by Erin Bevan
“Your face is red.”
And time to go.
She squeezed her eyes shut, ready to sink into the carpet.
“Think about it,” Max said.
How could she not? She had to go. Now. She could barely breathe much less think straight.
He leaned in, and she pulled her head back.
“Relax.” He whispered.. “I was only going to kiss your cheek.”
“Oh…okay.” She stayed still as he leaned in to kiss.
“I…I have to go,” she said in another half-panting, half-talking voice.
What was wrong with her? She’d never panted with Max before.
“Be careful. Sweet dreams.”
And with that, she walked—no make that ran—out of his apartment. She stopped at the edge of the sidewalk and took a deep breath.
The swimming in her mind slowed. Having space between them was good. She could think more clearly. But the problem with thinking was the realization she didn’t have her car. He’d given her a ride.
Crap.
She reached in her purse for her phone. Shelby to the rescue.
6
“You’re what? He did what?” Shelby’s questions came out fast and furious as she spun her head toward Alex, the steering wheel spinning with her.
“Careful!” Alex screeched.
Shelby flipped her gaze back to the road. “Agh!” She screamed and straightened the car back into her lane. “That dog just came from nowhere. Did you see that?”
“That dog was on the side of the road the whole time.” Alex rolled the passenger window down in Shelby’s car to get some fresh air. Ever since she’d left the doctor’s office, breathing had become a strain for her, and now add Shelby’s driving theatrics on top of it all…breathing seemed next to impossible.
“Okay, please.” Shelby held out a manicured hand with green nails in a halting motion.
Green.
On Alex, that would look like throw up. On Shelby, it looked classy.
“Slowly, repeat what you just told me. I don’t think I heard you right.“
Oh, she heard right.
“I don’t think I need to repeat myself, but just in case you didn’t hear, I’m pregnant with Stinky Halitosis Boy’s child. Max asked me to marry him so I can keep my job, he can have a wife on the campaign trail, and to impress some investor. There. I think that about sums it up.”
Her life went from boring to overly-freaking-exciting in a matter of hours. The goody-two-shoes Christian schoolteacher didn’t just put a toe on the wild side. Oh no! This girl had to jump right over the fence. She might as well get a tattoo while she was at it right in the smack middle of her forehead that said, I’m an idiot.
Because that’s exactly what she felt like.
And not just a little bit of idiot, a whole lot of idiot. There wasn’t a word that meant big enough in the English dictionary to describe the type of idiot she was.
Shelby turned into the parking lot of the doctor’s office. “I always imagined you two getting married.” Shelby’s red-lipped smile went ear to ear.
“Wait, what?” Alex hit the button to raise the window. “A bug must have flown in my ear because I heard you wrong.”
“No, you heard right. I knew you two would be together one day.” Shelby scrunched her pert nose. “But I never, ever thought it would be like this.”
That made two of them.
“He looks at you like you personally dotted the night sky with all the stars.”
Okay, now her friend was full of crap. No man had ever looked at her like that, especially Max. Stinky had glanced at her like he enjoyed what he saw but he had on beer goggles, and Chris, before he became The Ass had glanced at her sweetly occasionally, but no one had ever stared at her like she hung the moon. Or dotted the sky or whatever crazy remark Shelby said.
“Have you been inhaling paint fumes again on the job?”
“What? No. I didn’t even open a can of paint today,” she said.
“Then I think you need to schedule an eye examination. You seeing black dots? Blurry spots?”
“My vision is fine.” Shelby adjusted her leopard-framed glasses. “Besides, I just got these a few weeks ago.”
“Must be the wrong prescription because you have me confused with the way he looks at every other woman on the planet besides me.”
“Oh, honey.” Shelby tossed Alex a side-glance through her animal specs. “Sounds like you need to have your eyes examined. I didn’t know going blind was a side effect of pregnancy.” Her tone was sarcastically thick and syrupy, and the sweet southern belle accent was a complete contrast to her high, sharp cheekbones and slicked back ponytail that was suited for a runway model in New York.
“Ha. Ha. Very funny.”
Shelby pulled into the parking space by Alex’s car.
No telling how many people would ask her why her car sat in front of the doctor’s office for hours after closing time. She’d have to come up with a good excuse.
A lie.
She cringed.
“I never, ever, in a million years saw this coming.” Alex gathered her purse off the floor. “Max is always too busy looking at other women.” She held up one finger. “In fact, he can’t seem to go a month without taking a new one to bed. It seems to be a problem with the men I get close to.”
Chris had cheated on her with one person she knew of for sure. No telling how many other women he’d slept with without her knowing. She wanted to be smarter than to let history repeat itself with her next relationship.
“Alex, don’t compare apples to oranges. Chris and Max are nothing alike.”
In a couple of ways, it seemed they were exactly alike. They both liked to sleep with other women, and they both liked to keep her around on the side.
“Yeah? You don’t think so?” Alex asked. “Well, to quote my Big Fat Greek Wedding ‘In the end…we all fruit.’ Men are all fruit. All of them…just the same.”
“Yes.” Shelby held up a bony finger. “But some are way more exotic than others. Chris was a rutabaga, while Max is a kiwano.”
