by Quinn, Taryn
I texted Kinleigh.
What are you doing?
Staring at the wall. Debating closing early to put myself out of my misery. How’d it go with Macy?
Good.
Dude, don’t tease me. Good—what the hell kind of reply is that? Get your butt in the damn store. I have box wine chilling.
I laughed and rushed down the pier. Kinleigh’s shop was a few doors down from where I was.
My friends Zoe and Maggie are going to come by the shop.
Tell them to bring wine.
One of them is preggers.
Okay, apple juice.
I’ll tell them. I’ll pick up some snacks at the grocery. I’m freaking starving.
Nah, we’ll DoorDash something. Chinese?
Girl, yes.
K. See ya in a few.
My thumb hovered over Rory’s contact name. Well, LC—even in my phone I couldn’t use Rory. He’d been interested when I told him about my ideas for the truck.
I sighed and stuffed my phone back into my pocket.
I took a right at the end of the pier and passed the diner. I spotted Zoe climbing out of a SUV in front of Kinleigh’s.
“Hey, that was quick.”
She flipped her braid over her shoulder. “We were actually heading out this way when you texted.”
Maggie came around the front. “We were super bored.” She pulled a bag off her shoulder. “I have wine though.”
I couldn’t imagine being bored with two rockstars in my life, but it was probably old hat for them. “Kinleigh will be psyched.”
“I can’t wait to see the clothes she has. Nothing fits right since I had Wolf.”
“I can’t wait to look at clothes I might fit into by fall.” Zoe laughed.
I laughed. “I might be looking at a bigger size.” I patted my belly. “Too much ice cream testing.”
“Oh, man. I could go for some ice cream.” Zoe rubbed circles along the side of her belly. “This one really likes sweets. Much like his dad.”
“I have a few gallons of tester ice cream in Kinleigh’s freezer. I tend to have it all over town since mine is perpetually overfull.”
“I will help you fix that.”
“Deal.”
I opened the door for them. “I didn’t know you’d be back in town so fast.”
“After the gallery opening, I kind of just wanted the quiet of the farm. My family was thrilled. Now I have a bunch of people hovering.” She sighed. “I didn’t think that idea through.”
“I have an older brother too. I hear you.”
Maggie climbed the stairs ahead of Zoe. “This place is so cool.”
The bottom half of the building was my brother’s furniture store, but Kinleigh had a separate entrance with winding stairs. The walls were papered in silk with fun photos of people in Kin’s vintage clothes. Some were for Halloween, some were set up for a dress-up party where Kinleigh took pictures for marketing purposes. There were children, adults, even a Red Hat Society get-together. My best friend was a genius at playing up the fun of a vintage shop. People came from far and wide to do her trunk parties. She even did some live on Facebook.
As we got to the top of the stairs, music was blaring. Kinleigh had her camera out and lights set up. She had a trio of wedding dresses on her mannequins and had even brought out her extra fun girls, as she called them, which were mannequins in dirty poses. I didn’t know how she had found them, but I also wasn’t sure I wanted to either.
Kinleigh’s Google search history had to be seriously interesting.
“Hi.” She popped up from behind a mannequin that was bent at the waist. She was wearing a very Marilyn Monroe-esque outfit with high-waisted panties and a sturdy, yet sexy bra. “I was just teasing my boudoir trunk party for tomorrow.”
Maggie’s eyes were huge as she looked around the warehouse-sized space. Kinleigh had partitioned two of the corners with trifold dividers. Dresses and slips hung off them as if someone was mid-change. Mannequins were set behind them with a light showing to make the shadows seem evocative.
The rest of the place was set up with various trunks and racks full of clothes. A hat rack stood half empty, thanks to the recent Kentucky Derby. She made a killing in the spring due to all the people who hadn’t shopped in advance.
Zoe silently crossed the room to a vintage dress form on wheels. An ivory lace wedding dress was half pinned, with the shoulder drooping. Kinleigh often got damaged dresses that needed to be fixed. Her seamstress skills were unmatched by any of the tailors in the area. “What’s this?”
