Chapter Thirty-Five
Ellie
Monday morning rolled around, and the girls and I were at the bookstore bright and early. After our wedding one week ago, Mark had taken over running the bookstore for the week so we could have time to adjust as a family.
Today was our first day back. News had spread of our marriage throughout town, so I expected a lot of visitors today. Sam was bringing Charlie in, so the girls would be happy. Beck and Rachel were planning to stop by also.
I heard the bell over the door jingle and when I looked up, Trudy was walking in with two coffees and a bag.
“I have a bone to pick with you, Mrs. Thomas.” She stood there, the hand holding the bag on her hip, which was cocked to the side.
“I am so sorry, Trudy, everything happened so fast. We are going to have a real wedding, though, and the entire town will be invited.”
“Oh, I’m just teasing,” she said, walking to the counter and placing her items down before wrapping me in a hug. “I am so happy for you both. You will be the best mom for those girls.”
The door jingled again, and Sam and Charlie came in.
“Morning, Trudy.”
“Morning, Samantha. Morning, Charlie.”
“Hi, Miss Trudy. Momma, can I go find Chrissy and Tabby?”
“Yes, you may.”
“They’re over on the couch, Charlie,” I said, pointing to the children’s section. “I bought some markers and paper for the girls to draw today.”
“Oh, I bet they will love that,” Sam said, dropping into a chair in the corner.
“Are you ok?” I asked. She looked a little flushed.
“I am exhausted. But at least I’m not puking my guts up like Beck. I was so sick with Charlie. Jack is hoping that because this time is different, it will be a boy.” Sam chuckled.
“Oh my, I didn’t know you were having a baby. That’s so exciting,” Trudy exclaimed.
“Thank you. We found out right before the book signing. Charlie is over the moon.”
I kept quiet, listening to Sam and Trudy talk about her pregnancy. Ryder and I hadn’t discussed telling anyone yet, outside the club and his parents anyway.
Trudy said her goodbyes after a few minutes, and then, it was just Sam and me.
Sam walked over and sniffed my cup. “Oh, how I miss coffee.”
“You aren’t drinking coffee?”
“No, too much caffeine isn’t good for the baby, and I have no willpower, so I quit cold turkey.”
I looked at the cup Trudy had brought in. She knew just how I liked it, and I stared at it, wondering if I should throw it out.
“One a day is fine, Ellie.” Sam said, pushing the coffee toward me.
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.”
I was so grateful to have friends going through this with me. I never told my mother about the baby when she was here. After what she did, this wasn’t something I wanted to share with her.
Sam had been pregnant before. She knew the rules and I trusted her. So, I took a sip of the sugary sweetness of Trudy’s coffee. I wasn’t a huge coffee drinker, so I figured one would be ok.
Sam sat in the corner and read while I worked on some inventory. Ryder had been asked to help out with the club today, and I gladly sent him along. We were in this together and the bookstore was far from a stress endeavor.
The women in town popped in throughout the morning. Most congratulating me, a few stopped in to meet the woman that had taken Ryder off the market. I could see in their eyes they found me lacking.
I wasn’t intimidated.
I had dealt with women like that my whole life, growing up in New York.
It was midafternoon, and Beck, Rachel, and Grace had stopped in with lunch for us. I was starving, so the gesture was sweet and made me a little weepy.
“Oh God, are you going to cry every time we do something for you?” Beck groaned.
“Probably, just like you will bitch at me every time I do.”
The girls laughed at our banter, and we dished out the food on the small table Ryder kept in the store. I needed to talk to him about expanding to add a larger seating area.
I had noticed the storefront to our left was empty. It would be a great way to add business. With a seating area, people could hold book clubs and meetings here. The key was getting people into the store. Once they were in, selling to them was the easy part.
Beck took a bite of her sandwich and turned green. She ran to the bathroom, and we knew she was feeling sick.
“Well, if anyone is taking notes, I no longer eat tuna,” she said, coming back from the restroom.
“Do you want to try some of mine? It’s just turkey and cheese,” I offered.
“Thank you.” Beck took a bite and moaned. “Oh my God, this is so good,” she said around a mouth full of food.
She finished chewing, and once she swallowed, she closed her eyes and sat still like a statue.
“Are you ok?” Grace asked.
“Yup, just waiting to see if the baby likes it.”
She sat in her chair for a full five minutes before she hesitantly took another bite. Then followed the process again. After the fourth bite, she looked at me with tears in her eyes.
“Can I have this?” she whispered.
“Of course you can. I’ll eat yours.”
I hated tuna, but seeing the look on Beck’s face, knowing she had found something the baby didn’t object to was worth eating the peanut butter and jelly sandwich I had brought downstairs with me.
“I need to know exactly what is on this. This will be all I’ll eat for the next six months,” she declared, taking another bite.
She ate with gusto. We all watched in awe, realizing she was probably so hungry because nothing she ate stayed down.
