Some Call It Fate

by Sarah Peis

  “Definitely. If they ask you if you want an epidural, your answer should always be ‘Hell yes.’ Don’t try to be a hero. I made that mistake with Luca, and I’ll never be the same. Because despite popular belief, you will always remember the pain. And spoiler alert: it’s memorable.”

  “Thought so. Next question: cesarean or natural birth?”

  “I had two natural births, but I was lucky nothing tore. Recovery from a cesarean takes a lot longer than natural birth. It’s major surgery. But a lot of the women in my mothers’ group had tears, and it took just as long if not longer for those to heal than it did for the cesarean. I guess it’s like playing a slot machine. You might get lucky, or you might not.”

  “Not very reassuring, but I think I want to try natural anyway. The thought of getting cut open freaks me out slightly more than the thought of something coming out of my still perfect vagina. Pelvic floor exercises, yes or no?”

  “Definitely yes. If you don’t do them, things might just come out when you don’t want them to.”

  The questions continued in that fashion, and soon we were bent over laughing at Nora’s description of how she used to breastfeed Luca while cooking dinner at the same time.

  Over an hour later, I took pity on her and stopped asking her things I could most likely look up online. But I found I loved her dry wit and honesty. And she was great to hang out with.

  We paid and left the café, waving to Rayna on the way out. Nora had to get back to her kids, who were at a playdate, and Willa and I were going to have a look for baby stuff.

  “Thank you so much for today, Nora. That was probably the best explanation on how to take care of your nipples I’ve ever gotten,” I said and hugged her.

  She laughed and waved me off. “Remember, you can always call me if you have more questions or need a hand with anything.”

  “And same goes for you. I’m happy to help if you get stuck for a babysitter,” I said and stepped back.

  “I appreciate it, and I’ll definitely take you up on it, especially now that Stella’s gone. One of the women who lives on my street has been staying with the kids when I have to work. She’s almost seventy, but since I just need her while they’re asleep, she works out perfectly.”

  There was a loud roaring coming toward us, and we all looked at five bikes driving down the road, loud enough to be heard for miles.

  They parked in front of the bar across the road, and a behemoth of a man got off one of the bikes. He turned, as if he knew we were looking at him. He had light blond hair, the curls falling over his face in a tousled mess. And he was staring at Nora, not once taking his eyes off her, even when one of the other guys was talking to him.

  She stared back, wide-eyed but unafraid. I was looking from her to the biker and back again. The biker nodded at her, then turned and disappeared inside the bar.

  “I think I need a cold shower,” Willa said, fanning herself. “Do you know him or something?”

  “Kind of,” Nora replied, forcing a smile on her face. “I should go, or Luca and Lena will never be invited back for another playdate.” She turned to me, her open and friendly smile back in place. “Now remember, you can always call me.”

  Willa pulled her in for a hug. “I’m happy to babysit as well. You have friends who you can count on. Never forget that.”

  “Thank you, honey,” she replied and walked toward her car.

  Willa watched her walk away. “If there’s anyone who has defied all odds, it’s Nora. She’s been dealt so many shitty cards in life I don’t know how she’s still smiling,” she said and took my hand, leading me down the road. “Still up for some baby shopping?” she asked, unable to contain the excitement in her voice.

  “Sure. But let’s set a time limit. You get one hour. Then I’m going back to work.”

  “Two hours. Nobody can accomplish greatness in an hour. Two is already pushing it.”

  “Fine. Two. But not a minute more.”

  “Yippee,” Willa yelled and pulled me behind her. Good thing I had done some carb loading at Sweet Dreams to get me through today. I’d need the sustenance.

  We were looking through tiny shoes when Willa’s phone rang.

  “Hello, lover,” she answered.

  I continued my perusal but moved on to another section. I definitely planned on finding out the sex because I suddenly couldn’t wait to get this baby the best outfits Humptulips had to offer. And I could start making things as well. Neutral colors to start with, and once I knew what I was having, I could move on to gender-specific things.

  I was so lost in thoughts of patterns and babies that I jumped when Willa shrieked.

  “He’s married? And she’s here? In Humptulips?”

  I looked at her and mouthed, “Who?”

  She mouthed back, “Landon,” and my eyes went wide. The eternal bachelor was married? No way.

  “We’re on our way,” she said and nodded toward the exit.

  I looked at all the things I was holding in my hand and back at Willa. I really didn’t want to come back and find all this stuff again. She rolled her eyes at me but changed course and went to the cash register instead.

  “See you in five. Love you,” she said and hung up.

  I placed everything on the counter, and the shopgirl rang me up. Willa was too impatient to wait for her to pack everything up, quickly shoving my purchases into the bag herself.

  As soon as I had the receipt in my hand, she grabbed all our bags and speed-walked out the door.

  “Slow down. I’m sure if we get there a few minutes later we’ll be fine,” I said.

