Chapter 26 #2
The bar wasn’t crowded, as it was still a good two hours before people normally packed themselves in. That made it easy to spot Holden and Chloe, sitting at the bar in the front room, their backs to us.
Taking Rowan’s hand, I led her toward them, weaving us between tables and people.
“Hello,” I said, sticking my head between Holden and Chloe, who had an order of fries in front of them.
They both turned and greeted us. Chloe and Rowan hugged, and Rowan sat on the stool next to Chloe. They easily fell into conversation.
“Romantic night out, huh?” I teased Holden.
He laughed. “With a little one at home, you take what you can get. You might not remember what that’s like, but you’ll have a big refresher soon. Chloe didn’t want to miss Everly.”
“Where’s Sutton tonight?”
“At her grandparents’. My dad and Faye’s house has become like a weekend bed-and-breakfast service for the under-ten crowd. They love it.”
“The kids or the grandparents?”
“Both,” he said with a laugh. “They’ve got Mason and Eliza’s three as well this evening, so Sutton’s having cousin fun.”
I’d met Mason and Eliza North a few times. The North family and the Henrys had become one big clan when Holden’s sister, Hayden, had married Zane North, and then the Henry patriarch, Simon, and the North matriarch, Faye, had fallen in love and gotten hitched as well.
“You’re lucky to have that kind of support,” I said, unable to imagine what my life would’ve been like if my parents had ever doted on Sam.
I’d been so hopeful, when Erin was pregnant with our daughter, that my parents would be won over. It’d taken them nearly a week after we got home from the hospital to stop by and meet their only granddaughter. That lack of priority had finally drilled into my head that my parents truly didn’t care.
“Faye and my dad are a godsend,” Holden said.
“They’re at seven minutes,” Chloe announced excitedly, reading from a message on her phone.
“Ava’s flirting with labor,” Holden explained. “Contractions started a couple of hours ago.”
“Cash is working tonight, trying to finish his shift before things get serious. Anna’s with Ava, sending me updates,” Chloe said.
“That’s… I can’t even imagine,” Rowan said. “Terrifying? Exciting?”
“All the above,” Chloe confirmed. “She’s doing a home birth, so at least her husband won’t have a chance to crash his car in a panic to get to the hospital.” The look she sent Holden was full of both love and laughter.
“Top of the list for things I’ll never live down,” Holden said.
“You wrecked on the way to the hospital?” Rowan asked.
“Not exactly,” he replied.
Chloe laughed. “It’s worse.” She explained how it’d been during Rusty Anchor’s first evening event, where we’d highlighted some seasonal brews. She’d had contractions throughout the day and had pleaded with their unborn baby to give them a few more hours so Holden could finish the event.
“Baby didn’t agree?” Rowan asked.
“Of course not. Sutton was stubborn even then. My water broke, so I had to tell Holden. He freaked out so much he put his precious car into gear instead of reverse and accelerated right into the concrete loading dock at the brewery.”
I laughed even though I’d heard the story multiple times before.
Rowan’s eyes went big, and she covered her mouth with her hand, holding in a laugh at the guy who signed her paycheck.
“Presley ended up driving us to the hospital for obvious reasons,” Chloe said.
“Presley to the rescue,” Rowan said.
“My brother only has to get from Henry’s to their house behind the inn,” Holden said. “Not even a mile.”
“I can’t believe he’s working.” I shook my head.
“Zinnia, the sous chef, had something in Nashville tonight,” Chloe explained, “so he’s at least trying to get through the dinner rush. So far their baby’s going along with it.” She checked the time on her phone again.
“Are you going over there to be with her?” Rowan asked.
“Ava decided just Cash and her midwife,” Chloe said. “A private family thing, which I totally get. Even if I will be dying to see that baby!”
“They deserve their calm before the Henry-North storm, just like we had,” Holden said.
“So true.” Chloe pointed to an area against the wall, close to where we were. “There’s Gin. She’s Everly’s producer. She’s handling sound tonight.”