“I’ll write it down for you and text a copy to Blade,” Rachel said. She had been the one to order lunch.
I ate my peanut butter and jelly sandwich happily, knowing my friend was able to eat also.
“Ellie, you are so lucky you haven’t had any morning sickness.”
“What? You’re pregnant? Is that why he married you?”
We all turned toward the door. We had been so caught up in Beck’s eating we didn’t hear the door jingle when Avery and Lily walked in.
“He married her because he loves her, Avery.” Lily elbowed the girl’s nanny. Then walked over to sit with us.
“He barely knows her,” Avery pointed out.
“Listen, Avery. We all know you had a crush on Ryder, but the fact is, you are just too young for him, and you know that.” Grace, the abrupt one of the group, laid it out, and Avery’s face fell.
I stood and walked over to the young girl.
“I am sorry, Avery. I know everything happened really fast. Ryder and I were going to tell you this afternoon. We haven’t told the girls yet. We wanted to talk to you first and have you there when we tell them.”
Avery looked around at where the girls were sitting as a wave of sadness appeared in her eyes.
“Hey,” I said, waiting for her to look back at me. “Nothing is going to change.”
“They don’t need me anymore, now that you’re their mom.”
“That’s not true,” I told her, resting my hand on her arm. “You are not losing your job, or your relationship with the girls. With Ryder in the club, he won’t always be available to work at the store, which means I will be. We still need you to help out. Nothing is going to change for you.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, looking back at the girls again.
“I’m sure. And besides, I’m having a baby. I need all the help I can get,” I said with a laugh. “You know the girls well, and I still have a lot to learn.”
“Ok.” Avery smiled at me, and I pulled her in for a hug.
“Watch out, Avery, Ellie has the weepy hormones,” Beck called out.
“Better than your stabby ones.” Rachel laughed.
Beck just shrugged and continued to eat her sandwich.
“Avery!” Chrissy came running toward us and launched herself into Avery’s arms.
“That is why you will always be needed here. Because you are wanted,” I told her.
As she lifted Chrissy from the floor, she mouthed, thank you .
“Avery, guess what!”
“What?” Avery answered.
“Daddy married Mama.”
Just as Chrissy shared her news, not knowing Avery already knew, the bell above the door jingled and a woman walked in.
“Ryder got married?” the woman asked.
I looked her over. She was tall with long brown hair. Her waist was thin, but her ass flared out. She obviously knew him, but I didn’t know who she was. I hadn’t seen her around town before.
Avery spun around, setting Chrissy on the floor, and pushed my daughter behind her. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. Avery knew who this was and felt the need to protect Chrissy from her.
Suddenly, I realized why.
This must be Tammi.
Ryder’s ex-wife.
I moved to take Chrissy’s hand and walked her over to Sam.
“Please take her over with Tabby.”
Sam took Chrissy’s hand and started to walk away.
“Chrissy, honey, come to Mommy,” the woman crooned, confirming my suspicions.
“You are not their mother,” Avery hissed.
“Oh, Avery, stop. You will never take my place. Your little crush on my husband was cute, but it’s time to grow up.”
“Ex-husband.”
“Well, we’ll see about that. Where is Ryder, anyway?” she asked, walking further into the store.
“You are not welcome here, Tammi.”
Tammi turned toward Rachel. “Well, well, well. Still sniffing after Ryder, huh? Did he finally give in and pity fuck you? So pathetic. I know he didn’t marry you, so who did he marry?”
Tammi looked around until her eyes landed on me. Grace stepped up next to me, crossing her arms over her chest. She had a look that dared Tammi to say something.
“Why are you here?”
I saw Tammi’s face pale when Beck spoke. Then, she stood a little taller, threw her shoulders back, and turned around. She wanted to appear confident, but that confidence she walked in with diminished at the sound of Beck’s voice.
“You came back.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“To get the man I was meant to spend the rest of my life with.”
Tammi stood stiffly, her hands fisted at her sides. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but everyone was quiet while we waited for Tammi to respond.
“You aren’t supposed to be here. You left. You said you were never coming back.”
“Well, when I came back to visit and found my soulmate was available, I grabbed on and decided to never let him go.”
“He didn’t want you. That’s why he was with me.”
“He was with you because you trapped him into marriage by getting pregnant. Then you ran like the little bitch you are.”
I was confused. It sounded like they were talking about Ryder, but Beck was with Blade. Blade was her soulmate. Unless Tammi had been with Blade? Did she know he was alive?
“Mama.”
I turned toward Tabby’s voice, rushing over and picking her up.
Tammi turned and glared at me.
“Sorry, Ellie, she slipped past me.”
“It’s ok, Sam.”
Tammi looked between me and Beck. Her confusion was clear.
“What the hell is going on here? Why is my daughter calling you mama?”
The bell over the door jingled and the angry voice that answered was one I had never heard.
His cold tone pierced me to my bones when he said, “Because Ellie is her mother, not you. What the fuck are you doing here?”