by Jill Sanders
“Thank god,” Aubrey said to the room.
“We’re all here,” Elle said, looking around.
“Not all of us.” Zoey looked around. “Dylan, Liam, and Owen are on their way up.”
“Oh.” Aubrey rolled her eyes. “We need the men now?”
“We can call Aiden up if it will make you feel better?” Elle said to Aubrey, who replied by sticking out her tongue.
“What I have to say involves them,” Zoey clarified. She stood up and started to pace in front of the windows. The fact that he knew what she had to say had him smiling.
“What are you so happy about?” Aubrey asked him, pointing in his direction.
His smile fell away quickly. “Nothing.” He shook his head and avoided everyone’s eyes.
“Liar,” Aubrey accused him.
“Leave him alone, he’s had only a few hours of sleep.” Zoey jumped to his defense.
“They have a secret,” Aubrey accused.
“Aub.” Scarlett sighed, and had Aubrey shrugging.
“Sorry, I missed breakfast and lunch,” she replied.
“Good news then.” Dylan walked in. Each of the brother’s held large brown boxes from the kitchen. “We brought food.”
“Yeah.” Aubrey jumped up and grabbed a box.
“Isaac wanted to make sure Scarlett got better. Oh, and Betty sent up some baked goods just for you.” Dylan handed Scarlett a box. “Only for you.” His eyes moved around the room.
“The lengths a girl will go to to earn a few brownies around here is criminal,” Aubrey joked as Scarlett pulled out a brownie and bit into it.
“You should have some of the lunch first,” Levi suggested. “To take it slow.”
Scarlett shook her head slightly. “Everyone knows when you’re concussed, you eat dessert first.” She rolled her eyes then groaned and held her head. “Okay, no eye rolling for me for the next few days.”
“That will be a miracle,” someone said quietly.
As everyone settled around eating their food, Levi’s eyes moved over to Zoey and Dylan as he waited for them to share their news.
They ended up waiting until everyone was almost done eating. Dylan stood up and disappeared into the kitchen, returning with a bottle of champagne and glasses for everyone.
“That’s what we were missing,” Elle chuckled. “Day drinking.”
Dylan filled all of the glasses and passed them around. “To family.” He held up his glass and pulled Zoey to his side. Levi was the only one who noticed that Zoey hadn’t been handed a glass. Dylan looked down at Zoey and smiled. “To our family, which in about nine months will be adding a new addition.”
The entire room was silent for about ten seconds, then a burst of happy cheers exploded as Elle, Hannah, and Aubrey jumped up and surrounded Zoey.
Scarlett sat next to him, completely still and quiet as her friends surrounded and congratulated her sister.
“You okay?” he asked quietly.
“A baby?” She shook her head. “They’re having a baby?”
He realized that everyone had stopped talking and turned their eyes towards Scarlett.
“Scar?” Zoey moved over to her and sat next to her sister. “I wanted to tell everyone together. I only found out yesterday morning. Before…”
Scarlett grabbed her sister into a hug. “I’m going to be an aunt,” she said with a smile. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all year.”
Chapter Nineteen
That night, Scarlett laid in Levi’s arms, trying to calm her mind down. She’d had no problem sleeping earlier in the day, but now, in the middle of the night, she was wide awake.
Her mind refused to shut down and kept playing the fact that she was going to be an aunt over and over. Her sister was going to have a baby. A baby!
At one point in her life, Scarlett had dreamed of having a family. Then her father had left, and Jenny had texted her that picture of Levi and her at the bonfire.
Her mother had claimed that she’d put a shield around her heart that first year and had grown cold and distant from everyone. Since they could no longer afford to go to the camp the following summer, she hadn’t had her Wildflowers to talk her out of protecting herself against another possible broken heart.
The only thing she’d known how to do was turn everything off.
But now, thinking about her sister having a baby, she felt something shift inside her. The desires she used to have were trying to break through her carefully shielded heart.
Looking over at Levi as he slept next to her, she remembered hearing him say he loved her.
In her dazed state, her first thought was to repeat those words back to him. But, after she’d surfaced from the fog and cleared her mind, she’d realized she’d been lucky she hadn’t.
She couldn’t afford to love him or any man, for that matter.
The pain she’d gone through as a teenager had damaged her to the point that her trust in anyone outside of her tight circle was completely shot. But Levi was slowly sneaking into that circle. So had Dylan, Liam, and Owen, among a few others on the campgrounds.
They were family now, even though they technically weren’t yet. Zoey and Dylan’s wedding was set for a month from now. Scarlett and the others were still working to finish up the final details. Zoey had even purchased her wedding dress and picked out the four bridesmaid dresses the Wildflowers would wear.
She rolled slightly to relieve some of the pain on her hips and cringed slightly.
“You okay?” Levi jerked awake.
“Yes, just sore.” She finished shifting until she felt comfortable.
“Better?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her.
“Yes.” She sighed.
“Can’t sleep?” he asked her, his voice gruff.
She sighed and shook her head. “No, I can’t shut down.”
