How to Fall For a Rockstar: a single mom, grumpy sunshine, small town, rockstar romantic comedy (Cas

Chapter 31

False alarm – When you’re scared about a problem but then discover the problem isn’t a problem after all

Leia

Iflip through my agenda in search of the information Brody wants. Where is it?

I give up on flipping through the daily calendar and turn to the month in overview. Maybe it’ll give me a clue where I should look next.

I frown when I notice what day it is. That can’t be right.

I check my computer. It says the same day.

I check my phone. Also, the same day.

My watch. Again. The same day.

Shit. Shit. Shit. My period is late.

I blow out a breath. This can’t be right. I can’t be pregnant. I take my pill every day. I never skip a day. I haven’t been ill and thrown up my pill. It’s not possible I’m pregnant.

But the proof is staring me in the face. I missed my period. And the whole dang reason I take the pill is to have a regular period.

This is a disaster. Fender is going to think I’m trying to trap him.

Take a pregnancy test.

For once my inner voice is the voice of reason. Okay. I’ll take a test. It’ll prove I’m not pregnant and all will be well.

I stop with my hand on the front door. I can’t buy a test in Winter Falls. I haven’t lived here long, but I’m pretty certain the whole town would be wagging their tongues about my being pregnant before I managed to take the test and figure out if I was even pregnant!

But I can’t go to White Bridge either. I don’t have a car. The town has cars the residents can use but those are for emergencies. This is an emergency but I can’t exactly tell anyone what the emergency is.

Why did I think living in a small town would be fun? I must have been delusional.

Think, Leia. Think. Where can I get a car?

I’m not borrowing Fender’s. My phone rings. Speak of the devil. I ignore the call. I’ll deal with him later.

Who else owns a vehicle in Winter Falls? Most people don’t since there’s no need for a car if you live and work in town.

Virginia walks to the library for work. And Indigo walks to the school.

Wait a minute. Indigo walks to school, but Cash has a car. What are the chances I can borrow it?

“Can I ask for a favor? No questions asked?” I ask the second she picks up the phone.

She giggles. “Can I ask what the favor is?”

“I need a car to go to White Bridge.”

“I’m going with you. I won’t ask questions now. But you will tell me what’s happening before the end of the day,” she demands.

“You drive a hard bargain.”

“I can’t protect you from the busybodies of town if I don’t know what’s happening.”

I hate how she’s right. I blow out a breath. “Okay. How soon can you be here?”

“On my way.”

When Indigo arrives in Cash’s flashy car, I nearly change my mind. How the hell are we going to keep this mission secret in that thing?

But I don’t have a choice. I need to know. Am I pregnant?

I get into the car and Virginia waves from the backseat. “Sorry. Indigo insisted.”

“You need all your besties with you for a secret mission,” Indigo says as she drives out of town.

I snort. “A secret mission? In this car?”

“If anyone asks, we’re getting manicures in White Bridge,” Indigo says instead of answering me.

I lift my hands. “What happens when we come back without pretty nails?”

“Oh, we’re getting manicures. I already made the appointment.”

“How do you know we have time? Maybe my ‘mission’ requires lots of time.”

Indigo glances over at me and winks. “Pretty sure it doesn’t.”

Virginia changes the conversation to books, and I breathe a sigh of relief. While they discuss books, I contemplate what I’m going to do. I’m not ready for another baby. I’m barely holding it together as it is. Being a single mom of two kids was not on my bingo card for this year.

You wouldn’t be a single mom.

I roll my eyes at my inner voice. How does she know Fender isn’t going to run as fast as he can away from me when he discovers I’m pregnant?

No. I’m not pregnant. It’s some kind of fluke.

Indigo pulls into a strip mall and parks in front of a drugstore.

“Do you want us to come in with you?”

Virginia groans. “Dylan will have a nursery built before we return if I’m seen buying a pregnancy test.”

There’s my confirmation. They know what’s happening.

“You can stay in the car.”

Indigo snatches my hand before I can get out. “No way. You’re not doing this alone.”

Relief courses through me at her words. I did all of it – the pregnancy test, the doctor visits, the birth – alone the first time. I don’t want to go through it alone again.

“We got you, bestie,” Indigo whispers before dropping my hand and opening the door.

When Virginia crawls out of the backseat, I try to stop her. “No. I don’t want you in trouble with Dylan.”