  “Landon is married. And the girl is at the garage, making a scene. You know how much I love a good scene. We cannot miss this,” Willa called back over her shoulder, then started sprinting toward Drake’s Garage.

  I didn’t run, following at a much more sedate pace instead. I heard the shouting as soon as the garage came into view.

  “You bastard! You said you took care of it,” a distinctly female voice yelled.

  “Must have forgotten.”

  “You forgot? Are you kidding me?”

  I made it to the open bay that Willa and every single person working at Drake’s were standing in front of.

  A gorgeous redhead was spitting fire at Landon. I stood next to Willa, who was staring at the pair with rapt attention, enjoying this way more than was healthy.

  Jameson looked uncomfortable, and the rest of the guys weren’t even pretending to work but simply stared.

  “It happens.”

  “Well, now that I’m here to remind you, you need to sign these,” she said and held papers out to him

  “I’m not signing them.” Landon turned back to the car he was working on.

  “You won’t sign them? Why?” the now confused redhead yelled.

  “I don’t believe in divorce.”

  Someone put their arms around my waist and pulled me close. “What are we watching?” Oliver whispered in my ear.

  I suppressed the shiver his nearness elicited and tilted my head back to look at him. “Looks like Landon is married. And what are you doing here?”

  “Saw you walking past the office. Who’s Landon?”

  “Guy getting yelled at by the redhead. The same guy you almost punched in my shop when he walked in on me.”

  Oliver turned back to the scene in front of us, holding me close.

  “I don’t care if you don’t believe in divorce. I’m getting married in six weeks. I need you to sign the divorce papers,” the redhead said, her tone frustrated.

  “Nope,” Landon refused again, not looking up from what he was doing.

  Done with Landon—and by the looks of it, life in general—the girl let out a loud angry screech and threw the papers at him. He didn’t so much as flinch, and the pages tumbled down on the dirty concrete.

  “I’m staying at the Greensborough Bed and Breakfast. Once you decide to be an adult about this, come and see me,” she said and stormed off.

&n
bsp; I watched her strut back to her car, her whole outfit screaming money. And I should know since I made it my business to sell pricey clothes.

  “That was epic. Can we do it again?” Willa asked, walking toward Landon, who was watching the redhead go. His gaze remained on the door even after she had driven off.

  Willa patted his shoulder. “Come on, Landon, let’s get a drink.”

  “Good idea,” he said, looking a little lost.

  “Ready to go?” Oliver asked, and I nodded.

  “See you guys later.” I waved at everyone.

  There were a lot of yelled goodbyes, and Willa sent me a kiss but turned back to Landon straightaway, too busy fussing over him to stop my departure. I grabbed my bags from where they were sitting on the floor, but Oliver took them out of my hands.

  “I see you’ve been shopping,” he said, amusement lacing his voice.

  “Just a little,” I admitted sheepishly. There was nothing little about the bags I had amassed at today’s shopping spree.

  “How about we have a look online for some furniture for the nursery tonight?” he asked.

  “I’d love that. Can we stop at Sweet Dreams on our way home?” I replied, so happy I could burst.

  “Of course. What do you feel like?” he asked when we got to his car. I eyed him over my shoulder, and his mouth curved with tenderness. “So, one of everything?”

  “You know me so well already,” I said and got in the car.

  My phone beeped, signaling an incoming message. I pulled it out of my bag to check if it was from Stella. It wasn’t.

  Landon: I need to cash in that favor you owe me.

  Four months later

  “I don’t know if we should be here,” Willa whispered.

  “Now you’re having second thoughts? Really? After we’re already inside the house?” Stella whispered back.

  “I just want to make sure she’s okay.”

  “She’s pregnant, not sick.”

  “But what if she needs us?”

  “Then she’ll use her phone and call. I can’t believe I let you talk me into breaking into her house.”

  Unable to contain my laughter any longer, I switched the light on and snickered at the scene in front of me. Willa and Stella were crawling along the floor, dressed all in black.

  “I can explain,” Stella yelled and jumped up.

  “It’s not what it looks like,” Willa exclaimed at the same time, getting to her feet.

  “What the hell are you guys doing?” I asked and sat down on the couch, too tired to keep standing up.

  “Willa didn’t think you’d let us know when the baby was coming.”

  “Of course I’d let you know. But I’m only eight months along. There’s still a few weeks to go.”

  “You never know. You could be early.”

  I chuckled and shook my head at my crazy friends. “The baby’s not engaged, and I’m not dilated yet. I have plenty of time left. And a lot of times first pregnancies go past the due date anyway.”

  Stella glared at Willa. “I told you so.”

  “How did you get past Jameson and Mason? No way would they have let you go on a trip to the Rocky Mountains by yourself,” I asked, genuinely curious.

  Willa looked sheepishly at me. “They were a little drunk when we left. They were celebrating the garage being featured in Hot Rod magazine for the rebuild they did on the Cobra.”

  “Well, since you’re here, you might as well spend the night. You know you could have just come during the day like any sane person, right?”

