by K. C. Crowne
She let out a slow sigh and nodded, her mouth in a flat line. I could sense that, while my words had done some good, she was still frazzled about the conversation to come. The only thing to do would be to have that conversation, and let Grace see that there’d been nothing to worry about.
We tidied up more, another text from Ryan letting us know that they’d picked up their car from the garage and were about twenty minutes away. We got the girls changed and cleaned up, finished packing up our bags, and were ready to go.
I was in the middle of taking the last few dishes from the dishwasher when I heard their car pulling in front of the house. The girls’ faces lit up, and there was no keeping them from the front door. But the tense expression on Grace’s face left no doubt she was still nervous.
“There they are!” Ryan exclaimed as he threw the door open, Carly stepping in with him, doing her pregnant woman waddle.
The girls were beside themselves. Neither one could manage so much as a word in between their happy screaming at the sight of their parents. They threw their arms around their mom and dads’ legs, and I took the occasion to take Carly’s bags and move them near the stairs. No pregnant woman carried anything heavy on my watch.
“Welcome back!” I exclaimed, giving Carly, then Ryan a hug, making sure to keep my legs back to give the girls, who were still attached their parents’ legs like a couple of adorable monkeys, some space.
“Thank you, thank you,” Ryan said as he scooped Lily from his legs and held her near his chest. “Good to be back.”
“Place looks great,” Carly said as she picked up Rose.
“Well, the strippers Grace hired last Friday made a bit of a mess, but nothing we couldn’t clean up. But just a heads-up – if you find any sequined underwear let her know. That stuff’s not cheap.”
“Aw, Hayden,” Carly said with a smile. “How much I’ve missed your…special sense of humor.”
I glanced over my shoulder to see that Grace was still ten different kinds of nervous. We needed to get what happened out in the open before she fell to pieces out of guilt.
At the same time, we needed to let Ryan and Carly have a moment to decompress.
“Guys hungry?” I asked. “We’ve got some sandwiches in the kitchen. And there’s coffee going if that sounds good.”
“Perfect,” Ryan answered. “But right now, I need to put my butt on a soft couch with plenty of room to stretch. Airplane seats are not much fun when you’re six five.”
“Aw, poor baby,” Carly said with a smile as she gave Ryan’s shoulder a playful squeeze. “Those first-class seats are just so uncomfortable.”
That got some laughs, Carly following up her crack with a quick kiss on Ryan’s cheek.
We headed into the living room and got settled, Grace still silent as she brought in the sandwiches, chips, and drinks. Ryan and Carly played with Rose and Lily, the twins quickly burning through their energy and resting their heads on their parents’ laps.
“So,” Ryan began. “How were they? Anything happen we should know about?”
“And any cute pictures?” Carly asked, her hands clasped together in eagerness.
“Yeah!” Grace said, finally chiming in as if she sensed that some pictures of the girls might make things nice and light before we dropped the news. “There’s this really adorable one of them both sleeping together. Let me show you…”
She took out her phone, found the picture, then handed the camera over. Ryan and Carly both smiled as they took the camera and looked.
“Oh, my freaking God,” Carly exclaimed. “That’s so cute!”
“Totes adorbs, as they say,” Ryan agreed. “But…hold on…”
He cocked his head to the side, as if he’d noticed something strange about the picture.
It didn’t take long for me to realize exactly what that something might be.
“Hold up,” he said. “Is this a hospital bed?”
The color drained from Grace’s expression, her smile dropping to the floor.
“A hospital?” Carly asked. “Why were the girls in a hospital?”
I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could even get a word out Grace was all over it.
“There, um, there was a bee.”
“A bee?” Ryan asked.
Grace’s next words came out at a mile a minute.
“There was this beehive, and I was taking Rose and Lily outside and we got too close to it and Rose got stung and she started breathing weird and her face got red, so we took her to the hospital, and she was fine and…” Her face turned red. “I know we should’ve told you, but it only happened yesterday and…”
She trailed off, tears in her eyes.
Ryan closed his eyes and raised his palms.
“Let me get this straight – the girls were stung by bees?”
I jumped in. “Rose was stung by a couple of bees in a hive that was on your property. She looked to be having some kind of reaction, so to be on the safe side, they gave her an epi injection and sent us home with a pen. She was never anything close to being in danger, and she was fine as soon as the meds kicked in.”
“Where was she stung?” Carly asked, looking Rose over.
“Those two dots on her cheek,” I said. “The ones that look like pimples.”
“Oh,” Carly said. “Those don’t look so bad.”
Ryan sighed and shook his head. “This is my fault. I’ve been planning on taking them to see an allergist for the last few months but it’s one of those things that kept getting pushed to the next week and the next. I will definitely make the appointment this week.”
“I called an exterminator about the beehive. They’re planning on coming Monday afternoon, but the card is up in your bedroom if you want to call and reschedule.”
