Chapter Sixteen
Tyler
Pregnant.
She was pregnant.
And that look on his face? He thought it was his.
Oh, screw that noise. I knew her – he’d obviously been slow on the uptake when it came to her real nature – and she wasn’t getting anywhere near my baby.
I stabbed the communication screen with a shaking finger, launching the voice text option. “Text Maggie.”
“What do you want to say?” The robotic voice was too damned pleasant, not realizing my world had just imploded in our kitchen.
“Where are you? I need you.” I clenched the wheel, braking hard for the traffic light at 19. No. No, my world had not imploded because my world was the baby nestled inside me. My world was Mama Nancy and Marilyn and Maggie. My world was not him. Not now.
I’d gotten along just fine without Jase Hatcher before. I could do so again. A few short months of fooling myself into thinking life worked out for me? Didn’t change a damn thing.
Damn Elizabeth Hall.
Maggie’s reply flared on the communication screen. Leaving the office. Meet me at Old Mexico
A popular local restaurant? I set my jaw.
No problem. I had lots of practice at pushing seething emotions way deep down inside so they never saw the light of day again.
I could do that. Push down everything I’d felt for Jase, all the hopes I’d had, and bury all that useless shit.
I wrapped the familiar coldness around myself like a cloak.
Like meeting an old friend.
The restaurant was only a couple of blocks away, so I arrived before Maggie.
Cars already crowded the lot, and I pulled into a spot a good ways away from the door.
Sucking in a breath, I flipped down the visor and stared at myself in the mirror, cataloging the tight lines around my eyes and mouth, corners turned down unhappily.
I recognized the blank expression in my eyes, too.
I’d seen that look every time I’d had to move on from a placement that was decent, my things in a trashbag.
Every time my life stabilized, then fell apart around me all over again. Nothing new in this at all.
White paint flashed at the side entrance, and I sagged, relief coursing through me at the sight of Maggie’s Explorer. Maggie would listen to me, let me pour out all the poison burbling to the surface, help me process before I had to tell Mama Nancy we were over before we’d even started.
She’d be on my side, though. I could trust her to have my back, too.
I swung out of the car as she hustled toward me, red hair glinting in the sun, her hazel eyes big and concerned. “Tyler, what is going on?”
“Inside, when we’re seated.” I leaned into her hug, blinking when my eyes prickled, a hot sting behind my lids. I sucked in the familiar smell of her, fresh and warm, her soap and perfume with a hint of bleach.
“What did he do?” Grasping my hand, Maggie tugged me toward the entrance. As we walked, she wrapped an arm around my waist, keeping me close and sheltered.
Got another woman pregnant, that’s what he did.
I cringed at the vicious voice pounding in my head.
That wasn’t quite fair. We weren’t talking about an affair or a one night stand.
If she was having his baby – oh, God, the mere thought made me want to throw up – they’d been together when it happened.
Before me.
Before our baby.
Still. That viper wasn’t getting anywhere near my boy.
Aware of Maggie’s concerned gaze, I stomped through the door when she swung it open.
Chatter and music and the rich smells of cumin, peppers, and onions, which I normally loved, washed over me, more of a cacophony than anything soothing.
The hostess desk was empty, so we stopped at the generic sign with Please wait to be seated in gold script.
Maggie squeezed my hand, once, before I pulled away. I wound my arms over my midriff and gripped my elbows, hard. I loved her, but I needed to stand on my own. I should never have let myself lean into Jase. Never.
Behind us the door swooshed open again. I didn’t look back, blinking against a burning heat at my eyes. Had to be the spices in the air. Had to.
“Evening, Maggie.”
She startled at the deep voice, and I cast a rapid glance over my shoulder at the couple behind us, some guy in his late twenties with a dress shirt and a tie, dark hair already slightly receding.
The blonde with him was a little older, early thirties, maybe, her face set in lines of perpetual boredom.
Maggie’s eyes widened before she relaxed. “Hey.”
I turned away, attention fixed on the hostess stand. Maybe the baby wasn’t even his. Maybe I was upset for nothing. Maybe a fairy godmother would show up and wave a wand over my life, fixing everything.
Maggie took a step closer to me. “This is my friend, Tyler. Tyler, this is Scott.”
Sucking in a breath, my teeth clenched so hard they hurt, I glanced at the guy, who nodded at me and tilted his head toward the blonde.”My fiancee, Andrea. Maggie owns the company Daddy hired to replace Mrs. Hattie.”
Maggie smiled at Andrea, her friendly, easy, open self. “Nice to meet you.”
