Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 80555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
I looked deep into Magnus’s eyes and let myself imagine kissing him, allowed myself to picture kissing someone who wasn’t Montgomery. My chest went cold and tight, the tequila buzz fleeing.
“I’m good,” I said, even though we both knew I wasn’t. I dropped my gaze as I stood, not wanting to see the moment Magnus’s interest turned to pity. My hamstrings were sore after sitting on the barstool. Another reminder I was getting old.
Too old for this nonsense, yet I walked away knowing regret would chase me the next few days. Whether I’d regret coming in or abruptly leaving was the real question.
Chapter Two
Present Day
Eric
“I’m pregnant.”
Maren’s words seemed to echo through the riverfront park like someone had handed her a megaphone.
A collective gasp sounded, along with a strangled noise that undoubtedly came from me. My head buzzed, reality rapidly reshaping around me. “You’re what?”
“I’m pregnant.” My oldest kid was slumped in a lawn chair, looking greener than the time she’d had food poisoning at fourteen. Fourteen had passed in a blink, along with the rest of her teens. How on earth was she twenty now? She couldn’t even legally drink, yet she was about to have a baby? No. Not possible. She was still our baby.
Moments earlier, we’d been celebrating her brother Rowan’s graduation from high school. The park was full of such parties, and spirits had been high. Well, other than mine. In a matter of days, Rowan would be headed for LA to start his life as a professional actor and begin filming his new show. My thoughts had been bittersweet already, heart heavy with the coming goodbye, images of Rowan and Maren when Montgomery and I had adopted them years earlier front and center in my brain.
And yes, maybe I should have realized Maren was sick. Wren, my youngest, had noticed and summoned Jonas, our nurse practitioner friend, leading to Maren’s shocking proclamation. For his part, my old friend and roommate looked as gobsmacked as the rest of us.
“Why are you all staring at me? You’ve never seen a queasy pregnant person before?” Maren, who could be as dramatic as Rowan at times, stood on wobbly legs, making a go-on gesture to all who had gathered. As people started to disperse, Maren turned her wrath on Wren, who continued to hover. “Wren, why did you go get Jonas?”
“I didn’t know.” Wren looked on the verge of tears, their hair even frizzier than usual and their T-shirt streaked with grass and ketchup. Where Wren was short and stocky, Maren was lithe with elfin features and straight dark hair. And in no universe did she look ready to have a baby.
“Hey now.” I stepped between Wren and Maren. The news would have to be dealt with soon, but I also couldn’t let Maren talk to Wren like that.
“Sorry. Sorry.” Two fat tears rolled down Maren’s face. “I’m…my mood is all over the place. I’m going to walk home.”
She stalked away from the popup canopy she’d been sitting under, but I was fast on her heels. “You are not.”
“You’re ordering me to stay?” Although shorter than me by a fair bit, Maren still managed to look down her regal nose at me. For better or worse, she was a classic oldest child and had never taken orders well. But then, I’d never needed to give that many. Other than the occasional dramatic turn, she’d been a good kid—helpful, kind, and quiet.
“No.” As much as it pained me, I needed to get used to acknowledging she was an adult. Barely. But an adult. “You don’t have to stay, but you look nauseous and far too pale for this heat wave. I’ll take you.”
“Fine.” Maren clomped after me, past a lot of curious eyeballs belonging to our friends. I couldn’t meet any of their gazes, not right then, or I might risk tears myself. And I was many things, but a public crier wasn’t one of them. Maren practically launched herself into the passenger side of my SUV. “Well, let’s hear it.”
“Hear what?” I played dumb as I put the car in gear. Maren owned an old rattletrap of a Toyota compact, but with limited parking at the park, she’d opted to ride with me and the other kids earlier in the day. A fact I was now grateful for as it meant she couldn’t easily escape the conversation we needed to have.
“We both know you offered the ride so you could lecture me in private.”
“We do need to talk—”
“Aha!” Maren made a noise like a detective solving a tricky murder case.
“I’m not going to lecture, not without knowing more.” I struggled to keep my voice calm and my thoughts collected. Maren had never been one to date, not in high school and not now that she was in college at a school outside of Portland. “Are you…okay? I didn’t know you were seeing anyone. Did something…not good happen?”