by Elena Aitken
“I knew it would be perfect on you.”
It was perfect. Not that she had anywhere to wear it. But it really did feel like the dress was made just for her. She took a minute and stood in front of the mirror, assessing her image. She ran her hands down her sides and over her stomach to her hips.
What the…
She stopped and raised her hands up to her stomach again. Her normally flat belly felt bloated and round. She spun to the side to examine her reflection. Then the other side.
“Is something wrong?” Evie looked concerned as she watched her. “Is it the dress? It looks fantastic on you…but don’t worry. You don’t have to buy it.”
“Oh, no,” Jade said quickly. “It’s not that at all. And I’d totally buy it if I had anywhere to wear it. It’s just…” She ran her hands over her stomach again. “It must be the fresh air or maybe I’ve just been enjoying too many wings at the Grizzly Paw.” She laughed. “I’ve definitely put on a few pounds. I’ll have to join Gwen in a workout later this week.”
And skip the wings next time she was at the Paw. Now that she bought a full new wardrobe, she didn’t want to eat her way out of it right away. Jade let her hands slide slowly over the bump one more time.
It was definitely too many wings. Right?
Quickly, Jade did some mental math.
There was no—
“Well, I think you look great. Your stomach is perfectly flat.” Evie laughed, interrupting Jade from her thoughts that were becoming a little too disturbing. “Thanks for trying it on for me. I just knew it would look amazing on you.”
“No problem.” Jade smiled, forcing the troubling thoughts out of her head. “I would totally buy it if I wasn’t already getting so much. What’s the damage? I should probably get going so you can get out of here.” She’d been having such a good time shopping—something in and of itself she never thought she’d do—that she’d totally forgotten that she’d gone into the store so close to closing time. “I’m so sorry,” Jade said. “You probably have something to do. I’ll get changed.”
She went quickly into the changing room and slipped out of the pretty dress, slightly disappointed that she wouldn’t be taking it home with her. Bloated stomach and all, it still looked great. And it did have enough stretch that if she kept getting bigger… Not that she would keep getting bigger! She couldn’t let herself think that way.
She’d just been eating too many wings. And that was easily remedied. Jade made a snap decision to include the dress with her purchases as well. She may not have anywhere to wear it at the moment, but maybe if she had the dress, the opportunity would arise. Plus it would be good incentive to work out and get rid of her tummy.
She laughed at herself and handed Evie the dress. “I’ll take this one, too.”
“I knew it.” For a moment, she thought Evie might actually squeal with excitement. She really was good at what she did. Looking at her bill, Jade thought, maybe she was a little too good at it.
“Thank you so much, Jade. You are officially one of my first customers.” Evie handed her two big bags full of clothes. “And I had a great time getting to know you.”
“Me too,” she said, and she meant it.
They walked together to the door. “Again, I’m really sorry if I kept you too long.”
Evie waved away her concern. “It’s no biggie. I actually do have a date.” She held up her fingers in air quotes. “But between you and me, I’m pretty sure it’s not a match. I mean, Mitch is a great guy, but he’s just—”
“Mitch McCormick?” As if it were any other Mitch. After all, he was tutoring Evie’s son. The seed of jealousy in the pit of her stomach sprouted and took root.
“Yes.” Evie’s face flushed with embarrassment. “Of course, you must know Mitch. Please don’t…it’s not that he’s not a great guy, but…well, I probably shouldn’t say anything until I’ve gone out with him, right?”
Jade nodded mechanically. “Right.” She forced a smile and reached for the door.
Logically, she had no right to be jealous, or have any feelings one way or the other about Mitch or his dating life.
We’re just friends.
Right.
And it’s just too many wings.
Her internal voice startled her into stopping short in the middle of the sidewalk.
What the hell?
It was too many wings. She’d been lazy since arriving in Cedar Springs. That’s all it was.
Jade looked up at the storefront she’d stopped in front of. The General Store.
But maybe…buying a pregnancy test wouldn’t hurt.
She knew she was being stupid and paranoid and totally ridiculous. But still, she shifted her purchases into one hand and pulled the door of the General Store open.
Friday nights at the Grizzly Paw could get busy, especially in the summer. Mitch had gone early enough to get them a table that was at least a little bit out of the way so they might have a chance to talk and get to know each other. He positioned himself so he could see the door, and Evie, when she came in.
She was late. It wasn’t a big deal, though; she sent him a quick text to let him know that she had a last-minute customer at the shop, and he knew what it was like to have a new business. He would have been late too.
The Paw started to fill up, both with locals and summer people. It was a weird thing to be both a summer person and a local. Growing up, he’d always been a summer person. Even after spending almost sixteen summers in a row, he and his brothers were still considered summer people. They were temporary. But that hadn’t stopped the McCormicks from making friends. Every summer, they’d meet a few more people. Until it finally felt as if they were locals. At least they acted like locals. He had to chuckle, thinking that everyone else probably disagreed.
Ever since Ian had come back to town and set up a business, the McCormicks had officially been given local status. And all of their summer friends, at least the ones who hadn’t moved away, had finally accepted them as such.
