we could get commission—’

      ‘I’m not interested in our work, Mila,’ Lulu interrupted, her pretty face tense. ‘Our friendship has suffered.’

      Hearing Lulu say that made Mila feel worse. ‘I know. I...I should have called.’

      ‘You should have,’ Lulu agreed. ‘And you shouldn’t have pushed me away at all. We’ve been friends for almost a decade.’

      ‘I know,’ Mila said again, and felt herself dangerously close to tears. It was almost the same conversation she had had with Jordan the previous night. And it was time she admitted the truth of it to herself.

      ‘I just...’ She stopped. Took a breath. Tried again. ‘I couldn’t deal with it. I didn’t want people around me who would remind me of the things I’d failed at.’

      Lulu didn’t respond, and Mila didn’t look up to see what her friend’s face might tell her. She didn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt, she thought harshly.

      ‘How would Jordan and I have done that?’ Lulu asked finally, with a slight hitch to her voice that told Mila she was hurt. Her heart panged.

      ‘I wasn’t a good enough wife or a good enough mother, Lulu. Can’t you see that?’ Mila was suddenly desperate to make her understand. ‘I should have taken it easy, like Jordan asked me to...’ She faltered, but then continued, ‘I didn’t want Jordan around to remind me of how I had failed.’

      ‘Even if that made sense—which it absolutely does not—why did you push me away? I wanted to be there for you.’

      A trickle of heat ran down Mila’s face. ‘I know you did. But I didn’t deserve someone around who wanted me to feel better about myself.’

      ‘Oh, Mila...’

      Lulu walked to where she was standing and pulled Mila into her arms. On autopilot, Mila returned the hug, too busy thinking about what she had just revealed to her friend—to herself—to be really present in the moment.

      ‘You deserve everything. Happiness...love.’ Lulu pulled back, her eyes teary. ‘You are good enough. You just need to give yourself permission to believe that.’

      Though she wanted to, Mila didn’t waste her breath on asking how she could do that.

      ‘I’m a mess,’ Lulu said suddenly, wiping at her eyes. ‘Pregnancy hormones are very real.’

      ‘Yes, they are,’ Mila replied, smiling, but then the smile faded. ‘I’m sorry about everything, Lulu. I shouldn’t have... Well, I should have let you be my friend.’

      ‘Yeah, you should have.’ Lulu watched her for a moment. ‘Friends are there for one another, Mila. I don’t know how after almost ten years you still don’t know I’m not going anywhere.’

      Because for almost double that time I didn’t have anyone to show me what that meant.

      But she simply repeated, ‘I’m sorry.’

      ‘Apology accepted,’ Lulu said, and then sat down again. ‘So—tell me the other reason you called.’

      A genuine smile crept across her lips. ‘How did you know?’

      Lulu gave her a look that had Mila’s smile spreading.

      ‘I want to start working again. Seriously, this time. Again, I’m sorry I let the ball drop with all the events we should have been doing—’

      ‘Oh, I’ve been doing them anyway,’ Lulu interrupted.

      ‘You have?’

      Lulu shrugged. ‘It didn’t seem right to let things fall apart just because you needed some time to recover. So I’ve been responding to emails from the website and I forwarded you some so that you’d have something to do.’

      Another smile crept onto Mila’s face. ‘You’ve been managing me?’

      Lulu let out a small laugh. ‘Yes, maybe I have. But it’s meant that your business hasn’t fallen apart.’

      ‘Like my personal life, you mean?’ The smile on Mila’s face faltered before she reminded herself that she needed to move on. ‘Thank you, Lulu. That means more than you know.’

      ‘It wasn’t a big deal. All the details, including the financials are in this binder.’ Lulu reached into her bag—puffing just a little, since it was on the floor—and handed Mila the file. She took it, but didn’t look inside. She trusted Lulu, and knew everything would be in order.

      ‘I already have our next event,’ Mila said, and explained about the event they needed to plan, the timeline and what she’d already done.

      She absorbed Lulu’s shock at the details, and was immensely grateful when Lulu didn’t comment on the fact that she was doing the event with Jordan...or the fact that they were still married. At least that was what she thought.

      But after they had spoken about the event in more detail, and just as Lulu was on her way out, her friend said, ‘You know, I was with you when you met Jordan and when you found out you were pregnant. I saw how happy both of those things made you. How happy being a family made you. Maybe finding out you’re still married is a sign for you to try again. A second chance.’

      Mila ignored the hope, the fierce desire that sprang up inside her at Lulu’s words. ‘That’s not going to happen.’

      ‘Why not? You still love him. I know you do. And you’ve always wanted a family, so...’ Lulu trailed off.

      ‘That doesn’t matter any more, Lulu,’ Mila said firmly. ‘I just want to move on with my life. Focus on my work. Be a good aunt.’ She tried to smile.

      Lulu shook her head. ‘If that’s what you really want, I’ll support you. But just make sure it is what you really want. And do me a favour?’

      Mila looked up at her.

      ‘Give yourself permission to think about what you want honestly.’

      ‘Yeah,