“Oh.” Kinleigh blew a curl out of her eyes as she finished snapping the bra on the mannequin. “That’s a new dress I got in last night. It’s in rough shape.”
“I want it.”
“Oh. It’s really damaged. I have to do a lot of work on it.”
Zoe touched the edges of a sleeve. “It’s gorgeous.”
“I can alter it to fit.”
Zoe laughed. “Sorry. I mean, he technically hasn’t even asked me to marry him yet—my baby daddy.” She patted her stomach. “I’m pretty sure he’s going to ask soon though. He keeps playing with something in his pocket.”
“Sure it’s a box?” Kinleigh quipped.
“With Ian, you can never be too sure.”
“Ian…” Kinleigh’s gaze slammed into mine. “These are the girls you met at the orchard?”
“Kinleigh, meet Zoe Manning and Maggie McGuire. Rockstar wife—and girlfriend, though she and Ian act like they’re already married.”
“That’s the truth. He annoys me like a husband.” Zoe held out her hand to Kinleigh. “Pleased to meet you. This place is amazing, and I want this dress. I don’t care how much it is.”
I could see the dollar signs in Kin’s eyes. “She has fair prices,” I said.
“Within reason,” Kinleigh said quickly.
“This is an art form and I don’t mind paying for art. Considering that’s exactly what I expect when I sell a painting.”
“Oh, man.” Kinleigh rushed to Zoe and hugged her. “Girl, you get it. I can’t tell you how many people want me to sell them my stuff for less than twenty bucks. I revamp almost every piece I find.”
I left them to talk about the dress and alterations. Maggie was wandering around the store, touching jeans and tops, then finding something she fancied and draping it over her arm.
“Sorry, we lost them to shop talk.”
Maggie waved me off. “No worries. This place is ridiculous. I could wander in here for hours.” She pulled down a sheer blouse. “Kellan might like this one.”
“Pretty sure any man with a pulse would.”
Though Rory did seem to enjoy me in my skirts and punk shirts. And I really needed to put a stop to that way of thinking. My phone burned in my pocket with the need to share my news with him.
Maggie touched my arm. “Are you all right?”
The urge to hold all my shit in was ingrained. I wasn’t exactly the sharing type. More of a get it done and don’t complain sort. I had goals and chased them. I’d been pursuing my dream for so long, nothing else had fit in my life.
But I wanted him to fit. And that was foolish.
The quick wash of tears horrified me. I tried to blink them away, but they just kept coming faster.
“I miss Rory.” I tipped my head back to staunch the tears. “It’s so stupid. I promised myself I wouldn’t get attached to him. I don’t want to be attached to him.”
“Oh, honey.” Maggie gathered me in, the clothes crushed between us.
A tentative hand brushed my hair. “Are you crying?” Kinleigh’s voice was distressed. “You don’t cry.”
“I know. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Must be my period.” I let out a creaky laugh. “It has be.”
I didn’t ever really know when it was coming. Where Kin was as regular as the sunrise, I was a busted calendar.
She rubbed my shoulder. “Must be.” But she didn’t look convinced.
Ma
ggie steered me over to the wide velvet hassock that dominated the dressing room area. “Did he do something?”
“No.” I brushed away the tears with a frustrated sigh. “No, it’s me. I knew what I was doing when I got involved with him.”
Kinleigh’s features hardened. “Fuck him. He can’t get his head out of his ass to be a man about things.”
I gave her a broken laugh. “It’s not like I’m begging for him to be my guy. It was just nice, you know. More than nice. When we were at the orchard, everything was so good between us.” My stupid eyes wouldn’t stop leaking. “And I’ve got all this good news and I want to tell him. I want to share everything with him and it pisses me off.”
Zoe sat on the other side of me. “He’s an idiot. I don’t even know what his deal is, but he’s got this mile-high wall around him sometimes, then others…” She shrugged. “It’s like he’s two different people.”