  “Jameson wouldn’t let me. He said I was smothering you,” Willa reluctantly admitted. “But it’s not my fault you moved to the middle of nowhere to become one with the wild.”

  “It’s only a two-hour drive, and we only moved last week.”

  “Couldn’t you have just found your dream house in Humptulips? Or Oliver could have built you one. The guy has enough money to build a castle if he wanted to. At least then you would have been closer.”

  I patted the space next to me on the couch. “I saw you three days ago. And I’ll be in Humptulips all the time anyway.”

  And it was true. I would be driving to Humptulips about twice a week to check on the shop. I had nothing to worry about though, because Chloe managed the place, and she did an amazing job. It gave me time to concentrate on what I really loved, and that was designing and making dresses. I now had ten seamstresses working for me, and my online shop had grown bigger than I could have imagined when I started four years ago.

  Not only would I catch up with my friends every time I drove to Humptulips, but Oliver had also built a guesthouse for them. He even let Willa choose the furniture. Big mistake that was. But she was now his biggest supporter, so I guess his ploy worked out.

  “Now that you’re here, how about we watch some quality TV and eat junk? For old times’ sake?”

  Stella joined us on the couch and put her feet on the coffee table. I went to the kitchen to get the snacks, leaving Willa and Stella to bicker about what we would watch.

  A big body fit itself to my back while I was in the pantry, reaching up for the popcorn.

  “They okay?” Oliver’s sleepy voice asked into my neck while he rubbed his lips along my skin.

  “Willa was worried about me.”

  “She didn’t even last a week,” he said and chuckled. “Do you want me to set up the guesthouse?”

  I turned in his arms and kissed his chest. “Yes, please. I doubt they’re driving back tonight.”

  “Can I expect two angry brothers to show up on our doorstep tomorrow morning, then?”

  “Most definitely. If they weren’t drunk, I’m sure they would be here already.”

  Oliver chuckled, and I leaned my head back, silently asking for a kiss. He was all too happy to comply. “Love you, my beautiful girlfriend.”

  “And I love you, my gorgeous boyfriend,” I replied.

  The end for now. This series will continue with Landon’s story. Keep your eyes peeled for a release date.

  If you want to find out how Maisie and Oliver met, then fear not, I’ll be releasing a novella about their awkward meeting soon. This will be exclusive to my newsletter subscribers, so make sure to sign up!

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  I love the written word in all forms and shapes and if I’m not glued to a book, I’m attempting to write one. I’m a frequent blonde moment sufferer and still haven’t figured out how to adult. Lucky google always has an answer, so I don’t have to.

  I live in Melbourne, Victoria, with my two kids, the holder of my heart and two fur babies. If you want to accompany me on my path to enlightenment, check out my publications or get in touch, I would love to hear from you!

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  Some Call it Love

  A mistaken arrest, an unpaid debt and a trip to Vegas with my broody boss. What can possibly go wrong?

  One thing I learned this week: Never choose an essay topic based on the movie Thor and Chris Hemsworth’s abs. Another—probably more important—thing I also learned: Drooling when staring at Jameson Drake is not a good look. I thought my week was as bad as it would get, until I find out my dad owes Jameson a lot of money. And I’m supposed to pay it off by working for him.

  I end up with a new job, a huge debt to pay off and a hot boss who takes broody alpha to a new level. When I find myself on my way to Vegas to bail my dad out, Jameson insists on coming along. Things go from bad to worse, as they usually do when my family is involved, and Jameson turns into my savior.

  Now I’m faced with a choice: Keep things professional or explore the chemistry between us. But honestly, who can resist a knight in shining armor?

  If you like hilarious, heartwarming novels with a quirky heroine then
you’ll love this laugh out loud romantic comedy. This is the first book in the Some Call It Series and can be read as a standalone.

  This is the first book in the Some call it…. series and can be read as a standalone.

  Find out more

  Some Call It Temptation

  When the one person I really want is the one I can’t have things tend to get complicated. Because I need my job. And he is my boss.

  There once was a princess who lived in a gilded cage. One day she found a way out of her castle and escape.

  I wish this was the point where I could say she lived happily ever after. But my story isn’t a fairy tale. I may have gotten away from my controlling family, but now I have to figure out how to make it on my own.

  And since my skills never had to extend to more than matching my outfits, I was left with no place to live, a new job I wasn’t qualified for and an unhealthy obsession with Mason Drake.

  But the one thing I couldn’t ever do was give in to the temptation that was Mason. Because I needed my job now more than ever. And he was my boss.

  If you like enemies-to-lovers, feel good novels then you’ll love this laugh out loud romantic comedy. This is the second book in the Some Call It Series and can be read as a standalone.

  Find out more

  Thank you for taking a chance on this book making it all the way to this part. I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I loved writing it.

  These are just a few people who have helped me along the way and I’m forever grateful for everything they’ve done:

  Natasha = you rock my socks off. Thank you for believing in me and my books. They wouldn’t be the same without you.