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After touching up her makeup, she made the drive to Ella’s far too quickly Traffic had been unusually light for a Saturday evening She saw Mark’s car alave a s a deep breath to calm her jittery nerves, she left the safety of her car and ’s fine He’s a busy man, and this is probably normal behavior for hi She repeated the sa the door and walking in
Ella spotted her i strained "I know I told you to ditch Bill, but did you have to do it today? Mother is drivinga fake s at them
"I know," Crystalyou because I turned ive her so her back"
"It’s probably going to take a while" Ella cringed before throwing an ar to Bill, though It had to be done, and let’s face it, there was never going to be a good ti the subject, Crystal asked, "So, if you’re hosting this party now, then surely you’ve been let in what’s going on?"
"Oh, come on" Ella rolled her eyes "Do you think I couldher hands together like a child, she rocked on her feet "Plus, I love surprises! It wouldn’t be very exciting if I found out ahead of time"
Ella’s mouth continued to move, but Crystal had completely lost track of the conversation as she spotted Mark and Denny across the roo with Jason Danvers "Oh God," she squeaked
"What?" Ella asked, looking at her in confusion When she didn’t answer, her sister turned to see what she was looking at and said, "Oh, yeah, he got here a fewweird?" She had confided in Ella on the second day that Mark was in Boston It was not that she wanted to, butwas bothering her Apparently, she hadn’t been able to hide her anxiety over Mark’s behavior very well
"Kind of" She nodded "I don’t knowmaybe it’s because of the visit from his parents He’s said that they’re pretty bad, and I can certainly understand the need to pack your bags after an unpleasant encounter"
Still studying Mark, Ella asked, "So tell o, ould you do now?" At her baffled look, Ella added, "Would you be standing over here or would you be over there with hiht So go see your man He’s been out of town, and you don’t even know that anything is wrong Stop slu in the doorway Channel your inner Suzy and sashay right up to him"
"Did you just say?" Crystal s a hand on her shoulders and giving a shove that was surprisingly strong Crystal bobbled around like a drunken chicken for aher sister an evil look
"Oops, sorry" Ella winced beforeat her Mia aving froely pregnant Gas looking back and forth between her and Mark as if watching a reality television show Even Lydia was there andabout that cracked her up and made her move across the floor to Mark’s sidewhen she reached him And then she saw it--he went noticeably stiff when she touched his ar on? What had happened since the last tiave her a war to coain, Crystal," Jason said He opened hiselse when Claire motioned to him from across the room "Excuse me, the wife calls" He sht on his heels, Denny said, "I’ain, Denny shot her the sa I said?" she joked as she looked up into Mark’s closed expression
"Possibly it was more of what you left out," he added cryptically
"What?" She stared at hian, before she cut hi Either that or you’re breaking up with me Because I don’t re herself on the verge of tears, she asked quietly, "Please tellon I’ve been worried all week, and I don’t want to continue being in the dark"
He had taken her hand and was leading her toward the double doors to the deck when a dinging sound had everyone looking toward the other side of the room Mark bit off a curse and pulled the," Gray Meriood news, but we also realize that there are those who aren’t aware of the struggles that we’ve faced that have brought us to this point" He looked down briefly, giving his wife a tender look before clearing his throat and continuing "Suzy and I have been trying to have a child for quite a while now"