“Exactly.” Our time at the grove, at the bed and breakfast, even at the diner, had proven how sweet he could be. When he wasn’t over-thinking, he was so present. So absolutely in the moment. Then he just wasn’t.
I huffed out a breath. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
“Shut up. We all have our moments.” Zoe patted her rounded belly. “You should have heard what Ian and I went through. Literally a war zone of emotional crap plus a crazy mother-in-law.”
Maggie laughed. “I love my mother-in-law.”
“Mine’s literally insane. Ward and all.”
“Oh.” Well, my shit didn’t seem so bad next to that one. “I want that though.”
“A crazy mother-in-law?”
I laughed. Finally, the tears seemed to be fading. “No, the baby and the crazy guy in my life. Maybe it’s not going to be Rory.” It killed me to say it. My chest constricted and tears stung the backs of my eyes again. Slowly, I exhaled. “Maybe it won’t be him, but I want the whole package.”
Kinleigh crouched in front of me. “You deserve it and if he doesn’t see that, then he’s an idiot. As for the babies…” She fell back on her butt. “I get it. All these babies in the Cove have me thinking about them too.”
“You?”
Maggie smoothed the shirt that was bunched in her arms. “Wolf is pretty amazing. I didn’t think I was ready for it, but he decided otherwise. Totally unplanned. Same with Kellan.”
“Ian was never in my plan. I’m going to keep him. At least today. He didn’t piss me off today.”
Maggie laughed. “How I live my life with Kellan too.”
I glanced down at Kinleigh. She was playing with the laces of her Chucks. “Men are stupid.”
“Well, that’s never going to change.” Maggie set the clothes down and moved to the box of wine on the refreshment station. “But alcohol helps.”
Zoe sighed and rubbed the side of her belly. “Soon, my body won’t be an incubator for the footballer I’m carrying. Ian’s words, not mine. I’d say soccer, but then he…” Her cheeks flushed. “Well, let’s just say he reminds me why I enjoy the British side of him.”
I laughed. “Can’t say the Irish in Rory is a detriment.” I slid on the floor next to Kinleigh and crossed my legs. The makeshift button expander on my pants pinched. “Ugh, I’m going to have to have to alter my damn clothes.”
“Guys have it so easy, they just push their belts lower.” Zoe leaned back on her elbows with a sigh. “There you go, little one. Stretch out a little.”
“Is your metabolism finally slowing?” Kinleigh asked me. “I thought for sure it was permanently set on high.”
“I suck at dieting, but maybe I’m going to have to start. Nothing fits right.”
Zoe rolled onto her side on the hassock. “Bra?”
“Ugh, definitely the bra. I swear, my boobs grew a whole size. Where was that when I was in high school?”
Maggie paused before she held out the glass of rosé. “Super sensitive?”
I blushed. The last time I was with Rory, that had definitely been a factor. Everything felt over-sensitive.
Maggie swung her hand to Kinleigh and handed her the wine instead.
I frowned and sat up straighter. “Oh, no.”
“Oh, shit.” Kinleigh’s eyes widened and she downed her wine like a shot.
Digging out my phone, I flicked open my medical app. I was never regular so my gynecologist convinced me to track my period just to make sure nothing was too out of whack. I’d forgotten about it between shifts at the diner and the ice cream thing.
I swiped back two screens. “Oh, no.”
I was two months late—at least.
Seventeen
“Are you sure you want to go all the way—”
“Yes. God, yes.”
Two towns over, maybe even four. God, buying a pregnancy test in the Cove was asking for my damn name to be on the front of the newspaper by morning. Not to mention The Cove Facebook group. I’d seen exactly how that had worked with Vee from Brewed Awakening. And she wasn’t even pregnant at the time.
The viral gossip-fest heated up the minute someone had the stomach flu, for God’s sake. Flu or baby flu? The whispers started immediately. Even more than a few years ago.
