Chapter 29
Rina
As soon as I step into Lakeshore Sweets, warmth rushes over me. The air is thick with the buttery scent of something fresh from the oven, mingled with coffee beans.
It’s heaven.
Or it would be if I weren’t nauseous.
Behind the counter, Callie slides a tray of golden croissants into the display case, her cheeks still pink from the heat of the kitchen. Sloane rings up a customer with her usual cut-through-the-bullshit attitude, and Lilah comes through the swinging door balancing a pan of muffins.
I lift a brow. “You work here now?”
She grins. “Just helping out for a few hours.”
With a smile, Callie gives me a little wave. “Hey. I wasn’t sure if you were stopping by this morning. Everything good?” There’s a slight pause. “You look a little pale.” Instead of waiting for an answer, she tilts her head toward our corner. “Go sit. I’ll bring you tea.”
“I’m fine.” Without saying anything more, I settle at our usual table and press my palms flat against the wooden surface, as if the solid feel will help steady my nerves.
My heart thunders so hard it feels like it might crack my ribs. I’ve been going back and forth for days, caught between wanting to hold my secret close and needing to let it out. The second I tell them what’s going on, it becomes real in a way that’s impossible to ignore.
But I can’t keep this to myself anymore. I need my girls to ground me. To hold me together when it feels like I’m seconds away from splintering apart.
As I wait, I glance toward the counter and catch the ordinary flow of their lives.
The easy way they move together, the laughter that floats above the music playing in the background.
Lilah has a calmness about her that feels Zen.
It’s steady and sure, as if she’s already built a life that fits her.
Callie glows these days, softer but stronger somehow, as if her relationship with River has reshaped her from the inside out.
And Sloane? Well, she’s dynamite wrapped in eyeliner and confidence.
They all seem so certain of who they are.
I used to be like that.
Now it feels like I’m standing in quicksand, unsure which way is solid ground.
After they gather around, mugs and muffins scattered between us, I don’t give myself time to reconsider my decision.
“I’m pregnant,” I blurt.
A shocked silence follows, stretching just long enough to make me squirm.
A memory flashes in my head before I can stop it, of sitting on the bathroom floor, the test balanced on the edge of the sink, my hands shaking too hard to hold it steady. I remember the way I froze when those two pink lines appeared, how everything inside me went quiet and loud all at once.
Lilah blinks. “As in… pregnant-pregnant?”
“Yeah,” I croak, heat crawling up my neck. “Pregnant-pregnant.”
Sloane nearly chokes on her latte, coughing as her eyes bug out. Callie slaps a hand over her mouth to muffle a shocked squeak.
“So… who’s the baby daddy?” Sloane demands once she recovers.
“Is it someone we know?” Lilah tacks on quickly.
I swallow hard and brace myself for their reaction. “It’s Oliver.”
There’s another beat of stunned silence.
Or maybe five of them.
“Oliver freaking Van Doren is Big D?” Sloane whisper yells.
I groan. “I really hate you saw that on my phone.”
Lilah’s lips twitch before she breaks into laughter. “Wait. So the Big O is actually the Big D?”
Callie’s shoulders shake as a chuckle slips free. “Oh my God. Every time those rumors popped up, I thought they had to be exaggerated. It would seem as if they weren’t exaggerated enough.”
Sloane leans forward, eyes bright with glee. “Okay, I need details. Was this a one-time thing? A repeat offense? Or are we talking full-blown, exclusive access to the Big D? Tell me. I need to know.”
“Stop calling him that!” I bury my face in my hands. “Contrary to what you think, this isn’t funny.”
“Actually, it’s hilarious,” Sloane says, grinning wickedly. “Shocking, for sure, but hilarious nonetheless. You swore you’d never touch a hockey player. Especially that specific hockey player. And I have the receipts if you try to deny it.”
“I know,” I mutter. “Trust me, I do. It started out as a one-time thing—a lapse in judgment—and then…” I shrug, shoulders jerking. “I don’t know. Suddenly we were hooking up, and I couldn’t stop. It was just too damn good.”
Sloane’s lips twitch. “So, the Big O really knows how to give the big O.”
I jab a finger at my belly. “All I’ll say is if he didn’t, I wouldn’t be in this predicament.”
“The Big O will get you every time,” she says, trying to hold a straight face and failing miserably.
Their easy conversation fills the bakery. And for a second, the tension filling my muscles dissolves enough for me to smile.
It feels good.
Almost normal.
Their laughter fades gradually, leaving a rich warmth in its wake. Beneath all the teasing, there’s love. Steady, protective, and familiar. It’s the kind of safety I didn’t realize I was desperate for until this very minute.
“So, what happens now?” Lilah asks, her tone gentle.
I watch the steam curl from my untouched tea, as if the answer will rise with it if I stare hard enough.
“I don’t know. For the first time in my life, I don’t have a solid game plan.
I’m terrified of losing everything I’ve worked for.
My independence, my reputation, the career that finally feels like mine. ”
The table falls silent as my confession hangs in the air like a struck chord.
“Does Oliver know?” Callie asks.
I nod. “Yeah, he’s aware of the situation.”
Her brows shoot up. “What was his reaction?”
“I swear to God, if he freaked out or asked for a paternity test, I will find him and punch him in the face,” Sloane growls, her good humor vanishing in the blink of an eye.
My lips tremble because I know she isn’t bluffing. “Not at all. When I told him, he said I was moving in with him so he could take care of me.” My hand drifts to my belly. “Of us.”
A quiet smile spreads across Lilah’s face, the kind she’s worn ever since finding out about her own pregnancy. “Aww, the Big O actually wants to be a Big D.”
Sloane snorts and her shoulders shake. “That is so bad. But I love it.”
“You’re never going to let that go, are you?” I ask with a groan.
All three grin.
“Nope,” Sloane says, popping the P like she’s sealing the deal. “There’s way too much mileage in that one.”
Callie reaches across the table and wraps her hand around mine.
Her touch is warm and steady. “I know this isn’t what you pictured for your future, and Oliver isn’t the man you pictured it with, but maybe that’s okay.
Sometimes the best things happen when we least expect them, with the people we least expect them with. I think Lilah and I are proof of that.”
A lump forms in my throat as emotion swells too fast to swallow down. “The jury’s still out on that one. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
Lilah lays her hand over mine, the curve of her lips turning into something tender. “Now we get to go through this together. And selfishly, I’m grateful for that.”
“Me too,” I say, actually meaning it.
Sloane lifts her mug in a mock toast. “To unplanned pregnancies and hockey players who live up to the Big O name.”
Laughter bursts around the table, shaking loose the tension that’s been knotted up inside me for days.
Somewhere beneath it, though, a small part of me recognizes that my secret won’t stay contained forever.
The Railers live under a microscope, and sooner or later, someone’s going to notice what I’ve been trying so hard to hide.
But for the moment, I let it go. The tension between my shoulders finally eases, and my lungs expand fully for the first time in days.
I can still hear Oliver’s steady and infuriatingly sincere voice in the back of my mind.
I’m never letting you go. Not in this life. Or any other.
For the first time, I’m tempted to believe he might actually mean it.
The comforting scent of tea lingers in the air as I wrap both hands around my mug, letting the warmth sink all the way to my bones. Maybe I don’t have a plan or all the answers, but I have my friends.
And right now, that feels like enough.