“We could… watch a movie?” he said slowly. His slurred speech told her that he was still half asleep.
“No, go back to sleep. I’ll fall asleep eventually.”
He rolled until he was looking directly at her. “Sassy, what’s wrong?”
She bit her lip and debated telling him her thoughts.
“Is it about your sister and the baby?” he asked.
“Partly.”
His hand came up and brushed gently down her arm. “You’re happy for them though, right?”
“Very,” she answered truthfully.
“Then what is it?” he asked, his hand stilling on her hip.
“Fear,” she admitted. “At one point, I’d hoped to have that.”
“A family of your own?” he asked, interrupting.
She nodded.
“What changed?”
“My father left us. And then I got that text from Jenny the following day.”
He stiffened. “She texted you the day after your dad left?”
“Yes. It was as if she knew. Just like yesterday. She knew that I was coming around the corner and wanted me to see you and her kissing. That’s why she pulled you down like she did.”
He was silent for a moment. “I think you’re right. Before she did, she kept glancing over towards the pathway. I thought she was waiting for her husband.”
“Why does she hate me so much?” Scarlett shifted until she was sitting up. “What did I ever do to her?”
He sat up next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Well, you did win me over that summer when she wanted all my attention. Especially when she tried so hard to flirt with me. It was obvious she wanted me.”
She chuckled. “Egotistical much?”
“No, hear me out.” He shifted until he was looking at her. “When did it all start?”
Scarlett thought back. “The first summer I showed up at camp and ran into her at the pool with the rest of my friends.” She smiled when he frowned.
“Okay, that tosses my egotistical theory out the window.” He shrugged with a low rumble in his chest. “So, it’s not about me.”
She laughed, already feeling much better, her mind moving from her sister and the baby to something different. “You’re doing this on purpose,” she accused him.
“What?” he asked, innocently.
“Making me laugh and relax.” She sighed and leaned against his chest, feeling tired.
“Maybe.” He held onto her. “Laughter always helps get your mind off problems.”
“Does it always work for you?” she asked, holding back a yawn.
He was silent for a moment, then answered. “Yeah, it has. My entire life. Gran taught me laughter really was the best medicine after my mother died.”
Scarlett was quiet for a moment. “She died of an overdose?” She’d heard tons of rumors. Everyone had, but she figured it was time to talk with him about it herself.
“That’s what Gran told me. I had just turned seven.” He was quiet again and she thought for a moment that he was done talking about it. “It’s strange, I remember things differently than Gran does.”
“Like what?” She sat up a little to look at him.
“Well, for starters, I remember my mom and my gran fighting that morning about…”—he sighed—“my father.”
She sat up. “Do you think your grandmother knows who he is?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Gran was trying to find out that morning. My mother was crying as she told her that she had someone try and contact him, but they had told her that he’d been mad when he found out that my mother hadn’t aborted me like she’d told him she would.”
“You…” She swallowed hard, her heart beating faster. “Your mother was going to abort you?”
“No.” He shook his head. “My grandmother insisted that thought had never crossed my mother’s mind.”
“But your dad thought it had?”
“Apparently.”
“Sounds like your life is better off without him in it then.”
“Yeah.” His arm tightened around her. “Then the day that she died, my mother left me with my gran so she could go to work.”
“What happened?” she asked.
“Instead of going to work, she apparently went back to her apartment and OD’d.”
“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “How does your gran remember it?”
“She says they weren’t fighting about my dad, but about something else.”
“What?” she asked, looking up at him.
“About a trip my mother wanted to take me on. She wanted to take me out of the country for a while. Gran wasn’t too keen on my mother taking me so far away from her,” he said with a frown.
“Sounds like she had good reason to keep you close.”
“Yeah.” He scooted them back down until she was almost lying across his chest. His hand was rubbing her back slowly, causing her to feel more relaxed.
“I’m sorry you lost your mother so young.” She held in a yawn.
“Me too. Part of me has always wanted to know who my father was, while the other part knows that any man who would have wished my mother would get an abortion isn’t the father that I dreamed of having anyway.”
She hugged him. “Thank you for getting my mind off my own problems.”
He chuckled. “Sure, now you can think about mine.”
She smiled as she ran her hands over his chest. “No, but it does help getting to know you more. I’ve gone all these years thinking I understand you completely. I was wrong. You are not the man I’ve been thinking you are.”
“Oh?” His hand stilled on the lower part of her back.
“No.” She glanced over at him and smiled. “You’re much more.” She kissed him and then laid her head back down. “I think I could sleep for days now.” She yawned again.
“I’ll be right here when you wake,” he promised as she fell asleep.
When she woke the following morning, she felt almost back to normal, except for the massive bump on the back of her head. She could hear Levi in the shower and made a quick decision to join him.
“Good morning,” he said with a smile. “I thought we determined this shower was too small for the both of us,” he joked as he wrapped his arms around her naked body.
“We’ve got to do our part to conserve water.” She smiled. “For future generations.”
