13. Chapter 13
Chapter thirteen
Aiden
I stared at the text and frowned.
“That better not be Carsons delaying the tile again,” Sam said.
“Nah.” I put my phone in my pocket and focused on the blueprints in front of me. “Are we on schedule for the foundation pour at sites 11 and 12, or do I need to move the cement delivery?”
Sam rubbed his neck. “If you let me grab the new guy from that remodel on Harris Ave, I should be fine.”
“Wyatt can’t operate an excavator. What good is he to you?”
“Kid’s got arms and a good head on his shoulders. I’ll put him to work.”
I quickly calculated how much time we’d lose on Harris if I pulled Wyatt from the site, but nodded. “Fine. Only until you’re back on track for the foundations. Wyatt has carpentry skills, which we need at Harris.”
Sam nodded. “I remember. I worked with him last fall on that historic reno on Church. He’s good. I’m glad you snatched him from that coffee shop.”
My mind instantly went to the text I’d just received from Lauren asking me to swing by and fix a door. Maybe Wyatt had done more around Karma than pour coffee. “I’m headed into town in a few. Any permits you need filed?”
“Surprisingly, no,” Sam said, flipping through screens on his tablet.
“Great. I’ll swing by the Harris site and pull Wyatt on my way back.”
“Thanks, Aiden.”
“I’ll let you get back to it then.”
He nodded and bent over his tablet, fingers flying as he headed out of the office trailer and back to his crew.
I grabbed my keys, waved goodbye to the guys, and climbed into my truck. The entire drive over, I turned Lauren’s text over in my mind.
I need your help ASAP. The back door won’t budge.
She’d texted me. Not Wyatt, who still worked at Karma part time and could fix a door as well as I could. No question he’d have helped her, but she’d asked me. I tried not to read too much into it. She probably wanted the door fixed right away and knew Wyatt couldn’t duck out of a job site like I could.
I parked my truck in front of Karma, pushed through the front door, and right into the end of the line. Cammie was behind the counter working like crazy.
I frowned. She’d been the only person working in the café the two other times I grabbed coffee this week. It was strange enough seeing her at Karma in the middle of a weekday when she usually worked at Cal’s PT practice. I guess he’d closed the office while he was on his honeymoon, and Cam was picking up hours here.
I walked around the line and toward the counter, people shooting me death glares the closer I got. “Where’s Lauren?” I asked Cammie.
Someone actually huffed at me. Without slowing her frantic pace, Cam shouted, “In the back.”
“Excuse me,” I said to the lady nearest me in line. “I just need to get through.”
“Hope you’re here to help,” a guy said behind her.
“I’ll do what I can,” I said, walking around the counter and pushing through the door to the back room.
“Lauren,” I yelled.
“Just a minute,” she called from her office.
A tailless cat ran over to me, meowing for attention. She started winding around my legs, so I bent to give her a scratch under the chin. She rubbed her furry face on my hand and gave it a lick.
“I thought you hated animals,” Lauren said.
“Just dogs,” I said, looking up at her. “Had a bad experience with one when I was a kid.”
She was leaning against the door frame to her office. I’d seen her the day after the wedding when we’d both helped Poppy move into Theo’s house. She’d recovered from the food poisoning, or so I thought. She looked as bad today, if not worse, than she had at the wedding. “Are you OK?”
“Yeah. If you have a minute, I need to talk to you.”
I stood and walked to her, my chest tightening. Something was seriously wrong. Despite the dark circle under her eyes, she looked stunning. It was odd. She was clearly unwell, yet somehow even more beautiful, her face soft and flushed.
She walked into the office, which was about the size of a generous broom closet and sank into the chair behind the desk.
“You’re worrying me, Lauren,” I said, sitting in the only other seat. The flimsy folding chair groaned under my weight.
“There’s nothing for you to worry about,” she said.
“Bullshit. What’s going on?”
She blew out a breath. “This is harder than I thought it’d be.”
“Just say it. Whatever it is.”
She straightened and looked me in the eyes. “I’m pregnant and it’s yours.”