“First off.” Alex shifted in her seat to stare at her friend. “A rutabaga is a vegetable not a fruit. And secondly, I don’t even know what a kiwano is.”
“My point exactly. Chris was just a plain ol’ boring turnip, while Max is mysterious,” she said the word mysterious like the word itself was mysterious. “Albeit a little irritating at times, much like the prickly skin of a kiwano melon.”
Her friend really had lost her mind.
“Okay, this conversation has taken a weird turn. I’m leaving.”
“No wait.” Shelby placed a hand on her shoulder to stop Alex from leaving the car. “Listen, the point is no man is going to propose, for business or otherwise, unless he’s serious about the idea of marriage. Max is serious. Let him prove it.”
Let him prove it.
The last time she took her friend’s advice, things didn’t turn out so well for her. Why risk it again?
“I don’t know. I’ll think about it.”
“Well, if you know you don’t want to marry him, then don’t. You can find another job. You’re an amazing teacher.” Shelby gave her a reassuring smile. “You have to do what you want and what’s right for you and this baby.”
What she wanted.
What did she want for her and her baby?
Her baby. Crazy
She wanted to keep her current job, that much she did know. And from the time she was eight years old, she’d wanted Max. He’d picked a flower for another girl who had cried when she fell off the swing, and something clicked in her soul that told her the dirty, scruffy boy who hardly had any friends was sweet and gentle. Max had the kind of heart that would do anything for the woman he loved.
Anything for the woman he loved. Even marry her under false pretenses.
He always said he loved her, and tonight he’d told her he wanted her to smile again.
Problem was, she didn’t want to
just smile temporarily. She wanted to smile forever, with someone who was in love with her, not just someone who loved her.
“You look like you’ve had an epiphany. Out with it,” Shelby demanded.
“It’s nothing. I didn’t have an epiphany.”
And the lies begin.
“You’re lying. I can tell, and you never lie, but I’ll let this one slide. You have a lot on your mind. What you need to know is, whatever you decide, I’ll support you. One hundred percent.” Shelby nodded her head three times with the words one hundred percent.
Alex reached for her friend’s hand. The situation wasn’t ideal, but at least she had Shelby from start to finish…whatever ending she decided on. “Thank you, Shelby. I mean that.”
“You’re welcome.” Shelby squeezed back then pointed her bony, green nailed finger at her. “And if you make my bridesmaid’s dress ugly, I’ll kick your ass when this baby comes out, and I mean that.” Shelby lowered her hand and gave Alex a sickly, sweet smile that was anything but sweet. “And I expect to be the godmother.”
Kicking ass and God all in the same sentence. She expected nothing less from her friend.
“Sounds like you’ve made my decision for me then.”
Shelby would probably start searching on-line tonight for what kind of dress she wanted to wear.
“No. I’m just beating you to it. Eventually, you’ll make the choice for yourself.”
“And what if I decide not to? What if I tell him no?” Alex looked to her friend for answers. Advice. Words of encouragement. Anything to make this situation easier.
“Honestly? I think you would forever regret it. I know you love him. I see it in your eyes, too.”
That wasn’t exactly the advice she wanted to hear.
Love.
Max.
Love Max.
An overwhelming sense of tiredness covered her with the weight of her thoughts. “I do.” She sucked in a deep breath. “I really do, but I don’t want to be the girl he had to save. I want to be the woman he loves with everything inside of him.”
“Aww, honey.” Shelby reached over to hug her. “I think you already are, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, because you know Max gets on my ever-lovin’ nerves, but maybe you need to love him with everything inside of you for him to realize just how lucky he really is.”
“But, I have, Shelby. I already have.”
“No.” Shelby shook her head, her blond ponytail swishing. “You’ve kept him at a distance. Always. Why?”
Why indeed. Because she’d seen the way he was with other women. Tossing them like yesterday’s paper plate.
“Because I don’t want to be just another woman to him.”
“You will never be just another woman to him. Never. I wish I had a guy look at me the way Max does at you.”
A guy? “I thought you were seeing Payton? What happened with that?”
Shelby shook her head. “No. He decided he wanted to get back together with his ex.”
Here she was so blinded by her own problems that she couldn’t see her best friend was suffering too. Perhaps she did need that eye exam. Or at least, a How Not to Be A Jerk to Your Friend exam. “Oh, Shelby. I’m sorry.”
“Hey, don’t worry.” Shelby shrugged. “It just means there’s someone else out there better for me. That’s all.”
Shelby’s personal relationships always seemed to be nothing less than a mess. Every guy she ever dated bailed on her. Alex truly hoped her friend would find happiness, and soon.
“You’re right. I love your positive attitude.” Alex smiled, a heavy silence filling the car.
“You want me to come over tonight?” Shelby asked. “We can curl up on the couch and watch a movie?”
A movie would be a nice distraction, and as much as she didn’t want to face the facts, she had to. Adulting sucked sometimes.
“Thanks, but rain check? I have a lot of thinking to do, and I think I need to be alone to do it.”
“Of course, but Alex, I have a question.”
“Yeah? What?”
“What about the father? Shouldn’t he have a right to know about this baby?”