He laughed and ran his soapy hands all over her. “Think you feel good enough to head down for breakfast?”
“Yes,” she groaned. “Get me out of this apartment. I’m going stir crazy.”
“It’s only been a day,” he reminded her.
“A day and like fifty hours of sleep.” She rolled her shoulders.
“You have a large bruise here.” He ran a finger gently over her hip and back.
“That part of me hit the bottom of the pool first.”
“Does it hurt?” He scanned the rest of her body for bruises.
“Only when I sit,” she joked, pouring shampoo into her hand. The moment she started scrubbing her head, she winced.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I forgot about this.” She rubbed the large bump. “It’s gone down some.”
“Let me see.” He touched her head gently, running his fingers over the area. “I guess it’s a good thing you have a hard head,” he said when he was done.
“It’s a good thing you were there to fish me off the bottom of the pool.” She wrapped her arms around him.
“That too.” He sighed. “I should have never let her get that close to you.” He rested his chin on the top of her head gently.
After showering and dressing, they made their way down to the employee’s dining room.
Her friends were slightly upset to see her dressed and sitting in their normal booth when they walked in fifteen minutes later.
“You are supposed to be in bed,” Zoey said, sitting next to her. Her sister’s eyes scanned hers as if looking to see how she felt.
“I’m fine,” she told her and laid a hand on her sister’s. “Did you tell Mom yet?” she asked, knowing she had to change the subject.
“Yes, we went over to her place last night after our meeting and told her.” Zoey smiled. “She’s so excited, I think she spent the rest of the night buying things for the baby online.”
“We weren’t supposed to do that?” Elle asked with a slight frown. “I’ve already got stuff on the way.”
Zoey laughed. “Jesus, we haven’t even had our first doctor’s appointment yet. Let’s just… slow down.” Her sister’s eyes scanned everyone, and Scarlett could see a slight hint of fear in them.
Picking up her sister’s hand, she smiled. “You’re going to be an amazing mother.”
“Oh god.” Tears started flowing from her sister’s eyes. “I’m so….”
“Scared?” Aubrey supplied.
Zoey shook her head. “Happy,” Zoey finished with a chuckle. “I mean, we weren’t planning this to happen this early, but…” Her sister’s hand went over her flat belly. “It’s just… right. You know? We’ll be in our new house by the time we get back from our honeymoon, or so Aiden says. Things were a little slower because of his other projects, but the timing is just… right.”
“To a new Wildflower.” Hannah held up her glass of orange juice. “We should have mimosas, but…” She smiled. “This will do.”
“To another Wildflower,” Elle repeated, holding up her own glass.
The five friends tapped their glasses together and drank.
“You guys are weird,” Levi said, shaking his head, but he was smiling. “If someone can watch Sassy here for me, I’m going to head out to check and make sure someone is covering my first shift at the slides.”
“Dylan has you covered,” Zoey said, but Levi stood up. “I have to run an errand.” He leaned down and kissed Scarlett on the cheek.
“Tired of me already?” she joked.
His eyes turned soft. “You can’t get rid of me this easily.” He smiled. “I’ll meet you back up in the apartment in an hour.”
“Take your time.” She sighed. “I
’ll be around.”
She could already feel her energy draining, but she wanted to do a few things before she locked herself back up in her room again.
“He has it bad for you,” Zoey said after Levi left.
“Yeah.” She sighed.
“Hey, that’s a good thing,” Elle said with a smile.
“I’m not sure I’m capable of returning the same feelings.” She knew she could say anything to her best friends. They knew her too well to try to hide anything.
“Why? Because your dad decided to screw your mom and leave her for Bridgette?” Elle said, shaking her head. “Your mom isn’t even that messed up over it. I mean, have you seen how cute Kimberly is with Reed?” Elle sighed and rested her head in her hands. “They are like the perfect couple from a travel magazine.” She suddenly sat up and snapped her fingers and turned to Zoey. “Do you think your mom and Reed would pose for some promotional pictures for the camp?”
Zoey laughed. “Mom would, but Reed might have to kill the photographer if the pictures ever got out.”
“Oh.” Elle sank back and frowned. “Right, Mr. Spy and all.”
“Ex-spy,” Hannah reminded them, then turned back to Scarlett. “Why are you so apprehensive? I mean… it’s Levi. He’s one of the nicest guys I know. He’d never hurt a fly. I don’t think he’s the cheating type.”
“No,” she agreed, “he’s not.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Aubrey asked.
Me, Scarlett thought. I’m the problem. But she just shrugged her shoulders and bit into her bagel.
Chapter Twenty
When Levi walked back into the apartment, Scarlett was propped up on the sofa, watching an old black-and-white movie. She looked absolutely bored, and he laughed.
“Here.” He set the bag of items he’d gone to town for on the coffee table in front of her.
“For me?” She sat up slowly and reached for the bag.
“I know you can’t stand sitting still for too long, so I got a little something to help us through the boredom.”
“A puzzle?” she asked, smiling down at the first box she pulled out of the bag.