I don’t know what I was expecting her to say, but it wasn’t that. “Wow,” I said, grateful for the crappy chair holding my ass. I’m not sure I’d have stayed upright if I was standing. I knew we’d been reckless, but the last time we were together, Lauren mentioned she was on birth control. I’d have gotten around to asking her, if she’d have let me talk to her. “Wow, that’s—”
“Unexpected,” Lauren said, placing her hands on the desk like I was a Karma employee she was about to reprimand. “But you don’t need to worry. I’ve decided to put the baby up for adoption.”
“No,” I said, the word firing from my mouth like a bullet.
“I don’t want to be a mother,” she said.
I tensed at how matter of fact she sounded, like someone saying they didn’t want fries with their burger or milk in their coffee. “So? You’ll sign over your parental rights to me.”
Her eyes softened. “Aiden, you can’t raise a baby on your own.”
“When are you due?” I asked, choosing to ignore her last statement and the irrational urge to scoop her in my arms and hold her. She was clearly scared and not thinking things through. I wasn’t putting my kid up for adoption. Not when I had a family like mine to help me. Not when the thought of my child calling someone else Dad made me want to throw up.
“December 8 th .”
“So you’re about six weeks?”
She nodded. “I would have waited to tell you until after the first trimester—”
“Why?” In case she decided not to carry the baby. My baby. The last time I felt this helpless, I was lying in a hospital bed, my body broken, listening to my parents tell me Logan had died.
“The risk of miscarriage goes down after twelve weeks.”
“That wasn’t food poisoning at the wedding, was it? Did you know then?”
She nodded.
I sat back, all the air suddenly trapped in my lungs. She’d had considerable time to think about this. Maybe adoption was really what she wanted. It didn’t matter. I’d never let that happen. “You should have told me as soon as you found out.”
“It was Rowan and Cal’s wedding and—”
“You saw me the very next day when we helped Poppy move in with Theo.”
“I wasn’t ready to tell you.”
I thought back to the wedding and how near Cammie had kept to Lauren. She’d almost missed her cue to sing at the reception because she’d been checking on Lauren upstairs. A surge of anger hit me so intense, I wanted to punch a hole in the plywood office wall. “Cammie knows, doesn’t she?”
Lauren looked guilty for the first time in the conversation. “She kind of figured it out. I have something called HG.”
“Hyperemesis gravidarum,” I said. “I know all about it. Ciara had it with her first kid.”
“Oh,” Lauren said, her eyes widening with surprise. “Well, I have it too. Unfortunately, the smell of coffee does a number on me, so Cammie offered to work here this week while Cal’s away.”
I blew out a breath and tried to get my anger under control. Lauren was sick. She didn’t need me yelling at her on top of feeling like crap. How bad was the HG? Had she needed IV fluids again? Was she on medication? “I’m going to every doctor’s appointment with you from now on.”
“Absolutely not. It will only make it harder for you later.”
“When I take my kid home?” I said. “Doubt it.”
She slapped her hand against what little space remained on the desk. “I already told you. I’m putting the baby up for adoption.”
“And I already told you no. Look, I don’t want to upset you.” Or make you consider other options. “I want to help. HG is a bitch.”
“I know,” she said, narrowing her eyes at me. “But there’s nothing you can do.”
Want to bet, Princess? I pulled my phone from my pocket and called Wyatt. He picked up right before the call went to voicemail.
“Wyatt,” I said, without giving him a chance to say hello. “I need you back at Karma.”
Lauren’s eyes widened, but I didn’t miss the relief on her face.
“Have I done something wrong?” he asked.
“Not at all. You’re just needed here.”
“Um, OK,” he answered.
I figured he had a million questions, but one thing I liked about Wyatt was how willing he was to switch tasks without an explanation. “Head over to Karma now. I’ll text Sam and let him know I pulled you.” Good thing the Harris site was close to Karma.
“Sure. I’m kind of covered in plaster. Am I needed in the back or the front?”
I rubbed my forehead, shifting through a mental roster of all my employees to figure out what I needed to do to pull Wyatt from both sites. “Take a shower and get your ass over here.” After I hung up, I realized I should have asked if he needed a ride to his car. I typed a quick text to Sam, telling him I’d pulled Wyatt for something else and asking him to find the guy a ride if he needed one.