The father.
Stinky Halitosis Boy.
Would her baby have the same condition? God, please no!
“Yes, he should, but…”
Did she really want to include this man in her life? As the father, he had every right to know, but what about Max? She’d never seen his eyes shine so bright as when he said he wanted to be the father to this baby.
“But what?” Shelby asked.
“I don’t know him or even how to find him. I know he has the right to know, and I think I want him to know, but what if I do find him and he decides he wants to try to take the baby away from me, what do I do then?” First she finds out she’s pregnant, and now she has to worry about finding the baby’s father, whether to accept or not accept Max’s proposal, and whether or not she’d have a job once she started to show. This was all too much.
“Let’s take it one day at a time. I’ll do some research for you and see what I can find. You don’t worry about that tonight. We have time.”
“You’re right.” Alex nodded. One thing at a time. “Thank you, Shelby. What would I do without you?”
“Don’t ask that. You wouldn’t be pregnant right now if it weren’t for me.” Guilt washed over Shelby’s face.
Those eight tequila shots didn’t help, but Shelby never forced them down her throat. Everything about her situation was all her doing.
“I don’t blame you, Shelby. I want you to know that. Everything happens for a reason. That’s what I have to believe, even if it isn’t ideal.”
“That’s why I love you Alex. Even when you’re sad, you find the positive side. You sure you’re going to be okay tonight?”
Alex nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. I love you Shelb’s.” She reached over and gave her friend a hug.
“Back at you, lady.”
Alex got out of the car and stepped into her own. Sitting in the driver’s seat, she took a deep breath and suddenly felt very alone. While she needed to think, the last place she wanted to be was with her thoughts, but she didn’t want to be with Shelby or Max either. She suddenly longed to be with her mom. She put her car in drive and headed to her parents’ house. With any luck, they’d have dinner on the table, and she had a real hunger pang for some good ol’ fashion motherly advice.
7
Alex walked into the front door of her parents’ home. “Mom, dad?”
The warm apple smell of the candles her mom burned year-round hugged her. Yorkie, her parents’ Yorkie ran to the door, greeting her, his tail and butt wagging the whole way. When discussing dog names, her dad insisted on something easy. When her mother refused to name the new family member “Dog,” they’d settled on Yorkie.
How original.
“Hey, baby.” Alex reached down to pick up the wiggling pooch while he covered her cheeks in stinky, puppy-breath kisses.
“In here, honey,” her mother called from the kitchen.
“Hey, babe.” Her dad hollered from his chair in the living room.
“Hey, dad,” she called out as she walked into the foyer and veered to the left toward the kitchen of her parent’s open concept living area. “Smells like roast.”
One thing Alex could always count on when visiting her parents’ house was comfort food. Tami Mills was nothing, if not an avid cook.
“You can smell that all the way in there?” Her mother turned on a burner.
A large pot sat on the stove, filled with what Alex could only assume was water, based on the potatoes she saw chopped on the countertop.
“I just started cooking. I got a late start this afternoon.”
Plop. Plop. Plop.
One after another, her mom dropped potatoes into the pot.
“I was at the hospital today, helping pass out the hats you and the kids at church made for the sick.”
That would explain th
e Sunday blouse and tailored jeans. Normally, her mother wore something casual like her old faded jeans and a flannel shirt to help dad out on the farm, but anytime Tami Mills had to be seen in public, The Sunday’s, as she called them, came out. Ironed, tailored, lipsticked and perfumed.
“Yeah? How was that?” Alex sat in the barstool at the counter.
“Fine, but on my way home, Lisa Pennick from church group called and asked if your car was sitting in front of the doctor’s office. She wanted to know if everything was okay and if we needed to add you to our prayer list? So, did she see your car today?”
And the questioning and praying begins.
She rubbed her forehead as Yorkie wiggled his little ass against her forearm. A tension headache was inevitable, and now her arm had been violated by a twelve-pound horn-dog.
“Yeah, she did.”
“Well, is everything all right?” Her mother stopped torturing the vegetables and stared at Alex, her hazel eyes, soft and steady, waiting on her response.
“Yeah...Yeah, everything’s fine.” Alex avoided eye contact. Lying again. She was becoming a real natural.
Yorkie wiggled more in her arms, this time trying to get to the breadbasket on the countertop. “Just a check-up.” She placed the dog on the ground, his toenails clicking on the wooden floor, before he jumped in her father’s lap. Her father mindlessly rubbed his big hand over the dog’s little head.
Alex placed her purse on the counter, and reached for a roll sitting in the basket.
“That’s good, but why do you look like you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders?”
A mother always knew.
Using a knife, her mother cut open a bag of carrots and laid them out on a cutting board. “Everything okay at work?”
For now.
“Yeah. Mom. Everything’s fine with school.” Alex tore a piece of the bread off and popped it in her mouth.
“Is it something else then?” Another vegetable met its demise as her mother sliced a carrot into quarter shaped pieces.
How about everything else: pregnancy, not knowing the man’s name that’s the father of this baby, and, oh yeah, a marriage proposal from her commitment-phobe best friend. It was a lot of something elses.