Spark in the Dark

Chapter 141

"Oh, my God! Is that an engagement ring?" Lyla practically shouted as soon as Shawn shut the door to her car. "Juice proposed and you didn't immediately call me?"

"It is, he did, and I didn't. I'm sorry! It just happened a couple of days ago and then Tara got hurt. Shit's been a little crazy. Tig is pretty much the only one we told. Everyone else has sort of just figured it out on their own."

"So you probably don't know any details yet?"

"Like?" Shawn asked, confused.

"Like your wedding date?" Lyla asked with a smile.

"Oh. No. Not at all. I'll figure all that out after the baby is born. There is no way in hell I am walking down the aisle looking like a whale."

"I don't blame you there."

Shawn playfully scoffed. "Aren't you supposed to tell me I won't look like a whale?"

"Oh, no. You will. You should have seen me when I was knocked up with Piper. I had the fattest ass."

"I can't even imagine you having a fat ass," Shawn said. Then hesitantly asked, "So, since you and Ope are... whatever you are, does that mean you won't want to be there?"

Lyla thought about it for a moment. "You went to my wedding even though Juice was there and you two were all screwed up. I can be a grown ass woman and return the favor."

"Does that mean you'll be my maid of honor?"

"Duh!" Lyla said and they both laughed. "I'm sorry I haven't called you as much."

"Yeah, me too. We've both been through some shit recently."

"Are you ever coming back to the studio?"

"I can't, Lyla. It just makes me think about... him," Shawn told her honestly.

"How have you and Juice been with that?"

"We've slept together once since then."

"How was it?" Lyla asked. Shawn could tell Lyla was asking out of concern, not looking for sexy details.

"It was good. It's different with Juice. I know he loves me. At the studio it's just..."

"Fucking," Lyla helped her finish her sentence.

"Yeah," Shawn agreed.

"Let's go to lunch tomorrow. We can go to that one place across the street from the dress shop where I got my wedding dress. We can go in and look around. You can start getting ideas for what you want to wear."

"Okay. Let's do it."

They arrived at Shawn's and she started to get out of the car. Lyla promised to text her to let her know what time for lunch and Shawn suddenly remembered she said she would text Juice. She said bye to Lyla and went inside. She sat on her couch and pulled her phone out to send him a message.

I'm home. Lyla gave me a lift.

Shawn waited a minute to see if Juice would text back, but he didn't. Shawn decided to do a few chores around the house. Being away so much meant there was a few things that needed her attention, laundry being one of them. She gathered that up and put it in the machine. Then cleaned up the kitchen. She was nearly done with that. All she had to do was take out some trash. Her chest suddenly began to feel tight. This was almost exactly what she had been doing before being attacked.

She told herself that everything was okay over and over. It helped a little knowing that he wasn't coming back, but then she had to not think about the fact that he had died right in the other room.