22. Harper
CHAPTER 22
Harper
Three minutes.
I stepped out of the restroom and nodded. Marigold set the timer on her phone.
Audrey and Marigold had both taken pregnancy tests too. They’d gone first, leaving them on the counter in the restroom. Marigold had put a red lipstick next to hers, and Audrey had used a hair tie from her purse to mark her test. Mine sat next to them.
I’d glanced at them all when I set mine down, and I was pretty sure theirs were both negative. The three minutes hadn’t elapsed, but unless a very faint second line was about to show up, two out of the three of us weren’t pregnant.
Was I?
Beth had peeked into the kitchen when we’d arrived. I hadn’t told her what we were up to, just that I’d run into some friends at lunch and they’d come back to the bakery with me. That explanation seemed to have worked. Plus a customer had walked in, so she’d gone back to the front to take care of them.
“My tummy is nervous,” Marigold said. “I don’t even think I’m pregnant, it’s too early in my cycle. But I’ve never taken a pregnancy test before.”
“I wasted one when I first bought these,” Audrey said. “I knew I wasn’t pregnant then, but I couldn’t resist.”
“Are you and Josiah trying?” Marigold asked.
Audrey pressed her lips together in a smile and nodded. “Are you?”
“We’re not preventing,” Marigold said.
“Oh my gosh, this is so exciting.” Audrey clutched her hands to her chest. “We could all be pregnant together. Even if we’re not now, we could be soon.”
My eyes widened. “Um…”
“Sorry,” Audrey said. “I got a little overly excited for a second.”
“It’s okay. You’re both married and ready for this. And I’m really, really not.” I sighed. “I never sleep with a guy right away. It’s not my thing. But there he was and he just… And I couldn’t help but… It was like…”
“Trying to fight gravity?” Marigold asked.
“Yeah, exactly. Is that a Haven thing?”
“Yes,” they said in unison.
I sank onto the stool next to the island and picked up one of the pregnancy test boxes. “This is so surreal.”
Marigold put a gentle hand on my arm. “Either way, you’re going to be fine. Garrett is a good man. If you are, I know you two will figure this out. And if you’re not, this will be a really funny story to tell him someday.”
“Emphasis on someday.” I set the box down. “I’m not about to run down to the sheriff’s office to tell him I had a pregnancy scare. He’d probably never see me again.”
“Of course he would,” Marigold said.
I raised my eyebrows in disbelief. “That would totally scare him off.”
“I don’t think so. He likes you too much. ”
A little flutter of hope mixed with all the nervousness. “How do you know?”
“For one, he doesn’t sleep with someone right away either. Not even when he was young. I’ve known Garrett for most of my life, and I’ve never seen him like this. He keeps his cards close, but this isn’t just sexual attraction. Not for him.”
“It isn’t for me, either. That’s part of why I’m so scared. What if we were meant to be and this screws everything up?”
“It won’t,” Marigold reassured me.
“I agree,” Audrey said. “It might seem like the end of the world, but it won’t be.”
“You guys don’t understand. I have really bad luck. That’s probably what this is. My bad luck curse coming in full force to take me down.”
When the timer on Marigold’s phone chimed, the knot in my stomach twisted and my heart jumped.
“We’ll go in together.” Marigold reached for my hand.
I clasped Marigold’s hand on one side, Audrey’s on the other, and we wedged ourselves into the bathroom. It wasn’t large, but it was big enough for us to stand in front of the sink. I kept my eyes mostly closed so I couldn’t see the test clearly. Not yet.
I took a deep breath, and looked.
“Mine’s negative,” Marigold said.
Audrey let out a sigh. “Mine too.”
“Oh, Harper,” Marigold whispered.
Sitting there on the counter, right where I’d left it, was the pregnancy test I’d taken.
It had two lines.
Theirs each had one.
I was pregnant.
My hand trembled as I reached out to pick it up. I lifted it closer, as if looking from six inches away was going to change the result. Marigold rubbed my back, but didn’t say anything. Neither did Audrey .
In shared silence, we walked out of the bathroom. I still had the test in my hand, but I wasn’t really looking at it. I stared straight ahead, not quite seeing anything, while my mind reeled. Pregnant. I was pregnant with Garrett Haven’s baby.
“Sugar cookies,” I breathed.
“Hey, Harper.”
My body went stiff and my eyes widened. Perhaps if I’d been in a clearer state of mind, I would have softened my expression as I turned my head toward the voice. But I wasn’t, so I probably looked like I was shocked out of my mind.
Because I was.
Owen stood in the doorway to the kitchen. “Are you okay?”
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. It took me that long to remember I was holding a positive pregnancy test in plain sight.
My pregnancy test, announcing the baby I was going to have with Owen’s dad.
I hid it behind my back and sputtered for a second before actual words would come out. “Hi. What are you… What’s going… Hey.”
“Hi, Owen,” Marigold said.
“Hey, Aunt Mari. Aunt Audrey. What are you doing here?”
Audrey started to say something but Marigold put a hand on her arm and spoke first. “We had lunch with Harper.”
