by Quinn, Taryn
“How do you know these things?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Stupid trivia sticks in my head. You know, like recipes stick in yours.”
“How’s John?” I hung up her coat and scarf in the main closet.
“Who?”
“The guy you were seeing around New Year’s?”
“Oh, I got rid of him already. Okay, so technically he ghosted me first, but I totally was going to do the same. He was boring with a capital and italicized B.”
I shook my head. Gabby went through men like she went through her Instagram fads. But she was sweet, so men flocked to her like lemonade on a hot day. She could charge a damn ten spot for a glass of her lemonade and they’d keep coming back for more. There was something about her that made men want to take care of her.
Unfortunately, she loved to let them. And the ones she chose didn’t have a long-term plan about anything, including her.
I’d lost count of how many times she’d gotten her heart broken, but somehow she always got up and tried again. She was convinced Prince Charming was out there.
“I started seeing another guy, Frank, but then he kissed me, and the spark died a tragic death bathed in halitosis.”
I scrunched my nose. “Yeah, that won’t work.”
“No way. I like kissing and the duck and cover should only be used for fires or hiding from Mami during the holidays when she asks me why I’m not married already.”
“She does realize we’re in our mid-twenties, right?”
Gabby shot a look over her shoulder as she sailed through the living room to the large archway that led to the kitchen. The open floor plan of this house meant there were many different ways to explore it. “As far as Mami’s concerned, I should be spitting out a second kid by now. If it was good enough for her, it’s good enough for all her girls.”
I instinctively put my hand over my still flat belly. Well, mostly flat, since I’d enjoyed my cooking a little too much since my sisters had gone away to school.
Eating my feelings? I chose to look at it like I was making sure my recipes worked.
Even if things with Asher didn’t work out, I had the Ramos family to lean on. Bonnie always treated me like one of her daughters. She had four of them by blood, so what was one more? At least that was what she always told me.
Maybe I’d have to believe her someday.
Especially since Asher and I couldn’t be in the same room without tense silence or child-rearing conversations wedging between us. And none of them were about the baby I was carrying. We both kept avoiding that one.
It was all about Lily right now.
Safe in all ways. It was as if she was an actual mutual wall we spoke over every day like neighbors. Until the nighttime. Then we went to our separate corners. After we cleaned up from dinner and put Lily to bed, Asher would close himself into his home office and do…whatever it was moguls of large companies did. I wasn’t sure because he never shared anything with me.
Except the hot, heavy looks across the hallway in the middle of the night when we fought over who would take care of Lily when she awakened with one of a half-dozen needs. The last few nights had been teething in the extreme. Everything was fair game for her mouth lately.
I was pretty sure her drool was going to be part of my DNA soon.
“Girl, I’m never going to keep those five pounds off my ass if you keep cooking things with biscuits.”
I caught up to Gabby and met her at the huge kitchen island. “Keep those paws off my dough. It’s not done resting yet.”
“Speaking of, how many deliveries do I have to make today?”
“Seven.”
“Hey, that’s pretty good.”
I shrugged. “It’s growing slowly. Better than the three it was last week.”
“Word of mouth. My mom talks you up all the time. Of course, she calls your website the Facebook, but small steps.” She put air quotes around the word Facebook.
I laughed. “Are you sure I’m not keeping you from anything tonight?”
She pulled the top off one of the slow cookers and moaned. “Bathing suit season? What’s in there?”
“Beef stew.”
Before she could reach into the bubbling food and burn herself, I smacked her hand. “Sit, I’ll make you a bowl.”
She made a face at me but followed direction. “What time does the kiddo go to bed?”
“It’s only ten-thirty in the morning.”
She rolled her eyes. “I know, but I’m thinking about tonight already. I even brought a bottle of wine.” She glanced at her watch. “And it’s eleven, thank you.”
That wine was going to be a party for one. God, I had to tell her everything and I so didn’t know how. “I haven’t even made the gravy for this yet.” But I ladled out a bit of vegetables and meat because I knew she’d eat it regardless of the biscuits and gravy. “I can make you a sandwich.”
“Nope. I’m ready for whatever that is.”
I shook my head and added a little broth. “Thanks for coming over to help.”
“Sure. It’s easier for me to do the deliveries around the transcription work I do than for you to put Lily in a carseat. Not that a cute kid doesn’t help sell stuff. They’d probably think you were a single mom and double their order.”
I swallowed. That would be a true statement in a few months. “Yes, well, if things get a little bigger, we’ll both be making deliveries. At least that’s the hope.” I pushed aside the panic of telling my best friend all my news. “Anyway, that handy bilingual thing keeps you busy all the time, so it’s still a big ask.”
She waved me off and gave me heart eyes as I set down the food in front of her. “All good. It gets me away from the screen. Ugh. I love my mother’s food, but you do the best comfort food in the damn state.”
“Even if it doesn’t have Spanish spices?”
She hovered her nose over the bowl. “Rosemary is just as good.”
I floured the marble countertop and used my steel cutter to make little piles. “I added another half-dozen recipes to the site. Hopefully, that will make people want to try me out.”
