Chapter Twenty-Four Tori
Chapter Twenty-Four
Tori
Two weeks later
“They got extended,” Maisie said, shaking her head slightly. “Sometimes they’re out for as long as a month.” I’d just stopped by Firehouse Café and encountered Maisie there at the counter.
“I heard they haven’t gotten any rain up there yet either,” I added. I took a swallow of coffee, willing the churn of my anxiety to slow inside. I missed Kincaid, and I didn’t even know what to do with that feeling.
“I miss Beck,” Maisie said flatly.
Casey tipped her head to the side. “Completely understand. I always miss Leo when he’s out working.”
All of a sudden, Maisie turned toward me. “Do you miss Kincaid?”
My cheeks burned. I tried to play it cool before I gave up and let out a little laugh. “Yes, I do. In all honesty, I miss him a lot.”
“It’s not great, but you’ll get used to it,” she offered matter-of-factly.
“Will I, though?” I couldn’t help but ask.
Casey sighed. “You’ll have to if you’re going to stay with him. If you don’t want to get used to it, well, you'd better stay away from the firefighters.”
I snorted. “There’s a lot of firefighters in Willow Brook.”
“Tell me about it,” Luna said dryly.
“How serious are you two?” Casey asked.
I paused, contemplating that question, as much for myself as for trying to answer. “I don’t know,” I said slowly.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Maisie asked, her brows rising.
“I don’t know,” was all I could offer in return. I wished I knew how serious we were. I knew my feelings were starting to feel big in a way I’d never expected. Against my better judgment, Kincaid had knocked away my defenses, and I hadn’t even seen him coming.
Just then, a cluster of customers came in, and Casey and Luna shifted into work mode to wait on them. Maisie dragged me over to a table. “I need company—adult company,” she explained as we sat down.
My brows hitched up. “Adult company?”
“Well, yes. I spent the whole morning with the kids. Beck is so good when he’s here.
He helps a lot with the kids. So when he’s gone…
” She shrugged. “I love being a mom, but sometimes talking to children under the age of six for hours on end makes me desperate to talk to adults.” She straightened in her chair, her eyes brightening.
“Tell me about you and Kincaid. We can clarify just how serious you are. I’m here for you. ”
“Maisie,” I sputtered. “I don’t know. Plus, I have trust issues.”
Just then, the bell above the door jingled, and I glanced over. For a moment, I wondered where I’d seen the woman who came in. In a flash, I remembered.
“What? Who’s that?” Maisie asked.
“Oh, my gosh. I waited on that woman a while ago. She was here on a divorce trip because, well, she got divorced. She had some friends with her. They were a fun group and left me a huge tip. I don’t remember her name, though.”
I shifted my focus back to Maisie. “Anyway, I have trust issues. You heard the whole story about what happened with my parents. I’ll figure it out, but I’m not ready to say I’m serious with Kincaid yet.”
“But what if you are serious and your trust issues are just getting in the way of you acknowledging your feelings?” Maisie said, completely serious.
“Maisie!” She was so spot on, I shifted restlessly in my chair, feeling a little defensive.
“She’s not wrong,” a voice said from the table beside us.
We both glanced over together. The woman sitting there smiled. “Sorry, our tables are so close, I couldn’t help but overhear. I’m a psychic.”
“Really?” Maisie replied, completely focused on her now.
“Yes. I just moved to Willow Brook from Anchorage. I wanted to be in a smaller town.” She gestured around the café with her hand. She was an older woman with wispy silver hair and twinkling brown eyes.
“I hope you like it here,” Maisie said. “So, can you tell us her fortune? Are her and Kincaid going to fall in love and live happily ever after?”
“Maisie!” I protested again.
She giggled. “What’s the harm in asking? You might as well find out. It might help with your trust issues.”
Before I knew what was happening, this woman was seated at the table with us, reading my palm. She explained that I would have one child with a man I currently knew. “That’s all I can see. I can’t see more, and I can’t see which man.”
“My guess is it’s Kincaid,” Maisie cut in with authority.
“Oh, my God,” I murmured with a sigh. Although I told myself not to take this too seriously, my little heart clapped with hope.
Later that week
I stared at the blue line. There were two of them, actually.
“I can’t be pregnant. We used condoms,” I said out loud, all by myself in my bathroom.
I was sitting on the toilet. Because, I suppose, that’s where one sat for this kind of news.
“Oh, my God,” my voice fell to a whisper.
My mind zoomed back to the woman who read my palm and predicted I’d have one child with a man I already knew. I gasped.
Bella appeared in the doorway, nudging her head against my knees, while I was still staring at the pregnancy test in disbelief.
When she lightly bumped my knee again, I glanced down, meeting her worried gaze.
Even if her brown eyes were cloudy these days, I felt like I could still see her heart in them.
No matter what, the love I felt from her grounded me.
“It’s going to be fine,” I told her.
She rubbed her head back and forth against my knee. Even though emotion was rising in a sharp crescendo inside me with tears stinging my throat and eyes, I laughed softly and reached to scratch behind her ears. I took several deep breaths.
“I don’t know what to do,” I said, still speaking out loud, my voice bouncing off the walls.
Another nudge on my knee from Bella. I scratched behind her ears again.
“What should I do?” I asked her.
She peered up at me, nothing but love radiating from her graying, loyal face. Her little half-tail wagged slowly back and forth, like she already knew the answer and was just waiting for me to catch up. I desperately wished Kincaid was back home.
And yet, I didn’t even know if I was ready to tell him this.
“We used birth control,” I murmured again, weakly, as if I could try to logic myself out of what I already knew.
I tried to replay our encounters in my head, but they were all a blur.
I knew there had to have been one or two points where he teased his thick crown through my folds before he filled me and before he remembered to put the condom on.
Hell, if it had been my job to put a condom on, I couldn’t say I would have remembered.
“I can’t have a baby,” I announced to myself, idly stroking my fingertips through the soft hair along Bella’s back.
I didn’t know what I was going to do. And, I really didn’t know what I was going to tell Kincaid.
“Oh my God,” I murmured again.