When I looked up from my phone, a tear rolled down Lauren’s cheek. Any lingering anger I had evaporated.
“Thank you,” she said and grabbed a tissue to blot her eyes. “I haven’t been able to replace him.”
I was an asshole. First, I’d stolen her employee and left her understaffed. Then, I got her pregnant. Then I yelled at her for not telling me about it sooner. “He’s here as long as you need him,” I said. I’d work nights if I had to on the Harris site, so I could send another guy over to the housing development site.
“I’ll probably have to tell him I’m pregnant,” Lauren said.
I nodded. “You should. You need all the help you can get. Have you told anyone else?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t want to take away from Rowan’s wedding and honeymoon. Or Poppy’s trip.”
“Yeah. That’s probably smart. Theo’s proposing in Greece, but you didn’t hear that from me.”
She smirked. “No, I heard it from him. I found the ring in his sock drawer when I was helping Poppy move in.”
“Why were you in Theo’s sock drawer?”
Her face turned a beautiful pink. “I wanted to make sure he wasn’t hiding anything. I know he started therapy and that going through someone’s sock drawer is a huge invasion of privacy, but I’ve seen people get creative when they want to self-harm. Finding an engagement ring instead of something he could use to hurt himself was a nice surprise.”
She was looking out for him. Something Cal and I should have been doing all along. Yet again, her kindness hit me straight in the chest. Why didn’t she want to be a mother? She was already mothering everyone around her. Instead of asking her and risk starting another fight, I smiled and said, “Thank you.”
She smiled back and then seemed to remember we weren’t friends. “So, um, thanks for Wyatt,” she said, shuffling random papers on her desk. “I’d appreciate if you didn’t tell Cal or Theo about the baby until I break the news to Rowan and Poppy.”
I nodded. “You can tell them I’m fine with the guys hearing about it from them.”
“I guess that makes sense. You probably don’t want to talk about it.”
My anger spiked again. “No, I just don’t want Rowan and Poppy to have to keep something like that from the guys. They’d hate it.”
Her eyes hardened at my tone. “Got it.”
I shoved down all the things I wanted to say and focused on something I could do that wouldn’t set off an argument. “I’ll take a look at the back door now.”
“Oh,” she said, her cheeks pinking again. “It’s fine. I just needed an excuse to get you here. I didn’t think news like this should be texted.”
I nodded. “I’m still going to oil that door. It sounds like nails on a chalkboard every time it opens.”
“You don’t have to.”
“But I want to,” I said, putting an emphasis on my words, so she understood we were talking about more than a squeaky hinge. “Whatever you need, call me,” I said, rising from the plastic chair.
She stood as well and my eyes immediately went to her midsection. It was too early for her to show, but knowing she was carrying my child made my hands ache to touch her. She noticed me staring and wrapped her arms around her waist. “I’m fine, really.”
In other words, I don’t want your help. OK. But if she wouldn’t let me help her, she needed other people on deck. “You should tell Rowan and Poppy as soon as you can. I know you wanted to wait until after the first trimester, but HG changes things. You need help.” And I cannot keep this news to myself for another six weeks.
She nodded. “I’ll tell them when Poppy gets back from Greece.”
So, a little over a week from now. It’d be difficult, but I could manage that.
“When’s your next doctor’s appointment?”
“Not until the end of May. Unless I get dehydrated like I did at the wedding.”
“The twelve-week ultrasound.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’ll be twelve weeks then, right? That’s when they usually do the first ultrasound. I’d like to be there.”
Lauren shook her head, and I pressed my lips in a firm line. I had six weeks to change her mind. No sense upsetting her now when she clearly felt like shit. “Let me get to work on that door. Would you like me to tell Wyatt about your HG when he gets here?”
She hesitated a moment but nodded. “Yeah, sure. I better get back to work,” she said, dismissing me.
In a daze, I shuffled out to my truck for what I needed, then returned to the back door. The shock of the news wore off as I oiled the hinge. I was going to be a dad. I’d always wanted kids. Four actually. I loved my big family and wanted the same for my own children.