“I’m so, so sorry,” Grace apologized. “I should’ve told you both and…”
“It’s fine,” Carly said with a smile. “You both did exactly what needed to be done, and nothing bad happened. There’s no reason to beat yourself up.”
“Right,” Ryan said. “This is like a skinned knee, as far as I’m concerned. You both did an amazing job with the girls, and I’m not regretting in the slightest leaving them with you.”
That was that. Grace calmed down once she realized the situation wasn’t as bad as she’d feared. After a little more coffee and relaxing, I decided to take off, Grace sticking around to make Ryan and Carly dinner as one last gesture of apology.
As I drove away from the house, all I could think about was how much I was going to miss Grace.
Something had ended between us – of that I had no doubt.
I could only wonder if whatever it was that we’d had was gone for good.
Chapter 25
GRACE
The next three weeks flew by, and some major changes had happened in my life.
My managers at All-Day Fitness, evidently impressed with how I’d been running my classes, offered me one of the management positions at the new location they were opening across town. My new responsibilities involved overseeing class schedules and making sure we had enough instructors to cover them all.
At first, I hadn’t been crazy about the idea. While I’d still be running my Zumba classes, managing meant that I’d have to give a couple of them up to make room for the new workload. But managing also meant an actual salary and some not-too-shabby benefits. More money made meant more money to save, and that meant my dream of opening my own gym had become a little clearer, a little more within reach.
I couldn’t wait. I’d done the calculations, and it would take two years max before I’d be able to start looking at places.
I was at home, checking out apartments. Our managers had agreed to Willow coming to the new gym with me. Since the new All-Day location was thirty minutes away, it made sense to get another apartment. Not to mention, the little boost to my salary meant I’d be able to afford a roomier spot.
As I sat on the couch, Hulu playing in the background while I sipped
a glass of red, laptop on the coffee table in front of me as I perused Zillow, a tinge of nausea ran through my body. I set down the wine and sat up straight, placing my hand on my belly as I let the feeling pass.
Right when it was gone, the door opened, and Willow zipped in.
“My God,” she said, dropping her gym bag onto the floor and coming over to slide onto the couch next to me. “I can’t get out of that place fast enough. Do you know who Jason is? That new kettlebell instructor?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah.” My mind was a million miles away.
“He keeps asking me if I want to go indoor rock climbing and I have no idea how many times I need to tell him no before he gets the hint. I swear, these guys get their body fat percentage under eight and they think every woman wants them.”
She craned her neck to see that I was looking at Zillow.
“Oh, apartment hunting? Let me see…” She reached for the laptop. On her way to grab it, she glanced at me, freezing in place. “Are you OK?”
“Huh?” I asked, snapping out of my trance-like state. “What do you mean?”
“You had that dead stare you’ve been getting over the last few weeks whenever you think about Hayden.”
That got my attention.
“What? Why on earth would you assume I’m thinking about Hayden?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she said, getting up and breezing into the kitchen to grab a wine glass. “Maybe the fact that you lost your virginity to him while you were looking after the girls, and you haven’t spoken a word to the guy since. I’d be staring off into space about it, too.”
“It’s not that,” I said. “And like I told you – I don’t care if we ever talk again. We hooked up a couple of times and that’s it, that’s all it’s going to be. And I got what I wanted, right? I wanted to lose my virginity to Hayden, and that’s what happened. So what if nothing comes of it after?”
“I don’t believe you’re that blasé about it, is all.” She dropped onto the couch next to me, bottle of wine in hand as she topped off my glass then filled hers. “It’s not that simple with your first. The guy I lost my virginity to was this total dork and I was still obsessed with him for months. There’s no way you’re going to tell me you’re not still thinking of Hayden.”
“It doesn’t matter. I mean, he’s not calling me, either. The last exchange we had was him calming me down after I freaked out about the bee thing and then a quick, awkward goodbye. Maybe that was our destiny from the beginning.”
“I doubt it,” she said with a smile. “There’s no way you and Hayden are done with one another. People with spiritual connections like yours don’t get to walk away from each other so easily.”
“There’s no spiritual connection,” I said. “He’s just my brother’s friend who I had a stupid crush on and that’s all there is to—”
I didn’t get out any more than that before another wave of nausea rushed over me. I sprang out of my seat and ran to the bathroom, dropping to the floor and letting out the wine and veggie chips I’d been eating.
“Woah!” Willow shouted from the living room as she seemed to realize what was going on. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as she hurried to the bathroom. “What just happened?”
“Sick,” I said. “I keep getting sick.”
“You sure as hell didn’t seem sick when I came in.” Willow came over and put her hand on my back. “Did you eat something that didn’t agree with you? Grace, I keep telling you about switching out dairy for oat milk.”
“It’s not that.” Once my stomach had been emptied, I took a few slow, deep breaths before pushing off the toilet seat and flushing. “I’m fine. Seriously. I think it’s just the nerves from the thought of moving and the upcoming job change I’ve got and, you know…”
Willow shook her head. “No way you’re getting let off that easy. You got sick out of nowhere and you want me to think it’s no big deal?”
