“I don’t see anything wrong with this pay check, Mary,â€� I sigh, leaning back in my chair. “Here are the hours you’ve worked, here’s the schedule. We’ve cross-checked everything.â€� Mary sits on the desk and leans against her palms, dangling her feet in front of her. She pushes her chest out and looks me up and down. “I must have made a mistake,â€� she purrs. I try not to roll my eyes. “Ok, well, next time just double check before you ask me about it, ok? I should get back outside.â€� Jess will be back any minute and I don’t want to waste any more time in here with you. “What’s the rush?â€� She asks as she slides off the desk. She moves her hands to the arms of the chair and leans towards me. “It’s so loud out there, and it’s so quiet in here.â€� “What are you doing,â€� I say, looking away from her. “Stop, Mary, get off me.â€� She moves her hand to my cheek and before I know what’s happening her face is coming towards mine. Before her lips can touch mine I put my hand between us and push her face back until she stumbles backwards. I jump up and away as she yelps. There’s another noise, like a gasp at the doorway. I see a hint of movement and turn my head to see Mary’s fiancé in the doorway. He’s wide-eyed, staring at Mary as she gains her footing and follows my gaze to the door. “He came onto me! He pushed himself on me!â€� She yells, pointing her finger at me. I make a gargled noise as I try to protest. Michaels’ face is dark as he continues to stare at her. Finally he turns slowly and walks towards the exit. Mary rushes after him, still yelling lies about me. I rub my forehead and get up slowly, following them out the office. They’ve carved a path through the crowd, with Mary still yelling as Michael walks away. I look a bit further just to see Jess in the doorway. She’s glancing over her shoulder and our eyes meet for a second. In them I see pain and betrayal, and my stomach drops as I realise that the movement I saw in the doorway wasn’t Michael, it was her. She ducks out the door and disappears. Suddenly I’m sprinting. I’m pushing people aside as I try to make my way to the exit. It seems like there are people everywhere – legs, arms, bodies, it’s like moving through molasses. “Wait! Jess!â€� The whole wedding has stopped and people are staring first at Mary and Michael, and then at me as I try to run towards the exit. I finally break free from the crowd and run out the door and down the steps. Jess is running down the street towards her car as fast as her heels will take her and I sprint to speed up. I get to her car just as she’s turning on the ignition and I throw myself in front of it. “Jess, stop! Stop!â€� There are tears streaming down her face and her makeup is running in black streaks down her cheeks. “Get out of the way!â€� She yells. She leans on the horn but I put my hands on the hood of her car. “Move!â€� “Jess! It’s not what it looks like, I swear!â€� I hate how pathetic of an excuse that is. I hate seeing her hurt. I hate thinking that I’m the source of those tears. “Jess,â€� I plead. She honks the horn again until I break and move out of the way. I watch her drive down the street and turn off. My heart is thumping. My breath is ragged. “FUCK!â€� I yell, kicking a nearby light pole. Pain explodes in my foot and shoots up through my leg and I wince. I look back towards the hotel and see a million curious eyes looking out at me. “What the fuck are you looking at!â€� Some of the eyes turn away but most of them keep staring. I turn away and start hopping and limping back towards my truck as fast as I can. Every step sends pain through my leg. I’ve probably broken my fucking toe. I get in my truck and rev it up, following the path that Jess took towards her grandmother’s house. I try to slow my breath down and think of what I’ll say to her. I’m desperate. I have to make her understand that I didn’t want Mary to kiss me. I didn’t even want to be in the office with her in the first place! My heart sinks when I think about it. I was in the office, and I don’t even know if Jess saw me push Mary off me. How can I make her understand that I haven’t even looked at another woman since I met her? No one matters except her. No one exists except her! She’s the woman I want. I’m made for her, and she’s made for me. She’s the mother of my child. I can’t let her slip away and I can’t ignore what I’ve been feeling for the past two months. She’s the love of my life. Chapter 51 – Jess
