Meredith, had just had a baby, and she loved Lola with all of her heart. If she looked too long at this baby, she might love her just as much, too.
the final installment of the STUNNING prologue! check out http://www.prettylittleliars.com for chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4!!!
Emily’s phone rang again, and Gayle’s name flashed on the screen. She dropped it in her bag. “Come on, Aria.”
Aria hefted the baby seat higher into her arms, and both girls staggered across the front lawn. Dew squished under their feet. They narrowly missed a sprinkler head jutting out of the earth. When they climbed onto the porch, they noticed a cheerful wooden rocking chair and a ceramic dog dish that said Golden Retrievers Welcome.
“Aw.” Aria pointed to it. “Golden Retrievers are awesome.”
“They told me they have two Golden Retriever puppies.” Emily’s voice shook. “I’ve always wanted one of those.”
Aria watched as a million emotions passed across her friend’s face in a split second. She reached over and squeezed Emily’s hand. “Are you okay?” There was so much to say, but no words with which to say it.
Then Emily’s expression hardened again. “Of course,” she said through her teeth. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the baby carrier from Aria and set it on the porch. The baby made a squeak. Emily glanced over her shoulder and looked at the street. Aria’s Subaru idled at the curb. Something slipped into the shadows near the hedge. For a split second, she thought it was a person, but then her eyes blurred. It was probably the drugs that were still racing through her system.
Even though it made her incision hurt like hell, Emily bent down and pulled out a copy of the baby’s birth certificate and the letter she had scribbled down shortly before going into the hospital and tucked it into the top of the baby carrier. Hopefully, it explained everything. Hopefully, the Bakers would understand and love this baby with all their hearts. She touched the baby’s forehead, letting her fingers trail across her impossibly soft cheeks. Her heart felt like it was bursting into a thousand pieces. It’s for the best, a voice inside her said. You know that.
Emily pressed the doorbell. Within seconds, a light flipped on inside, and there were two sets of footsteps. Aria grabbed Emily’s hand, and they hobbled for the car. The front door opened just as they were putting on their seat belts. A silhouette stood at the threshold, first looking out, and then looking down at the abandoned baby seat…and at the baby inside.
“Drive,” Emily growled.
Aria zoomed into the night. As she rounded the first corner, she glanced at Emily in the rear-view mirror. “It’s okay.”
Hanna placed her hand on her arm next. Spencer twisted around and squeezed her knee. Emily crumpled and started to sob, first quietly, then in huge, heaving gasps. Everyone’s hearts broke for her, but no one knew what to say. This was yet another devastating secret in a long list of secrets they had to keep, along with Jamaica, what happened to Spencer at Penn, what happened to Aria in Iceland, and what happened to Hanna with that car this summer. At least A was gone—they’d made sure of that. What they’d done might have been terrible and devastating, but at least no one would ever know.
They shouldn’t be so sure about that, though. After all that had happened, they should know to trust their premonitions, to treat to those phantom laughs and rouge shadows with the utmost of seriousness. Someone had been there that night, after all. Watching. Studying. Plotting.
Someone was dying to use all of this against them.