“Um, well, it’s not the first time it happened.”
“What?”
“I threw up a few times at work over the last week, and I’ve just been feeling off in general. But it comes and goes.”
Willow cocked her head to the side as I rinsed my mouth with some Listerine and stepped out of the bathroom.
“Wait,” she said. “You’ve been getting sick over the last week?” Her forehead scrunched as a thought occurred to her, and I wanted to know what it was.
“Yeah, why?”
“I mean, it hasn’t occurred to you?”
“What?”
“You and Hayden slept together a month or so ago. And I’m going to guess that in the heat of passion, you two didn’t have a discussion on preferred birth control methods.”
“No way,” I said. “That’s not it.”
“Come on, Grace,” she said. “It totally explains what you’re going through.”
“No way. No way, no way. There’s no way I’m—”
I didn’t even want to say the word.
“Then let’s answer the question right now. Hold on.”
She zipped into the bathroom, and I watched as she rummaged through the cabinets below the sink.
“You remember when I hooked up with that CrossFit guy a few months ago? The blonde guy who thought the earth was flat. Well, we got a little sloppy with protection and I had a pregnancy scare that I didn’t tell you about. I bought, like, ten pregnancy tests and only used a few of them. Here.”
She handed me a box from below the sink.
“It’s one of those digital ones that only takes two seconds to get a result. Just pee on it and that’s it.”
“There’s…there’s no way I’m…”
“Then test it and get a result.” She rose and smiled. “Then you’ll know for sure, and you’ll feel better.”
I sighed, flicking my eyes nervously down at the box in my hands.
“Fine.”
“Good. I’ll give you a second.”
She stepped out and shut the door behind her.
Nothing to do but pee on the stick and see what it said. My stomach tightened as I got myself ready, giving the directions a quick read before starting to pee.
Sure enough, the test was ready instantly.
Pregnant. A small plus sign on the digital readout told me everything I needed to know.
Just like that, my life had changed forever.
Chapter 26
HAYDEN
I was seated in my usual booth at the Workhorse Diner, a place not too far from my home. It was early afternoon on a sunny Saturday, and a cup of coffee was on the white table in front of me.
Grace’s Facebook page was pulled up on my phone.
I scrolled through her page as I had so many times over the last month and I wasn’t even sure why. She wasn’t that big into sharing her life on social media, and the few updates she made every now and then were mostly about her work.
But I did find out that she had gotten a promotion – from the looks of her updates, she was starting as a manager over at a new location for her gym. Good for her. I wanted nothing but the best for Grace.
“That only makes it worse, bro.”
The voice of my brother Logan, deep and booming as mine, snapped me out of my internet stalking. He clapped his hand down on my shoulder hard enough to nearly make me drop my phone onto the table.
“I swear,” I said. “One of these days I’m not going to know it’s you sneaking up on me and accidentally drop you.”
Logan grinned as he settled into his seat and flagged the waitress down.
“That would mean you’d have to actually take me down. Not a chance of that happening, Dr. Tiny Shoulders.”
I had to laugh at that one. Logan was my identical twin, and like me, he was a physician – though he was a professor at UCSM rather than practicing these days.
Logan ordered a cup of coffee and a club sandwich when the waitress rolled up, and I ordered steak and eggs. The waitress, a cute woman in her mid-twenties, made doe eyes at Logan b
efore glancing back at me and doing a double take when she realized we were twins.
We were used to it.
“You’d better be careful with those carbs,” I said with a smirk. “Or I’ll be calling you Professor Bread Belly.”
He laughed, taking a sip of his water before draping his arms over the back of the booth.
“Let’s not avoid the matter at hand,” he said, flicking his chin up at the phone still in my hand. “Never in a million years did I think my brother would be reduced to stalking women on social media.”
“It’s not social media stalking, jackass,” I said with a smirk. “Just that I haven’t talked to her in a few weeks, and I want to see what she’s up to.”
“Ah,” he said. “So, social media stalking.”
I dipped my fingertips into my coffee and flicked the drops at him.
“Easy, easy,” he said with a laugh. “I get it – we’ve all been there. But dude, I can’t see any good reason why you shouldn’t just, you know, talk to her.”
“Because she’s the kid sister of my best friend, for starters.”
“Well, I know him pretty damn well too. I don’t think he’d bite your head off for this one. Always been a fairly reasonable guy. Remember when you borrowed his ATV back in New Zealand and scratched the side? He didn’t give a damn.”
“Yeah, he’s always been reasonable. But it’s one thing to tell a guy you messed up his ATV. Whole other thing to tell him you took his bloody sister’s virginity.”
He let out a low whistle. “Guess you’re right about that. But still, you have to tell him.”
“Do I? I mean, I’m not one for lying. But it’s not like we’re dating one another or something. We had a one-off.”
“Two-off.”
I sighed. “Yeah, yeah – two-off thing, and that’s the end of it. Why does he need to know?”