Lauren’s pregnancy may not have been planned, but I couldn’t stop my face-splitting grin. I’d figured it’d be years before I found someone and settled down. If all went well, I’d be a father before the year ended. At least the baby would have enough cousins to act as siblings if I never had more children.
I hung around in the parking lot behind Karma after I finished oiling the door, waiting for Wyatt to arrive.
“Hey,” I said as he walked toward me, his eyes full of questions.
“Hey, Aiden.”
I couldn’t believe the first person I’d tell the biggest news of my life was a guy who’d just started working for me full time. I swallowed my disappointment and looked Wyatt in the eyes.
“So, Lauren and I are having a baby.” But we weren’t, were we? Lauren was pregnant with my kid. She wanted nothing to do with the baby or me. Her womb might as well be a lockbox for how much power I had until she gave birth.
Wyatt’s eyes widened, then hardened as he folded his arms across his chest. “I hadn’t realized you two were together.”
His tone sounded off. Almost challenging.
“We’re not. Not that it’s any of your business.”
“Lauren is my business,” he said with a glare.
What the fuck? Wyatt had always been so easygoing. Did he like her? Of course he liked her. Lauren was kind and loving to everyone but me. I’d watched her interact with Wyatt several times at the café and never picked up on an attraction, mutual or one-sided.
“Do you intend to help her?” he asked, stepping closer.
The guy wasn’t small, but I could easily take him in a fight. Not to mention, I was his boss. Something in his expression felt familiar. My chest squeezed when it clicked that he reminded me of Logan.
“As much as she’ll let me,” I answered honestly.
Wyatt nodded and uncrossed his arms, further confirming my suspicion that his feelings for Lauren fell into the brotherly category.
That I could work with. “She’s got terrible morning sickness, and she hasn’t found your replacement. She needs to rest more, so I’d like you to fill in here until she hires someone.”
Wyatt nodded. “I’ll work as many hours as she needs me.”
“Don’t worry about the pay difference. I’ll make it up.”
Wyatt narrowed his eyes. “If she needs me, I’m here. You don’t have to make up the difference.”
“But I am,” I said.
Wyatt studied me a moment. “I’d rather you just kept me on the company’s health plan.” He cleared his throat, looking slightly embarrassed. “I’m diabetic and insulin costs a fortune.”
He’d never mentioned his health before, but I guess admitting I’d impregnated the woman he cared about enough to go toe to toe with his boss had put us in a different place.
“Deal. Just do whatever you can to make Lauren’s life easier.”
His face suddenly broke into a huge smile, like he’d been holding it back through our entire conversation until he confirmed I wasn’t a deadbeat. “So you’re going to be a dad?”
Something sparked through me that felt an awful lot like hope. I couldn’t stop the smile on my face. “Yeah, well, it’s still really early. You and Cammie are actually the only people who know for now.”
Wyatt made a zipper motion across his lips.
I should tell him that Lauren didn’t want the baby, but I couldn’t bring myself to say the words. “If you could give me updates on how she’s doing from time to time, I’d appreciate it.”
“I take it she’s not updating you herself?” he asked. The edge had gone from his voice. If anything, he sounded sympathetic, which meant he probably understood how closed off Lauren could be.
I shook my head.
“Yeah, sure,” he said, and more questions formed in his eyes. Thankfully, he kept them to himself. “I’ll check in with you.”
“If there’s anything I can do to help, let me know.”
“Got it. I better get in there,” he said, pointing to the door I’d just oiled.
As soon as the door shut behind him, I pulled out my phone and started a text to Cammie.
I want updates. You owe me.
I reread the text and deleted it. Cammie wasn’t an ally I could afford to lose.
Please keep me updated. I’m worried
I was taking down a wall at the Harris site when my phone buzzed in my pocket.
You have my word
Some of the tension in my shoulders eased. Between Wyatt and Cammie, I’d get a decent picture of how Lauren was doing. Spying on the mother of my child wasn’t the greatest thing I’d ever done. But what could I do? Lauren had left me no choice.