9. Rosie
9
ROSIE
I push the muffin to the side, not sure why I even bother.
“Still not feeling so great?” Hailey asks. We’re sitting at a table in Foxy Rox with Esme.
I snicker as I appraise the coffee spot on Main Street. The school year just started, so Hailey is busy with the preschool she runs but managed to take some time away for an after-school break.
Foxy Rox is the best and only coffee and bakery spot around. It’s trendy enough that for a moment you forget that you’re in a small town. Still, one look out the window and you see the quaint center of Everhope.
“It’s better. Just started my second trimester this week, and they say it lessens. So far, all indications are promising. It’s just the sight of blueberries in a muffin seems to put me off. Suddenly, it sounds revolting. A shame, too.”
Esme takes a sip of her latte then sets her drink down. “How is it going with sharing an abode with your ex?”
I chuckle to myself, knowing the answer is funny enough, because it could be seen as odd to many people that two ex-spouses live together. “We get along. I’ve been napping so much, plus driving over to Olive Owl to help plan some events for my uncles, and I’m still teaching a few yoga classes, too. Carter still has sheriff duties and his campaign for mayor. In the end, we don’t see one another as much as I thought.”
Hailey plays with the fork for her brownie. “Sounds like that kind of disappoints you.”
“I mean, it helps us avoid major topics. Not ideal, but it makes my life easier.”
Hailey smiles warily at me. “Hmm, I would say you both need to circle back to the issues.”
I glance down to my belly. “You’re right. I’m already getting fat.”
Both women lean to their sides and look under the table before scoffing a sound. “You’re really not. I can’t even tell that you’re with child,” Esme comments.
“Yeah, I agree. Besides, it’s not fat when there is a baby in there. They are two different things, so screw your logic back on your head, please.”
I have a lopsided grin. “Perhaps a solid point.”
Hailey smirks to herself. “I think you should take a step. Dive into discussion. He seems to want that.”
“How would you know?”
Esme joins in on the wicked-look front. “Because he walked in and noticed you instantly, and now, he has this broody kind of thing happening.”
I instantly steal a glance over my shoulder when I see Carter taking a cleansing breath where he’s standing in his uniform, holding his hat by his side. He’s always been a traditional man and never wears hats inside. He steps in our direction, unsure but also pleased by my presence.
I swing my gaze back forward and feel a flutter inside of me as if I’m a girl with a crush.
“Ladies,” he greets us.
My lips roll in while my friends say hi. I feel his eyes razor into me, and I smile politely. “Hi. I didn’t see you this morning.”
“I didn’t see you last night, either.”
Esme and Hailey nearly choke on their drinks, with Hailey even needing to pat her chest.
“For the love of… Will you two get your minds out of the gutter,” I chide them.
Carter’s upper lip twitches, and he’s keeping his entertained grin under wraps, because he doesn’t seem to mind the assumed thoughts of half of Foxy Rox.
“Of course, sorry,” Esme says seriously, but she can’t keep a straight face.
Carter moves past the little hiccup in our conversation. “I just came in for coffee. I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”
“Me neither. Here.” I slide my plate to him. “Have my muffin, you love blueberry.”
Because I know all of his likes and dislikes in and out of the bedroom. The way he hates when I try to lead. Or the fact that he loves to pin me to a mattress. Of course, he has this whole no-shower-alone rule… when we were together, that is. And out of the bedroom, he watches hockey, hates dry grass, has an odd troll obsession, and let me once convince him to try yoga.
“Thanks.” His sweltering gaze causes my clit to pulse. I’m so doomed when the extra sexually needy part hits in the second trimester. “Oh, uh, I got you some more of those candles you like. The ones that don’t have a smell, just sit in those crystal healing rocks or something like that. I was out on the county road. That lady who has that store that’s only open at odd times was open.”
That makes everything inside of me lift with joy, and I release a short laugh. He always thought it was crazy. When we were married, I had way too many candles all over the house, even I can admit that. “I’m sure you had a blast walking in there,” I tease.
He lifts his hat up, and his brows lift then drop. “Well, she was relieved that I wasn’t stopping by for law enforcement reasons, and when she saw I was clueless, she helped me out.”
“I can only imagine.”
“Anyhow, I should get going. Need my coffee and to head to the station.”
Maybe it disappoints me a little. A low-key conversation is exactly what the doctor ordered, it seems. I don’t mind a single bit. I could carry on, even if down to my toes, my body is heightened from him being close.
“Okay. See you at home,” I tell him.
“Yep.” He pops the P.