It took less than ten minutes for Gin to set up a microphone, a stool, and some other equipment.
As she worked, I pulled my phone out and checked Sam’s location.
When I saw she was exactly where she was supposed to be, I let out my breath.
Maybe we’d turned a corner now that Lacey was out of the picture.
Everly made her way to the stool, introduced herself unnecessarily since everyone in town and most of the country knew who she was, and started singing and playing her guitar.
Within seconds, Rowan abandoned her stool and came to stand in front of me as the space filled up seemingly from nowhere with people gathering closer to Everly.
Raphael, the manager of the Fly, stood to one side, ensuring people gave Everly plenty of space.
Ben and Emerson joined us, only missing the first song.
A few songs in, Rowan leaned her back against me.
Without thinking about it, I put my arms around her from behind, then kissed the top of her head.
As soon as I did it, I wondered what the fuck I was doing.
Trying to play it off, I kept my arms where they were and waited for any reaction from Rowan, holding my breath.
She turned her head to the side, and I thought she was going to say something. Instead she nuzzled it into my chest, just for a second, then rested her hand on one of mine.
Okay then. If she was okay with this, then so was I. So fucking okay.
Now that we weren’t trying to hide her pregnancy, my guard was down. My body was confused. Or maybe my brain was, because actually, my body had a damn good idea of what it craved: the woman in my arms.
We remained entwined like that, with me more focused on Rowan than the music—her scent, the sway of her sexy hips to the beat, the way her body felt up against mine, as if it belonged there.
By about four songs in, I was hard as stone. I was sure Rowan could feel it. As she pressed even closer to me, she wove our fingers together. I took it as a good sign that she was as lost in the moment as I was.
Everly played for an hour. In the middle of her last song for the night, I leaned down to Rowan’s ear.
“Are you ready to get out of here?” I asked her.
She met my gaze briefly, a sparkle in her eyes, and nodded.
With a wave toward Chloe, Holden, Ben, and Emerson, we headed through the throng of people toward the door, her hand in mine. I was so hard it hurt to walk.
When we got outside, I breathed in the brisk night air and tried to shake off the spell I’d been under from having my hands on Rowan for the past hour.
As we made our way down the sidewalk, she wove her arm through mine and held on.
“That was the coolest thing ever,” she said. “Thank you, Chance.”
“I thought you’d enjoy it. I did too. Her new songs are different. Better. Deeper.”
“I read that one of the reasons she went indie was to write and sing what she wants. I still love her old stuff too, but I’d agree her new songs are even better.”
We turned onto Main, which was llamaless and a lot less populated now that the bakery had closed and the diner was closing soon. As we walked by the yarn shop, Rowan slowed and peered in the display windows.
“Looking for your next project already?” I asked.
She scoffed. “I’ll be lucky to get through one blanket before I’m fifty.”
When she and Sam had come home from their knitting lesson last Sunday, my daughter had been bubbling over with enthusiasm for the scarf she’d started.
Rowan had cracked jokes at her own expense, claiming she didn’t apparently have the knitting gene.
But she’d sung high praises to Loretta’s patience and had sworn she was determined to finish her baby blanket.
“Our baby might need that blanket for his or her baby by then,” I joked.
“I was looking for Purl, but surely Loretta takes the cat home at night?”
“I’ve seen photos on the Tattler. She has a modified baby buggy and wheels the cat the half block to her home each night.”
Rowan laughed and snuggled closer to me.
When we reached my SUV, I helped her into the passenger side.
I was reluctant to let go of her because I didn’t know where the evening was heading, and I wasn’t ready for it to be over.
She seemed as into our connection as I was.
We’d had multiple conversations about friends only, yet here we were, crossing lines.
Not only was my dating game fifteen years outdated, but our situation was unique. On top of all the gray areas in our “relationship” was the fact that Rowan was pregnant. Was it wrong to want to take your baby mama to bed?
As I went around to my side of the vehicle, the only thing I was sure about was that I didn’t want our evening together to end yet.