I thought my heart was crushed when I found out Owen hadn’t told me about his past. I thought I was heartbroken when I didn’t speak to him for two months, and I thought it was ripped out of my chest and stomped on when it looked like he didn’t want the baby. It wasn’t. This is what heartbreak feels like. It’s physical, I understand that now. Heartbreak is physical pain. It’s an ax splitting my chest in half. It’s my stomach squeezing so tight that I feel like I’m going to throw up. It’s a throbbing in my temples that feels like my head is going to explode. My whole body feels as tight as a guitar string, like any movement could snap me in half. I pull the car in front of Gram’s house and kill the engine, still sobbing into the steering wheel. The house is dark, and I reach into my purse for a tissue. I use the rearview mirror to wipe my face and clean the streaks of mascara off my cheeks. I take a deep breath and prepare myself to tiptoe upstairs. I can’t let Gram see me like this. Just as I open the car door and get out, I hear a familiar engine coming down the road. Owen stops his truck with a screech in the middle of the street and jumps out, leaving the engine running and the door wide open. “Leave me alone,� I say. My voice is unsteady and I wish it sounded more forceful. “Jess, please,� Owen says. His eyebrows are knitted together and he takes a step towards me, palms outstretched. “Please just listen to what I have to say.� “Why! Why would I listen to you! One minute you’re telling me that you care about me, that you care about the baby and you want to see if we have a future together, and then I turn my back for one minute. No! I don’t turn my back, I help my grandmother get into bed and you’ve run off with Mary. Fucking. Hanson.� “I didn’t run off with anyone, Jess, please. I pushed her off me. The kiss surprised me. I didn’t want it!� “But you did it.� He inhales deeply. It looks like he’s about to cry and I look away. “Jess,� he says softly. “I pushed her off. I never kissed her.� I snort. “You know,� I start. “The first time I got pregnant by accident, and then the guy I was seeing ran off with Mary, I thought my life was over. This time, I don’t know what to think. I think I should laugh but I don’t have the energy right now.� “Wait, what? Did… you said he left. He left you for Mary? Is that why you hate her so much?� “Fuck you, Owen.� I turn towards the house and I hear him come towards me. “Jess, please, please listen. I pushed her off. I grabbed her face and pushed her backwards. I didn’t want to be there with her.� I pause and look back at him. “You.. grabbed her face?� He holds up his palm, fingers spread wide, and extends his arms slowly as if he’s pushing a door open. I frown slowly as he drops his arm. He chews his lip and shrugs. “I didn’t know what to do,� he says. “I panicked.� I stare at him for a few seconds until finally he drops his gaze and kicks my car’s tire. Suddenly he’s doubled over in pain, grabbing his leg with both hands. “Fuck!� He yells. “What!� I say, taking a step towards him. “What’s going on? Are you ok?� “I kicked a fucking light pole when you drove off,� he says, wincing as he looks back up at me. “I think I broke my toe.� There’s a pause, and then the ridiculousness of the situation starts to get to me. I think about Owen pushing Mary’s face away, and the half-embarrassed, half-pained expression on his face as he looks up at me. The laughter starts bubbling up inside me. It starts in my stomach as my sh
oulders relax down and suddenly I’m doubled over, leaning on the hood of my car as the peals of laughter spill out of me. Owen sits on the car and laughs, looking over at me and shaking his head. “You are an idiot,â€� I say when I can finally speak again. “I know,â€� he responds. He sighs and then looks at me with eyes wide. “Come on, Jess, you’re the one that I want. You and that baby,â€� he says, looking down at my stomach. I smile and slide in beside him. “How’s the toe,â€� I ask gently, resting my head on his shoulder. He snorts. “It hurts. Like, a lot.â€� “I bet. Come on, get in here. Let me get you some ice,â€� I say, hopping past him to turn off his truck, close the door and then extend my hand towards him. The instant my arm is wrapped around his waist my whole body feels like it’s melting. All the tension that has gripped me ever since I found out I was pregnant disappears. He puts his arm around my shoulder and we slowly limp up the pathway towards the house. “So when you say grabbed her by the face…â€� I say as I open the front door. Owen chuckles softly and shakes his head. “Whoever said chivalry was dead was out of their mind.â€� I laugh and squeeze my arm around his waist a bit tighter. “Come on, let’s go to the kitchen. I’ll get you some ice.â€� Chapter 52 – Owen
I don’t even feel my toe anymore. All I feel is Jess’s body next to mine and her arm wrapped around my waist as she helps me into a chair at the kitchen table. She pulls up another chair beside me speaks quietly. “Get your leg up,â€� she says, motioning to the chair. “I’ll get some ice.â€� I watch her work as she pulls the freezer door open. “Ah!â€� She says as she takes out a bag of frozen peas and holds them up triumphantly. “Perfect.â€� She slips my shoe off and slowly peels off my sock. I wince. My foot is already black and blue, and my big toe is incredibly swollen. Jess whistles. “Ouch,â€� she says and I groan. “You should go to the hospital tomorrow morning.â€� “Sounds like torture,â€� I say, thinking of long hours in a hospital waiting room. “What would they even do? They wouldn’t give me a cast, would they? Don’t toes just heal on their own?â€� “They’d take an x-ray and make sure it was broken,â€� she says as she puts the peas under my foot and starts wrapping a bandage around it. “I don’t know, I’m not a doctor. They’d give you crutches, probably.