Mitch sipped his beer and watched the door. While he waited, he’d been making a mental list of things to talk about with Evie. He hadn’t gotten very far. Not beyond telling her how Jonah was doing with his math. How was it that he couldn’t find any common ground between them? She was a young, beautiful, single mom and a business owner; he should have a lot to talk to her about. But maybe not as much in common as he’d originally hoped.
But he was still going to try. Just as soon as she showed up.
“Hey, man.” Rhys Anderson, one of the local police officers, one of Mitch’s old friends from his summers, stopped in front of his table with his girlfriend Kari Fox next to him. “Are you waiting for someone? It’s pretty busy in here already.”
“Actually, I’m waiting for my date.”
“Oh.” Kari perked up with a smile. “You’re dating Jade Johnson, aren’t you? I don’t know her very well yet, but Gwen sure talks highly of her. And Deanna wanted to invite her to her next book club night. Do you think she’d like that?”
“We’re actually not dating.”
Kari’s face fell, and she instantly looked mortified. “I’m so sorry.” She glanced over to Rhys, who only shrugged. “I guess I just thought… I saw you guys at the festival… And then of course at the Fourth of July. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to assume anything.”
Mitch smiled kindly. It did seem to be a mistake more and more people were making. “It’s fine,” he said. “We’re friends. And if it helps, I do think she’d probably like a book club. But I’m not really sure if she has time to read.”
Rhys laughed and interrupted. “That’s perfect,” he said. “Because I don’t actually think they do a whole lot of reading at book club.”
Kari scowled and smacked her boyfriend lightly on the arm, but then laughed. Rhys pulled her close. He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. “You have no idea what goes on there, and it makes you crazy.”
“Maybe so,” Rhys admitted. “But I do know I’ve
never seen you reading one of the books.”
Kari shook her head again and turned her attention to Mitch. “Well, if you think that Jade would like to be part of it, we’d love to have her. Deanna is kind of in charge, but I’ll let her know that you think she’d be interested.” Deanna was Gwen’s oldest friend, and a longtime local in Cedar Springs, after returning from a stint away in medical school. She was also the only doctor in town these days, and therefore pretty busy. When she wasn’t working, she was usually with her boyfriend Marcus, a professional snowboarder who had recently started his own line of custom snowboards. The more Mitch thought about it, there were a lot of new businesses going on in Cedar Springs. It really was becoming more and more of a happening place.
More the reason to stay.
“We probably shouldn’t keep you.” Rhys started to steer Kari away from the table. “After all, if you’re waiting for your date, we don’t want to cramp your style. Are you going to let us know who it is?”
“Don’t be nosy, Rhys. Mitch will let us know if he wants to.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him and he laughed. “So do you want to?”
Mitch knew better than to know there’d be any secrets in Cedar Springs, which was obvious enough by the fact that everyone thought he was dating Jade. But he was saved from having to tell them who he was waiting for, by the arrival of his date herself. “Here she is now.”
Both of his friends’ heads turned at the same time toward the door. It was Kari’s head that snapped back first. “Evelyn Rose? You’re meeting Evelyn for a date? But she’s…and you…”
Mitch wasn’t sure what that meant, or how he should feel about it. But he didn’t have time to ask; he’d already waved at Evie and she was coming over.
“I’m so sorry I’m late.” She smiled apologetically before she greeted Rhys and Kari. “Hi, guys. It’s good to see you.”
“Hi, Evie,” Kari said. “We were just leaving to get our own table. But we just wanted to say hi.”
Before anyone could say anything else, Rhys and Kari were gone. Evie looked to Mitch with a question in her eyes.” Did I say something?”
Mitch stood and waited until Evie had sat before he sat back down. “It’s not you. They just didn’t want to interrupt. I’m glad you made it. Busy day?”
For the next few minutes, Evie and Mitch shared easy conversation about their days. Evie lit up when she started to talk about her new shop, Live, Love, Lake. Mitch learned that after becoming a single mom, she had to figure out a way to support her and her son in a town with very few options. At least up until recently. With the opening of the new exclusive Springs resort, and the reopening of the ski hill Stone Summit, the town of Cedar Springs had experienced a rebirth of sorts, providing a wealth of new opportunity, if you were ready.
Evie had been ready.
The more he learned about her, the more impressed he was with her and her determination to make a better life for her son. The conversation segued easily from her new shop to Jonah and the tutoring Mitch was providing. He’d been waiting all day to tell her how well Jonah was doing, how much he was picking up on.
Just as Mitch had suspected, it wasn’t that the child didn’t understand math; he just hadn’t been responding to his teacher. After only a few tutoring sessions with him, Jonah was more than caught up. In fact, Mitch suspected he’d be at the head of his class come September.
“I don’t know how to thank you, Mitch.” Evie reached across the table and grabbed his hand, and seeming to realize what she had done, she released it quickly. “I mean, I wish I could help him with everything he needs. But between trying to get this shop off the ground and just… Well, just everything. There just doesn’t seem to be enough time. By the time I realized he was falling behind, it was already the end of the school year.”