Now it was a near pandemic in this town. And I was pretty sure I had it.
My hand slid over my still very flat belly. Yes, I’d gained a few pounds, but it was more of a…suck it in in and zip those pants a la high school. Okay, so I’d done the button expander thing, but it wasn’t like I had to buy a whole new wardrobe.
Yet.
That little voice needed to be squashed.
Zoe and Maggie had been very understanding—especially Zoe. She even told me I could ask any questions I had.
And more importantly, she said she wouldn’t tell Ian or Rory.
It might be a false alarm.
It might be gas.
It might be ice cream.
It might be denial.
Kinleigh reached over and took my hand. “Everything is going to be fine.”
I nodded. “I know.”
Sort of. The terror was abating the farther we got out of town. Now it was just knots of nerves and confusion. We’d been careful. Had it happened in the car? That had been wild and careening toward insanity.
All it took was one swimmer. Didn’t every teacher say that to strike terror into teens in high school? I knew my teachers had. Enough that teen pregnancy was barely a thing in town. I could count the number of them on the fingers of one hand.
We didn’t speak for most of the drive. We went to the one lone 24-hour pharmacy halfway to Syracuse. I bought two tests. I was tempted to buy the entire aisle of offerings, but I knew in my heart I already was. This was just a formality.
So many things made sense.
By the time Kinleigh pulled into my driveway, I’d shredded the bag handles. I looked up with a puzzled frown. “I thought you were bringing me back to my car.”
“Pretty sure you shouldn’t be driving at the moment.” She unbuckled her belt.
“I think I need to do this alone.”
Kinleigh’s eyebrows snapped together. “Bad idea.”
“I just…I kinda just need to—”
“Fall apart alone? No, ma’am.” She opened her door and stalked up the driveway.
Sighing, I shoved the bag into my purse and followed. The light was on, but August’s truck still wasn’t there.
Maybe it would be better if she did stay with me. I wasn’t ready to keel over about this anymore, but I was suspiciously numb. As if it was simply a foregone conclusion.
I lifted my chin and breezed through the door. I dumped my keys in the bowl on the table inside the door just like always. The kitchen light was on and Kinleigh was sitting on one of the bar stools with her arms crossed.
“I’m not leaving.”
I walked over to her and hugged her. She pressed her cheek to my shoulder. “I’m supposed to be hugging you.”
“So, hug me back.”
Her arms came up around m
e. “It’s going to be all right. I’m here for you. Every step of the way.”
“I know. It’s not like it’s dire. I want a baby.” I even wanted his baby. I wasn’t ready to say that out loud though. Because one-sided love wasn’t really enough. Enough to make a baby, evidently, but I wasn’t sure about the rest.
“Yes, we both want kids. You’re supercharging our timeline there, woman.”
I laughed. “We don’t know yet.”
But I did.
I dug into my bag and took one of the tests out. “I’m going to go do this.”
“You want me to come in there with you?”
“And watch me pee? I love you, girl, but not that much.”
She laughed. “Okay. I mean I wouldn’t like it, but I’d do it.”
“Because you’re my rockstar.” The lump in my throat made my eyes burn. I had to use that phrase? Really?
“You better believe it. I’ll be out here waiting. But you know, wash your hands.”
I laughed because she needed me to. And I needed it as well.
The test was quick. Even quicker than I thought. It felt like it should require more than just a stick. But that was really all it was.
“How many minutes?”
I jumped a little. “Were you waiting for the flush, for God’s sake?”
“Sort of. Well, the sink too.”
I shook my head and washed my hands dutifully. I wasn’t sure what to do with the freaking test. I didn’t want to leave any of the trappings in the bathroom for my brother to find. In the end, I just tucked it all in the box and carried the wad out.
“Three minutes.”
I bit my lower lip as we went back into the kitchen. I didn’t know what else to do, so I went to the freezer and took out a pint of peanut butter chocolate swirl. I scooped out two small bowls and set one in front of Kinleigh.