Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Magnolia
“I’m baaaaack!” Noah singsongs into the phone when I answer it.
“About goddamn time! Do you know how long two weeks is? You were gone forever!”
“I know! I’ve never been disconnected for so long, and although it was so nice, I feel like I’ve missed so much.”
That’d be an understatement.
“I can’t wait to see you! I have so much to share,” I say as I stare at the boxes of pregnancy tests on my counter.
After being sick all weekend and having a bad reaction to the smell of eggs, I need to double-check I’m not knocked up for my own sanity before I see Tripp again.
“Speaking of, have you heard about the robberies in town?”
“Yeah, I came back to a dozen texts from my brothers about it and some random car explosion. What the fuck was that about? I hope they catch him soon because now that everyone’s on alert, they’ll be keepin’ their shotguns close by and loaded.”
I chuckle because it’s true. “Hittin’ stores at night is one thing because you’re racing against time before the cops show up, but doing it in broad daylight when people are shopping is just askin’ to get shot.”
“Exactly what I said!” She laughs. “I can’t wait to show you all the photos I took. Even ran into a group of hot college guys and showed them my single bestie’s photos. Might’ve gotten some numbers for ya.”
I snort, picturing her doing just that. “And were any of ’em local?”
“From France, but their accents...” Her dreamy sigh has me giggling.
“You just want me to marry a French man so you can listen to him talk all day.”
“Duh.” She laughs and then continues telling me about a few of the things they did on their honeymoon. As much as I missed her and want to talk, the possibility I could be pregnant has my mind too distracted.
Considering Tripp and I only had sex three days ago, I know it wouldn’t be his.
And that would be fucking devastating.
My birth control is for a three-month supply at a time, and I take them religiously on time every morning before work.
The only times I’ve taken them late are when I was sick and slept in.
And since that was after Travis and I had sex, that’d mean the condom Travis used either broke or was expired.
Even though the pill isn’t a hundred percent effective, the condom should’ve been a solid backup.
Knowing how irresponsible and cheap he is, he probably got a condom from a quarter vending machine.
“Mags? You there?” Noah’s voice beams in my ear, and I snap out of it.
“Yep, sorry. Just, uh...cleaning and watching Hart of Dixie.” I lean back on the couch and prop my feet up on the coffee table.
She gasps. “Without me? How dare you?”
“As if we haven’t seen it eighty million times. Plus, it’s just on in the background while I get shit done around the house.”
“Forever Team George.”
I scoff. “You mean Team Wade. I know you like ’em older and all...but no. Bad boy underdog for the win.”
“Oh my God. George ain’t old.”
I snicker at how offended she sounds. “Guess I shouldn’t tell you I was blastin’ a Taylor Swift playlist earlier and baking muffins.”
“Magnolia Sutherland! You’re doing all our favorite things without me.” Her sad, pouty voice makes me laugh.
“Well, I gotta get shit done! Not all of us can go on a two-week honeymoon to the island of bumfuck nowhere. Plus, when I’m home, it gets lonely, so I needed Taylor and Wade to keep me company.”
“Are you at least rememberin’ to feed yourself?”
The thought of food makes me want to throw up. “Mm-hmm.”
“More than girl dinner snacks?”
“Froot Loops is totally an acceptable dinner,” I say, knowing she’s going to scold me. “Oh, and Hot Cheetos.”
She snorts. “Glad nothin’ changed while I was gone.”
“Hey, cookin’ for one person is hard.”
“You can eat at The Lodge on the days you’re workin’ there.”
“By myself?”
“I’m sure you could convince Landen to go with you. He eats like eight times a day.”
“He really does! And where does it all go?” The man has muscles for days.
“No clue. Have you seen him lately? How’s he doing since Sydney?”
“I haven’t seen him since that night, and he’s not replying to my text messages. So I don’t think very well.”
“I feel awful that I wasn’t here. He loved her so much. Tripp said he went into the woods and just started chopping wood.” The sadness in her voice mimics how we all felt when it happened.
“He usually visits me when I’m at the retreat, so I’ll try to talk to him tomorrow. Speaking of, when do I get to see my best friend again?”
“I’m unpacking and doing laundry today, and then I train in the morning, but I’ll stop by to see you in the afternoon when you aren’t as busy. Plus, I miss my specialty Magnolia coffee.”
“You better not have been cheatin’ on me while you were away.”
“Never! It was a strict diet of alcohol and greasy foods.”