“Cool.” He turned his gaze back to me. His brow furrowed and the fact that he looked exactly like his father when he did that did not make me less jumpy. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” The word shot out of my mouth.
His furrow deepened. “That’s super sus, you know that, right? ”
I let out an awkward laugh, hoping Marigold would step closer and take the pregnancy test out of my hand. “What? There’s nothing sus.”
“Okay, but you’re acting weird. Did you get another murder bear or something?”
“No, no. No more murder bears.”
“Murder bear?” Audrey asked.
“Long story,” I said.
“What are you up to?” Marigold asked. “It’s too early for school to be out, isn’t it?”
“Half day,” he said. “Dad’s at work, so I thought I’d see if Harper needs help.”
Marigold and Audrey’s gazes swung to me.
So cute , Audrey mouthed.
I nodded, still about to die of nervousness. Or maybe it was terror. The empty pregnancy test box was sitting right in the open. Any second, Owen could look, and it would only take a moment for him to read it.
He’d know.
“So…” Owen took a step. “Do you need help today?”
The three of us spoke simultaneously, and unfortunately none of us said the same thing.
“Not today.”
“Sure!”
“I don’t know.”
Owen looked more confused than ever. My stomach turned. I hoped I wouldn’t vomit, but with my luck I was probably going to hurl all over the kitchen and we’d have to close just to clean it up.
His shoulders slumped a little and his dejected expression made my heart ache more than my stomach hurt.
“Wait, Owen.”
As he looked up to meet my eyes, something seemed to catch his attention. His brow furrowed again.
Why had I left that box just sitting there, out in the open ?
He glanced at me, then at Marigold and Audrey. “I think I should go.”
“No!” I said, too fast and too loud. Marigold and Audrey looked at me like I was crazy. “I mean, you don’t have to. We just need to… I don’t know. Do something. Can you wait out front?”
“Is that yours?” He pointed at the box.
I let out a very fake laugh. “That? No. Of course not. That would be crazy. Audrey had them in her purse. Which is totally appropriate for the season of life she’s in.”
“Then why are you holding one?”
I’d been talking with my hands without realizing it, waving the test around. I looked at it like I’d just discovered I was holding a snake. With a yelp, I let go and it clattered to the floor.
“Harper.” Owen’s voice was earnest. “Don’t lie to me.”
My breath caught in my throat and my heart felt like it might burst. I stared at him for a few heartbeats. “I’m pregnant.”
“It’s Dad’s.”
“Yes.”
“He doesn’t know. Like, you just found out?”
“Just now. It’s only one test, but it’s positive.”
For a second, no one moved. I could barely breathe. Owen’s eyes were locked on the pregnancy test, his mouth slightly open.
What was he going to say? What could possibly be going through his mind?
He slowly lifted his gaze to meet mine and his mouth turned up in a grin. “Whoa. Can I have permission to swear?”
That almost made me smile. “Yeah.”
“Holy shit,” he said on a laugh. “You and Dad are going to have a baby? Do you know what that means?”
I shook my head in disbelief. “It means a lot of things, but I’m not sure what you’re getting at. ”
His smile grew. “I’m going to be a big brother.”
The dam broke. Tears flooded my eyes and I ran to him, throwing my arms around him. He hugged me back, his embrace tight and intentional.
“Owen, I’m so sorry,” I sobbed. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
He patted my back. “It’s okay. Don’t be sad.”
Sniffling, I pulled away. “I’m basically losing it right now. This is very unexpected. And sugar cookies, I’m setting the worst example. Let’s pretend I’ve been dating your dad for a long time or we’re married or something. And don’t ask for details. I’m not telling you how this happened.”
“Wasn’t going to. And it’s okay, you’re not setting a bad example.”
I took a deep breath, trying to get a hold of myself. “I don’t know what this means right now. Obviously I need to tell your dad. And maybe stop freaking out first.”
“Don’t freak out. Dad’s going to be fine.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Fine?”
“Okay, he might freak out too. But only at first.”
“Why are you so calm? Wait, because you’re fourteen and you have no idea how much this is going to change our lives.”
He chuckled. “Maybe. But I think it’s pretty cool.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. Being an only child is boring.”
“Owen, you’re so awesome,” Audrey said.
He grinned again. “Thanks.”
“See?” Marigold put an arm around my shoulders and squeezed. “You’ve got this. It’s going to be okay.”
I clutched my stomach. I didn’t think I’d vomit, but I couldn’t completely rule it out, either. “Okay, this is happening.”
“Can you promise me something?” Owen asked, his voice softening .
“What?”
He hesitated, a flash of emotion crossing his features. It almost looked like he was holding back tears. “Just don’t leave.”
“Oh, Owen.” I brought him in for another hug. “I’m not going anywhere.”
He hugged me back.
I pulled away, keeping my hands on his shoulders as I looked him in the eyes. “I don’t know how this is all going to work. But whatever happens, your dad and I are in this together. That means you too. Promise.”
He nodded and I stepped back a little.
“What time does your dad get off work today? Do you remember?”
“Six, I think.”
I glanced at the time. That gave me a little less than five hours to figure out how to tell the man I’d just started dating I was pregnant with his child.