Pulling her phone from her bag, Andrea glanced at the screen, then scanned Maggie with a critical gaze. “A cleaning company.”
I stiffened. Who did this chick think she was? My anger coiled, hissing and desperate, seeking an outlet, and this woman wanted to act like this with my Maggie? She was one breath away from catching hands.
Scott closed his eyes. I glared at him so hard he should feel it through his lids, and he opened them in time to catch Maggie’s bright grin, her shoulders straight and chin tilted with her polished pride.
“Yes, ma’am. Started it all by myself in Thomas County and grew into this county. My mama and daddy are right proud.”
“I’m sure.” Andrea gave a thin smile, her gaze tracking to the still-empty hostess station then to her phone.
I narrowed my eyes at her. What an absolute witch. Guess every guy in this town had shit taste in blondes.
Maggie studied Andrea’s face, lips pursed in speculation. Her hazel gaze landed on Scott’s face, and he grimaced, lifting a hand in silent apology. I muffled a snort. Maybe she was good in bed for him to put up with her acting like that.
I mean, look at Jase. He’d put up with Elizabeth Hall’s bitchiness for eight years.
Now he might put up with it for a lot longer than that.
Not that I had to. And my baby sure as hell wouldn’t.
Like a blessing, the hostess emerged from the bar, flushed and frazzled.
“Sorry about that.” She gestured from us to Scott and Andrea. “Y’all together?”
“No.” Andrea and I spoke at once, talking over one another.
The hostess’s face fell. “Oh. We only have one table open. It might be up to thirty minutes unless two of you want to try the bar.”
“We’ll sit at the bar.” I grabbed Maggie’s hand and dragged her toward the back room that held the bar. Grateful to find it not as packed as I’d seen it on other nights, I pulled her toward two seats on the far end and clambered onto the stool.
“What can I get you?” Smiling, the bartender walked away from the other side, where she’d been flirting with a couple of young local cops.
I dumped my bag on the floor next to my stool. “Water.”
“Water, too, please, and the loaded nachos.” Maggie’s eyes glinted with concern when she looked sideways at me. “And I might need a margarita, too.”
Our water was in front of us within seconds, and the bartender bustled away to blend Maggie’s margarita. I pulled a couple of napkins from the dispenser, set one aside and began folding the other, accordion-style. Anything to keep my hands moving.
“Please tell me what is going on.” Voice soft, Maggie brushed my hair from my cheek with a gentle hand.
“Elizabeth Hall is pregnant.” I dropped the bald words between us and watched the shock bloom in Maggie’s eyes. “And she says it’s his.”
“Oh.” Maggie’s breath whooshed out in an audible gasp.
“Yeah.” I tore a vicious strip off the napkin, like I’d done in a half dozen different school cafeterias over the years, surrounded by noise and laugher and people I barely knew. “Oh.”
“Okay.” Maggie laid a soft hand on my wrist, rubbing with her thumb. She pulled in a breath, squaring her shoulders. “Okay.”
I glared sideways. “Okay? Maggie.”
“Okay like I’m wrapping my brain around the information.
” She waved her other hand, casting a distracted smile at the bartender, who set our nachos in front of us.
The rich scents of meat and cheese and spices rose, choking me.
Maggie reached for a chip. She could eat no matter what was going on. “What did you say to him?”
“Nothing.” I ripped another strip off the napkin and curled it around my pinky. My wedding rings glimmered in the light. I should rip those off, too. “I picked up my bag and walked out.”
“Really?” Maggie chewed and reached for another chip, her face pensive. “Okay.”
“Mags.” I closed my eyes, clenching the half-shredded napkin. My nose clogged up, eyes prickling. “Would you please stop saying okay? This is not okay. None of this is okay.”
“I know, honey.” She rubbed a soothing circle on my back, and I swallowed a sob. What was I going to do? “I know.”
Elbows on the bar, I buried my face in my hands, tears wetting my palms. I was safe with Maggie. I could cry a little, even in public, and then pull myself together and she would help me figure everything out.
Once she stopped saying okay.
“Listen.” She chafed my back, and I lifted my head to meet her loving gaze. “I know you don’t want to, but eat a little. It’ll settle your stomach, plus it’s good for the baby. And then we’ll go back to my house and you can yell and cuss and call her names all you want to.”
See? She got me. I’d be able to get all the hurt out with her, then I could talk to Mama Nancy, who would be calm and centered and wise.
And she was right – I didn’t want to eat, but my baby needed me to. I’d decided to be the best mama I could be for him, so that meant sometimes doing things I didn’t want to.