At the mention of greasy food, my stomach rolls, and I swallow down whatever just threatened to come up. Either I suddenly have an aversion to food or something is making me nauseous all the damn time.
“Hey, my dad’s calling, and I wanna make sure everything’s okay,” I say.
“No problem. I’ll see ya tomorrow!”
“K, love you.”
“Love you, bye!”
I quickly click over to the other line. “Hey, Dad. You alright?”
“I was callin’ to ask you the same thing.”
I sit up straighter on the couch. “What’d ya mean?”
“I just heard on the scanner that a bunch of cars got broken into this afternoon off Second and Sheboygan.”
That’s only a few blocks from me.
What the fuck is happening around here?
“No, I haven’t heard anything. But I can see my car from my front window...” I walk over and peek through the blinds to double-check. “Yeah, looks fine from here. Not that they’d find anything except some empty coffee cups and like twenty-three cents in change.”
“Good. Don’t leave anything valuable inside. You might wanna consider getting extra locks for your trailer.”
My heart drops at the thought of someone breaking into it. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. I’ll grab a couple from the hardware store after work tomorrow.”
I hate that I can’t park it in my apartment complex lot, so I have to trust leaving it parked downtown for now.
“So anyway, how’re you and Mama doing? I was thinkin’ of visiting on Sunday. Would that be okay?”
Even though Thanksgiving is this Thursday, we haven’t celebrated together in years. I always go with Noah to The Lodge with her family, where they host a feast for the staff and guests.
“That’d be great, sweetie. I can make us lunch. Fried catfish, extra crispy how ya like it, and a side of asparagus and slaw.”
Oh no.
Rushing to my kitchen, I dry heave in the sink until I finally get it out of my system and empty my stomach. I really need people to stop talking about food. If I’m pregnant, there’s no way I’m going to survive nine months of this.
“Magnolia? Sweetheart?” I hear my dad’s voice echoing from my phone.
I put him on speaker. “Sorry! Dropped ya.”
“You okay? It sounded like you were at death’s door.”
“Nah, I’m fine. Totally fine.”
The line’s silent for a beat as if he’s contemplating asking again, but when he doesn’t speak up, I make up an excuse to get off the phone.
“I gotta finish up my laundry, Dad. I’ll see you Sunday?”
“You got it, kiddo. See ya then.”
After we say goodbye, I down a glass of cold water and swish out the bad taste in my mouth.
The boxes of pregnancy tests stare at me, and I can’t take it anymore.
I bought three different brands but grab the digital one first since it’ll tell me a simple yes or no instead of trying to decipher one or two faint lines.
Although it suggests waiting to test first thing in the morning, I’m doing it now because at this point, I just want confirmation.
In the odd turn of events that I’m not pregnant, then I most definitely have some kind of rare parasite living in my body because I’ve never felt this on-and-off sickness before in my life.
Grabbing a paper coffee cup I brought home, I go to the bathroom and pee. I’ve been sucking down water all day, so hopefully I’m not somehow over-hydrated.
Once I’m finished, I dip the stick in the cup for a few seconds and then set it upside down on the counter. The box says it can take one to five minutes, so I wash my hands and set a timer on my phone.
Since it’s Monday, I worked downtown and didn’t get to see Tripp at the retreat.
I didn’t yesterday either since I came home to sleep and clean up my apartment.
He worked in the morning and then had Sunday night supper with his family, so we’ve been texting.
That’s how I found out his brothers know about us, which means I need to tell Noah as soon as I see her.
I know she’ll be happy for us, but I have a feeling I’ll be telling her even bigger news.
It’s not even the being pregnant part that scares me.
I’d be more excited about the prospect of being a mom if it didn’t come with a lifelong sentence of dealing with Travis.
Assuming he wants to be involved, there’s no way Tripp’s gonna be cool with the idea of his girlfriend being pregnant with another man’s baby.
If the roles were reversed and some chick showed up saying she was pregnant with Tripp’s baby, I’d be devastated.
Knowing she’d be in his life for the next eighteen years and he’d experience all the parent firsts with her and not me would make me an emotional wreck.
The timer goes off, and I jump. I was so lost in thought I almost forgot I set it.
My heart hammers in my chest so hard that I can feel it beating in my ears. My palms sweat with nerves and it takes me a moment to catch my breath. I don’t know why I’m so nervous, considering deep down, I already know what it’s going to say.
Instead of drawing it out, I grab the stick, flip it over, and read the screen.
Pregnant.
“Oh God.” I stare at the one word that’s just turned my life upside down. “I’m gonna be sick.”