He rocks on his heels but doesn’t move, nor do my eyes that remain latched to his, but a few seconds later, we both seem to shake away the moment.
“Ladies,” he says to my friends who I forgot are here.
When he is out of earshot and across Foxy Rox to order his coffee, which is useless because before he can say anything, the barista is already handing him his black coffee with a dash of almond milk, because I got him addicted long ago.
Hailey and Esme huddle closer to the table, and their eyes blaze.
“Ooh, someone wants to do fantastic things to you,” Esme whispers loudly.
“It’s the eyes,” Hailey adds.
“Shh. Will you quiet it down,” I implore because I don’t need the entire place to hear.
Esme shrugs. “What? It’s obvious.”
“Well, doing wicked things to one another is what got me in this position, and going into the physical-only part is a bad idea. We actually need to communicate about the bigger issues.”
Hailey brings her finger to her chin to think. “Hmm, communicate. What a novel idea.”
My cheeks grow big from my frustrated breath because they are relentless today… also right.
“I’m just… waiting for the right time. It’s a little nerve-wracking, to be honest,” I admit.
Hailey takes another bite of her brownie and tilts her head side to side. “You’re eventually going to have to take the plunge. Hate to break it to you, but you also have a clock ticking.”
“I’m aware.” I glance down at my belly and smile softly to myself. “He or she needs parents who are not a hot mess on the relationship front, whatever it may be.”
“There’s a t-shirt for that, I’m sure.” Esme is dead serious. “‘My parents are a hot mess,’” she deadpans.
My head falls onto my arm that’s been resting on the table, because that will absolutely not be a shirt that I need on the baby registry. I’m sure of it.
* * *
Crouching down, I smell the rosemary that’s growing in a few pots outside on the back patio. I’ve noticed it already, but today on this sunny day, it’s extra… significant, maybe?
It’s my favorite of herbs. Great for recipes, a wonderful smell, and it carries part of my name. I always had a few pots when I was married. Along with basil, lavender, and chives. But Carter only has rosemary. I doubt he uses it too. A little crack inside of me slowly seals together because these plants are not new. You can tell by the pots that he has had these for a long time. Which perhaps means that maybe, just maybe, it’s because he was thinking of me.
“You noticed.” The sound of Carter’s thin voice causes me to flinch because he startles me.
I stand up as my body cools off from the surprise. “Geez. Scare me, why don’t ya. I had no clue you were home.”
That smirk crawls on his lips, with his stubble short enough today that it highlights his defined jaw. “Already for a few minutes.”
My head retreats slightly. “You’ve been watching me?”
“Nah. Only thirty seconds, if that counts as watching.”
My eyes float over my shoulder to the pots. “You have rosemary. Why?”
His tongue slides across his upper teeth, and a silence stretches for a few beats. “Why do you have a box of trolls in your room?” he counters, and yet again, my body surges with nerves.
I didn’t realize he found it. There is no time like the present to be honest. I grow shy and look off to the side. “Because I collected them.”
He steps closer, and my breath grows heavy. “Why?”
“I-I… just… It made me… You would enjoy them one day, plus… it’s what people do when they think of someone.” Whoosh. There, I said it.
His hand sweeps across my cheek to force me to stare into his eyes that are determined. The feeling of his hand cradling my face is firm yet caring.
“And I have the rosemary because I was thinking of you.”
It seems we have always been on an unusual, shared wavelength, considering our history. Our admissions cause faint smiles to paint on our mouths.
“Well, okay. Is this confession probably why we decided to sleep together when drunk?” We both had a hidden desire because our heads have been twisted all along?
His face turns serious, but there is still a hint of a sly smirk. “Nah, that’s because I purposely wanted to get you pregnant and had to fuck you senseless to succeed.” My eyes pop out and my pussy clenches, because that thought… turns me on. A kink I didn’t realize I have? Holy fuck.
He wets lips before he grins. “I’m joking.”
“Oh… yeah… totally. I knew that.”
Carter chuckles because now I’m acting a little odd, my pussy throbbing.
“Rosie.”
The delicateness of his tone brings me back to why he is really circling his thumb on my cheek. “I’ve been thinking now that the shock has worn off over the baby news and you’re feeling a little better that we should probably?—”
“Talk,” we say at the same time.
“Yeah. Now. I’m not really going to take a no, but I’ll ask anyways. Let’s grab dinner like we used to. Lay a few things on the table.”
Or lay me on the table.
His thumb now runs along my cheekbone, trying to persuade me with a simple touch. But I need no persuasion.
“That’s a good idea,” I agree.