“How many do you have cooking today?” She waved her spoon.
“Six and three different kinds of cookies prepped in the fridge.”
“You’re crazy. That’s six different full meals for one client each.”
“It’s a good way to try out the recipes. And whatever is left I freeze in man-sized portions for Asher. His hours are crazy.”
“So, how is that going? That’s a lot of man flesh to have to work around. Not sure I could do it without trying to pounce on him. Especially since I looked up Mr. Asher Wainwright on the internet just to get a look see of how gorgeous this new daddy was—and girl, that’s some wrong.”
I dumped the biscuit dough out of the bowl. “Fine. Not a big deal.”
Just got very pregnant and then decided to have sex with him a couple more times like an idiot. No big deal.
Was I supposed to just blurt it out?
Oh, God. How was I going to tell my sisters?
Everything was such a cluster. Except cooking. That I could do. And focus on so that I didn’t lose my mind completely.
“Somehow I do not believe you. He’s hot with like five fire emojis.”
More like ten. Even more so when he was naked. In my limited scope, it was a rare man who looked just as good in a suit as out of one.
“He’s attractive, but that’s not a big deal.”
Except that he follows me into dreams almost every night.
I kept reliving the night of the New Year’s Eve snowstorm. How he touched me and never stopped. How he was wild for me and made me just as wild for him.
“Tell that to your flushed cheeks, chica.” Gabby leaned forward, her spoon dripping on the counter.
I picked up my spray bottle and towel to clean up after her.
She only rolled her eyes and lifted the bowl, scooping up another piece of carrot before putting i
t back down. “I don’t blame you. It’s like a Hallmark movie come to life. Sweet single dad who needs you desperately. Talk about fantasy. I mean, I don’t know if he’s sweet, but I’m assuming he’s not a monster. Though I’ve watched the ones with the grumpy guy who’s inept, and those are equally hot.”
When I didn’t say anything, she put the spoon down with a snap.
“What?”
She squinted at me.
“What?”
“How could you?”
“How could I what?”
“Are you flirty with this dude?”
“Can we stop talking about Asher?”
“I don’t know, can we? Seems like he’s an interesting topic.”
“Not really. We barely speak.”
We just like to use our tongues and other body parts.
God, so many other ways to use our mouths.
“Okay, so what’s the problem? You can have the hots for your boss. We’re heading for 2020. It’s not that big of a deal.”
“I’m pregnant.”
“Whoa. What? When did that happen? Weren’t you a virgin like a second ago?”
I studied my floured fingers, picking the sticky dough off with painstaking slowness. “Not exactly. More like three months ago.”
“And you didn’t tell me? Wait—you actually finally got a dicking and you didn’t tell me? First of all, that’s not cool. But baby? Who? How?”
“I don’t know!”
I was pretty sure her jaw was heading for the floor. “You don’t know the dude’s name? Who are you?”
“No, I know his name. I mean, I don’t know how it happened. We used a condom, dammit. I finally got up the courage to go for it with a man who made me feel something and I got pregnant right away.”
“Madre di dios. My worst nightmare. Then again, I was more like seventeen when I let Paul Carson pop my cherry. But we’re not talking about that.”
“Or the fact that you let Paul do the popping. What were you thinking?”
“There were extenuating circumstances and an unfortunate amount of Fireball in my system. He was a really good kisser, but don’t distract me. This is not about my virginity.”
It was remarkably easy to distract her, but of course, this had to be one of those rare times she didn’t go off on a tangent.
“So, you had a one-night stand that ended up with…” She looked down at my middle. “How far along?”
“New Year’s.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I just found out. I’m one of those weird women who almost has her period even after she’s pregnant, which seems excessively cruel since that should be a perk. At least it’s not an ongoing thing. Just tricked me into believing I was in the clear.”
“That is weird, but why didn’t you tell me? Was it that bad? Was he a vagrant or something?”
“No. He was amazing. It was amazing,” I sniffed as the tears sprang out of nowhere.
After that incredible night, now I had this little bean growing inside me. And I couldn’t be mad about it, even if I didn’t know how to work things out with Asher right now.
She rushed around the kitchen island to me. “Oh, no. Don’t you cry, then I’ll start crying.” She threw her arms around me. “It’s okay. We’ll do this together just like we do everything. I just wish you’d told me. You know you don’t have to do everything alone, right?”
“I know.” I rested my cheek on her shoulder, her soft sweater soothing me just as much as her familiar scent. I didn’t stay there long though, or I’d be a bawling mess. It was my default just to deal with things and move on.
“So, flirting with the hot rich dude is definitely a bit weird. I get it.”
“Yeah, about that.”
“Oh my God. You already slept with Asher too? When you get going, you really get going.”
I had to laugh, because what else could I do? “Not exactly. I mean, yes, I slept with Asher, but—”
“But what? Wow, by the state of your cheeks, I’m going to say you have the keys to orgasm city, but again, you didn’t tell me.” She shook my shoulders.