“I’m not letting you do this alone either.”

Tears well in my eyes. “You guys are the best.”

Indigo rolls her eyes. “Duh. I’ve been telling you how awesome I am for months now.”

I inhale a deep breath and straighten my spine before marching into the drugstore. I don’t bother pretending to browse. I march straight to the pregnancy tests.

“Which one should you buy?” Virginia asks.

I grab three different ones. “It’s always good to be certain.”

“Do you have a restroom?” Indigo asks as I check out.

The clerk glances down at my purchases and sighs. She points to the back. “Try not to spend all day in there.”

“I don’t think we’re the first women to do this,” Virginia mutters as we enter the restroom together.

There’s one toilet, no stall, and zero privacy.

“Maybe you two can wait in the hallway.”

Indigo rolls her eyes. “You don’t have anything we don’t have.”

Virginia grasps Indigo and whirls her around. “We won’t look.”

“I wasn’t going to look,” Indigo claims.

“Seriously? You were staring at Leia like she’s a science experiment.”

“It is science.”

I tune out their bickering while I open the three packages and lay them side by side on the sink next to the toilet. The instructions claim the tests will work even if it’s not morning. I hope they’re right.

“You can turn around now,” I tell Indigo and Virginia once I’ve peed on the sticks.

“I’ve set my alarm to three minutes.” Indigo waves her phone in the air.

“What are you going to do if you’re pregnant?” Virginia asks.

Pregnant! No. This is to prove I’m not pregnant. But what if I am? I clasp my chest as my breathing becomes labored. Did someone steal all of the air in here?

Indigo slaps Virginia’s shoulder. “Way to go. You’re giving the pregnant lady a heart attack.”

Pregnant lady? My knees weaken and I sway to the side. Indigo wraps an arm around my waist before I faceplant on the floor.

“Why don’t you sit down?”

I scan the utilitarian restroom. “Where?”

“On it.” Virginia places toilet paper on the toilet seat until it’s covered. “This is as good as it gets.”

Indigo helps me sit and I drop my face into my palms. “This is a disaster.”

“It’s not a disaster. You have a good job. A good home. A supportive family. And a man who loves you. You’re going to be fine.”

I whip my head up. “Family? My parents haven’t deigned to talk to me since they found out I was pregnant at seventeen and my grandparents died when Isla was a baby.”

“Not those jerks. I mean us.” She motions between Virginia and herself. “We’re your family.”

“And you have Isla and Fender, too,” Virginia points out.

“But how long will I have Fender if I’m pregnant. You don’t know what happened to him. He’s going to lose his mind.”

I only realized I love Fender a little while ago. I’m not ready to lose him. I’ve been making plans to keep him forever. I groan and drop my head into my hands again.

“What do—” Indigo is cut off when her alarm beeps. “It’s time.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. It’s time. I don’t want to look. Maybe if I don’t look I can pretend this isn’t happening. I can be one of those women who show up at the hospital in labor who didn’t realize they were pregnant.

“Panic’s over. You’re not pregnant,” Indigo declares.

I gasp. “You looked.”

She waves the instructions in the air. “It says you have to check at three minutes. Otherwise, you can get a false positive.”

Virginia squeezes my shoulder. “You okay?”

Of course, I’m okay. This is the outcome I wanted. I don’t want to be pregnant. Except a tiny piece of me is disappointed. It was already imagining a little boy with Fender’s green eyes running around playing with Princess.

I shove those thoughts away. I’ll think about them later. Much later. In a few years perhaps.

I force myself to my feet. “Why did I miss my period if I’m not pregnant?”

“It says here a missed period can be the result of stress.” Indigo points to an article on her phone. “You have been under a lot of stress lately.”

I wrinkle my nose. “No, I haven’t.”

Virginia raises her eyebrows. “No? You didn’t move to a new town with your daughter? You didn’t get a new job? You didn’t fall in love?”

“Fine. Fine. Fine. There may be some stress. But I’m used to stress.”

“Let’s chalk it up to stress.” Indigo winds her arm through mine. “Now, who’s ready to get some pretty nails.”

“Only if they have liquor at this nail salon.”

“It can be arranged.” She winks. I allow her to drag me out of the store and into the car.

Disappointment sits heavy in my stomach. I rub my middle. Go away. I’m not disappointed. I don’t want Fender’s baby.

Liar.