“Don’t worry about it, Evie. I was happy to help. I totally understand—well, not totally. I mean, I don’t understand what it would be like to be a single mom. Beyond the fact that my own mother was.”
“Oh.” Evie got that look on her face that most people got when they remembered the great McCormick scandal of ten years ago when their family had disappeared from Cedar Springs due to personal problems. The last thing he wanted was Evie’s pity, or worse, any awkwardness about it. “Oh Mitch, I’m sorry. I forgot—”
“No.” He cut her off. “All that stuff is in the past. The McCormicks are back. And everything is different now.”
He used the opportunity to wave the waitress over and order new drinks. When she’d gone, Evie crossed her arms on the table in front of her and leaned in. “Are you all back?” she asked. “I mean, I know you and Ian are here, but…are your other brothers here too?”
Something about the way she asked got Mitch’s attention. Evie was younger than him, and he’d only known of her in the vaguest sense when he was a teenager, so if she was friendly with one of his other brothers, Mitch didn’t know about it. “Do you know them? Declan and Cal, I mean.”
She blushed and her pretty face turned a vivid shade of pink. She looked down at the table and the napkin she was worrying between her fingers. “No.” She shook her head, still not looking up. “I mean, not really. I knew of them, though. I knew of all of you. But I was a few years younger, so I didn’t go to the parties…”
Mitch chuckled. The longer he sat and spoke with her, the more he realized what a nice girl Evie was. And yes, he’d been looking for a nice girl. But there was no spark between them, even if he really wanted there to be. But he couldn’t even be sure that was true anymore. And it was clear that Evie felt the same way.
“Declan is out saving the world somewhere, so I don’t think he’ll be back.”
“Oh.” Her disappointment was obvious and she didn’t even try to hide it.
“But Cal will be here tomorrow.”
Her head shot up, delight on her face. “Cal? I heard he was in Australia.”
“Don’t tell me you read about him in the magazines?”
“Guilty,” she said. “Don’t tell anyone—gossip magazines are my guilty pleasure. It’s really pretty embarrassing.”
Mitch shrugged. “We all have our guilty pleasures.” Some of those things were more pleasurable than others. But he was definitely not going to get into that with Evie.
Their drinks arrived and they spent the rest of the evening chatting comfortably with the awareness that they would only be friends. They didn’t even have to discuss it, which was how Mitch knew they could really be friends.
If only it could be that easy with Jade.
Chapter Six
Jade had given herself the weekend to be shocked. She had given herself two full days to hide in her rented house, lie on the couch, and stare at the pregnancy test. For two whole days, she barely ate, drank only peppermint tea, and held that little plastic stick in her hand without fully registering what she was looking at.
Pregnant? How was it even—no. She knew how it was possible. It’s just that it shouldn’t have been possible.
The night of the summer solstice festival. It had to have been then. But she was on the Pill. She’d been on the Pill since she was sixteen years old. But she had just finished round of antibiotics for a minor ear infection. That had to have been it.
But things like that only happened in the movies.
Except that wasn’t true.
It was happening to her.
She’d given herself the weekend. And on Monday, she’d woken up, showered, dressed in one of her new outfits—not too casual, not too formal—grabbed her laptop, and had walked down to Main Street to Dream Puffs bakery. She decided not to think about the positive pregnancy test. Just long enough to get some work done. It’s not as though she could ignore it forever. Obviously, she would have to deal with it. But one thing Jade did need was some control. And the only way she could think to do that was to work.
But her brain had other ideas. She’d spent most of that Monday not opening any of the files she needed to look at, not making any of
the phone calls to clients she needed to make, but instead surfing the Internet.
False positive test. Signs of early pregnancy. Not really pregnant. How soon can you tell? What the hell was she going to do if it was true?
Jade typed in every variation of every search topic she could think of. And by the end of the day, she had read more personal experiences of how women just “knew” they were pregnant right away. Apparently, some women just had a feeling. Other women started to show within two weeks. One woman talked about immediate food cravings. Another, about how her breasts were sore the day after she conceived.
She also learned that pregnancy tests were very accurate, some of them even able to determine pregnancy before a missed period, but the only way to really know for sure was to see your doctor.
Jade only knew of one doctor in town. Deanna Gordon. Who happened to be Gwen’s best friend, and a very nice person. In fact, she was a person Jade could see herself being friends with. And was that the type of person you wanted diagnosing your unwanted pregnancy?
Unwanted. Her hand instantly went to her stomach, to the very slight—only she could actually tell—swell there. No, maybe not entirely unwanted.
But first things first. She made a call to Doctor Deanna Gordon and an hour later, Jade found herself sitting in a thin paper gown on the exam table across from a woman she’d recently shared drinks with.
Oh God, I drank!
Deanna smiled warmly in an effort, she was sure, to put Jade at ease. It didn’t work. She couldn’t wait one more moment.
“Well?” she asked. “What did the test say?”
Before changing into her gown, Jade had peed in a cup and left it with a nurse.
Deanna opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Jade cut her off. “Wait. Don’t tell me. I know it’s positive. I mean, I don’t know, know. But I know. You know?” Aware she wasn’t making any sense, she took a deep breath and tried again. “Am I pregnant?”