â€� Once the foot is wrapped, I sit back and close my eyes. The frozen peas are helping to dull the ache. Jess moves behind me and slides her hands onto my shoulders. I groan as she starts massaging them slowly, working her way across my shoulders and up into my scalp. “That’s so nice,â€� I say in a low voice. My cock starts to pulse, even with her just touching my shoulders. She’s close enough that I can smell her perfume and I can feel the heat of her body near my head. I groan again. She rubs my shoulders softly for a second and then gives me a light squeeze. “Come on,â€� she says. “Let’s get you home. I’ll drive your truck back.â€� Her words surprise me but I nod quickly. Of course she’d want me to leave. What did I think was going to happen at her grandmother’s place? I swing my leg off the chair and she helps me to my feet. The bag of peas is firmly strapped to the bottom of my foot. She slips a pair of flip-flops on as we walk out the front door and I hop on one foot beside her. I try not to put too much weight down on her slight body but she squeezes me close and supports me as I walk. “Up you go,â€� she says with a groan as she helps me into the passenger’s seat. I watch her walk around the front of the car and lift herself up into the driver’s seat. She slams the door closed and looks at me with a grin. “Who’s the night in shining armour now?â€� I laugh. “The tables have turned.â€� The truck revs to life and we start driving slowly. It’s a short drive back to the hotel, and I can hear the music from the wedding still blaring down the street. She pulls the truck over in front of the hotel and jogs around to my side to help me down. I can already see the eyes starting to appear at the hotel entrance. Jess glances over at the people staring at us and chuckles. “They don’t miss anything, do they.â€� We do our walk-hop up the steps and over to the lobby. I sigh as I put my hand on the bannister, resting for a moment before the long climb up the stairs. My foot is throbbing. Jess puts a hand on my back. “Come on,â€� she says gently. “You can do it.â€� One step at a time, I hop all the way up to the top landing. When we’re at the top, Jess guides me to my door. I fumble with my keys and she clears her throat. “I’m going to head back,â€� she says. My eyebrows shoot up as I glance up at her. She’s chewing her lip and staring off down the hallway towards the stairs. I clear my throat and nod quickly. “Yeah, of course. Sure. Thank you,â€� I say. “For everything.â€� “Call me tomorrow? We can grab a bite to eat, I think we have a lot to talk about.â€� “Definitely.â€� There’s a pause as the two of us stare at each other. Finally, I can’t take it anymore. I slide my fingers over her jaw and pull her into me. My lips crush against hers and my heart explodes in my chest. She wraps her arms against me and once again I feel like I’m exactly where I’m meant to be. I kiss her over and over, tasting those lips that I’ve missed so much. I wrap my other arm around her waist and feel her body pressed up against mine. I never want this to end. We finally separate and I rest my forehead against hers. We just stand there holding each other for a few breaths. “Call me tomorrow,â€� she says gently as she lifts her eyes up towards me. She smiles tentatively and strokes my cheek. “I need to go home.â€� “You sure you don’t want to come in?â€� I ask, already knowing the answer. “I need some time to think, Owen. I’m exhausted. I’ll see you tomorrow, I promise.â€� I nod. “Of course. I’ll see you tomorrow.â€� “Take my truck,â€� I say, pushing my keys towards her. “It’s too late to walk.â€� She shakes her head gently. “I need the fresh air. Thanks though.â€� Jess smiles gently and I lay one last kiss on her lips. She slips out of my arms and squeezes my hand as she turns away. I watch her walk down the hall in her long dress and old flip-flops until she disappears down the stairs. With a huge sigh, I turn to my door and slide the key in the lock. I swing it open and step through, closing it behind me as I rub my forehead. I almost jump out of my skin when a voice speaks from the darkness. “Hello, Owen,â€� it says. I look up and my chest feels hollow. The blood drains from my face and I feel my Adam’s apple bob up and down as I swallow. “Dad,â€� I say. “What are you doing here?â€� Chapter 53 – Jess
I walk away slowly, down the street towards Gram’s house. My mind is turbulent and I’m not sure what to think. I’m not sure if being on my own tonight is the right thing to do. Everything in my body was screaming at me to stay beside him, to curl up on his bed and wrap my arms around him, but I just can’t. I need to think about this. Everything is too rushed, too intense, too quick. I don’t even know what I want. I went from thinking he was sleeping with Mary to thinking he’s devoted to me in about an hour. Before that, I went from thinking he wanted nothing to do with the baby to believing him when he said he wanted to be with my. My head is completely melted. I know I want to be with him. Gram was right – some things are worth pursuing. I’ve gone through a roller coaster of emotions today, and all I know for sure is that when I’m with him I’m happy. Before I know it, I’m walking up the big flagstones towards Gram’s front porch. I open the door gently and slip inside, trying not to let the stairs creak as I make my way up to my room. I open the door and sigh. Even though I’m almost thirty years old, this bedroom still feels like home. Suddenly I’m exhausted. My bones ache and every muscle in my body is screaming. I unzip my bridesmaid’s dress and let it puddle at my feet and then take out th