“I couldn’t. I didn’t want to even own up to it myself, especially since we ruin things as soon as we get naked. It’s like he puts his size-twelve foot in his damn mouth directly after.”
She tilted her head. “Size twelve? Wow, so he’s rich and hung? That seems unfair.”
“Why? Because he has big feet?”
She gave me bland look.
“How am I supposed to know?”
“Well, you’ve been with two guys.”
“Uh, no. It’s Asher’s baby.”
“Wait.” Gabby pushed her hair back from her face, exasperation lighting her eyes. “You’ve only worked for him for a week.”
“Yeah, it’s complicated.”
“I need more food to understand this whole thing. Like a lot more food. And you need to explain. Pronto.”
I looked back down at my unevenly cut biscuit dough with a sigh. Even talking about Asher made chaos take over my life. How many times had I divided up biscuit dough this week? Oh, only every day.
She went to the large crockpot and fixed herself another bowl. Then spotted the cheese biscuits I’d put aside for my clients.
“Hey.”
She took one with a shrug. “Your penance for not telling me about all the good-goods, woman. Now spill.”
And I did. I told her about the snowstorm and how wonderful it had been for a first time. At least I only had my experience to go by. Of course, then there was the fact that I split the morning after as if it had been a dirty little secret. Then about Bess and how I ended up working for him and just how insane my life had become.
Gabby’s huge brown eyes were saucers by the time I was finished. And another bowl of stew was gone.
“Wow.”
“Yeah. So, you can see it’s been a tense few weeks.”
“Yes, but it didn’t have to be. You could have come to me.”
“I didn’t know how.” I dumped my overworked biscuit dough into the trash. Crap. That would set me back, and Lily could wake up any minute. “I was trying to put it behind me and to get my business going. Hello, I just sent my sisters off to college. I really wasn’t interested in doing this all over again.” I pointed to the baby bottles in the drying rack.
“Your sisters weren’t babies when you took over.”
“No, but I helped raise them. I’m well-versed in this whole thing. But Lily is so sweet, and Bess is a force. And God, the money seemed like it would be good. Then I walk into this crazy mansion and find Asher.”
“Hello, one hot night dude.”
“I figured I would do this until Hannah’s Helping Hand Boxes got off the ground. I didn’t even know I was pregnant when I took the job. Well, he sort of strong-armed me into it, although I already adored Lily. Then…” I sighed.
“Then you have a baby daddy and a boss. You really are a Hallmark movie. A dirty one, but whoa.”
“Shut up.”
She waggled her eyebrows. “Seriously. You got way lucky with the good nookie thing. That doesn’t usually happen the first time.”
“Orgasms are the least of my problems. I have a half-going business, yes, but…”
“But what? You have a rent-free situation here and an adorable baby to babysit while you get things going. Hell, you can finally sell your folks’ house. You never loved being back there anyway.”
“Except I might need that house, after all.”
“The girls are super happy at college. They don’t even come home for vacations anymore.”
“Yeah, well, I might need it for my baby.”
“You told Asher, right?”
“Of course, I did. It’s so damn awkward we don’t even talk about it. I can’t count on him sticking around.”
“Fuck that.”
“Gabriela Maria!”
She flushed. “Don’t use that mom voice on me. It’s a good one though. You’re a
natural.”
I lowered my forehead to the cool marble countertop. I needed a time out. “I hate you.”
She continued to eat. Loudly. At least from her slurps I could tell my food was good. “Nah, you love me. Now that I’ve completely killed my diet, let’s start packing these badboys up, huh?”
I straightened up. “That’s a good plan.”
As if she was waiting for me to get ready to work, Lily’s cries came crackling out of the baby monitor. “Hold that thought.”
“Want me to start?”
My hands itched to do it. I had a particular way I wanted things packed up. But honestly, something had to give. I needed help if my business was going to continue to grow. “Thanks. That would be great. The boxes are in the cupboard right by you.”
She bent down and started rummaging around. “These are so cute.”
I grabbed my phone. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
She waved me off. “I’ve got this. No worries.”
Maybe things were looking up a little. I climbed the stairs to the nursery and wished to God I’d checked the video sooner. “Oh, Lily.”
Evidently, Houdini now knew how to get herself out of her diaper as well. And it definitely wasn’t a happy diaper.
It was time to try one of those sleep sacks I’d talked about with Asher. They would limit her mobility just enough so she couldn’t scale any cribs. Or fling any poo.
I scooped her up and headed right for the bathroom. It was going to be a long day.
Welcome to your new life, Hannah.
Nineteen
“Lily, no.” I sighed and dumped the two pans I’d planned to wash into the sink.
My favorite little redhead was nearly unrecognizable. She had Spaghetti-Os plastered across her cheeks up to her hairline. Little triangles of hot dogs I’d cut up for her littered the floor around her high chair. She was just starting to get the hang of human food on a hit-or-miss basis.
The rest of the hotdogs had been my lunch, now cold.
I usually made something far more nutritious for her, but I was seriously dragging after my girls’ night with Gabby. Even minus the wine, we’d talked well into the night. And because she was a devil, she’d gotten way too many details out of me about Asher.