e ten thousand pins in my hair before climbing into bed. I don’t have the energy to take my makeup off or put my clothes away or brush my teeth. Within seconds, I’m asleep. I wake up and groan as the sunlight hits my face. I forgot to close my curtains last night. I roll over and check the time, and then strain my ears to hear if Gram is awake and buzzing downstairs. I frown when all I hear is complete silence. Usually she would be up by now, but maybe she was extra tired after the wedding yesterday. I check the time again – it’s almost 8am. I rub my eyes and groan when I see the black makeup streaked on my knuckles where I rubbed. I probably look like a raccoon now. I wrap a towel around myself and head to the bathroom. I almost burst out laughing when I see myself in the mirror. My hair, which was so carefully hairsprayed last night is sticking up in all directions. I look like Medusa. My makeup is streaked and blotchy, with big dark patches under my eyes. I’m definitely not as glamorous as I was last night. The shower is hot and I take my time. I wash my hair slowly, massaging my scalp. I wash my face and body thoroughly and then just stand under the hot water without moving. My thoughts drift to Owen and a smile forms on my lips. He cares about me, I can feel it in every touch and I can see it in his eyes. My heart starts beating a bit harder when I say it to myself again: he cares about me, and he cares about this baby. All this drama, all the back and forth and hot and cold isn’t right. We should just be open with each other and talk about these things like adults. I need to settle down and stop being so afraid that he’ll leave me. I need to listen to Gram, and allow myself to open up. If I stop freaking out and running away every time I think he’ll hurt me, I’d let myself just be with him – I’d let myself be loved. I take a deep breath and turn off the shower. Today, I’ll lay it all out for him. I’ll tell him that I’m willing to give it a shot with us, but we have to be completely honest with each other. I don’t want to live in this town, and I don’t want to raise my kid somewhere where I’ve always felt like an outsider. I want to know that he’ll be there for me and for the kid, and that he has to tell me everything about his past and his plans for the future. I can tell him all this and then I can tell him that being with him makes me feel better than anything else I’ve ever felt. It excites me to my core. I finally step out of the shower and dry myself off. When I look in the mirror, I look like myself again. I smile as I put moisturiser on and start my morning routine. There’s a lightness in my movements and even though I’m nervous about talking to Owen, I know what I want now and I’m not afraid to say it to him. I can be an adult about this. I hum to myself as I get dressed and head downstairs. I glance in the kitchen and frown. Everything is exactly how I left it last night, which means Gram hasn’t been up yet. I turn on the coffee and make myself some toast while it brews. I pour out two mugs of coffee and leave one of them next to my toast. I smile as I make my way up the stairs and over to Gram’s bedroom. My knuckles tap softly on the door while I call out to her. “Gram? Are you up? I’ve got some coffee for you!â€� I wait a few seconds and lean my ear to the door. Silence. I knock again, a bit louder this time. “Gram! Are you there?â€� Complete silence. There’s not a noise on the other side of the door, no rustling or sighing or grunt to answer my knocks. I frown as my hand hovers over the doorknob. With a deep breath, I turn it and push the door open. Gram is still in bed, exactly how I left her last night. I walk over and speak softly to her. “Gram? I think you should get up, you’ll miss the day!â€� She stays completely still. It starts to dawn on me that something is wrong. Her eyes are closed and she’s sleeping peacefully, arms over her heart. I get closer and it seems too still, too peaceful. My hands start to shake and the coffee begins to slosh around in the mug. It’s not until I get right next to the bed that I know she’s gone. The coffee mug drops out of my hand and shatters on the wooden floorboards, sending coffee all over the floor. I ignore it, eyes glued on Gram. My voice is trembling. “Gram?â€� Finally, I touch her skin and shiver. It’s ice cold. My chest feels like the weight of the earth is pressed on it and I sit down on the bed beside her, grabbing both her shoulders and shaking her. “Gram! Gram! Wake up! Wake up!â€� My voice starts to crack. The pain in my chest radiates out to the rest of my body as I collapse on top of her and sob. The lightness in my heart from this morning is replaced with sharp, searing pain as I rest my head against my grandmother’s chest. My tears seep into her nightgown and I tremble as I realise that I’ll never hear her voice again. She’s gone. Chapter 54 – Owen
Knocked Up... Again!: A Secret Baby Second Chance Romance Page 15