26. Garrett
CHAPTER 26
Garrett
I woke up with no idea where I was.
Gingerly, I cracked my eyes open. My temples throbbed with a headache and my neck felt like I’d slept in a weird position.
Too much bourbon. Way too much bourbon.
I glanced around, my vision slowly coming into focus, and shifted with a groan. Zachary and Marigold’s house. I was on the couch in their living room.
How had I gotten there?
Oh, shit.
I’d been drunk the night before, but not so drunk that I didn’t remember. Zachary had brought me to his place and deposited my drunk ass on his couch. But that wasn’t what had me groaning again. Harper had been there.
Not only had she seen me drunk—which, honestly, wasn’t the worst thing in the world, I could admit that—but I’d told her I loved her.
I remembered every word of our conversation. How insistent I’d been that I was in love with her.
The tear that trailed down her cheek.
She didn’t believe me .
What a fucking mess.
Oh, no. Owen.
My phone was on the coffee table next to me. I fumbled for it, almost dropping it on my face, and checked my messages. I had a string of texts from Luke.
Going to your house to stay with Owen.
He’s good. Even did his homework already.
Morning, sunshine. Don’t stress, Owen got to school. He’s fine.
I let out a relieved breath. Thank goodness for my brother. He got a pass for his hand in getting me drunk last night. Plus, it had mostly been Zachary. Married or not, he was still a troublemaker.
I glanced at the coffee table again. Someone—probably Marigold—had left me a glass of water and a couple of ibuprofen. I sat up and took the painkillers, gulping down the entire glass.
Trying to ignore the pain attempting to split my head open, I got up. If I didn’t get moving, I was going to be late for work.
I groaned. Again. My car was at the Timberbeast.
“Oh hey, man.” Zachary came down the hallway, buttoning his blue flannel. “Glad you’re up. Do you have to work?”
“Yeah.” My voice sounded like gravel.
“Bummer. I can give you a ride to your car.”
“Thanks.”
He grinned at me as he rolled the sleeves of his flannel up to his elbows. “No problem.”
“I should be mad at you.”
“Yeah, probably. But we had fun, didn’t we?”
I rubbed my temples. “How are you in such a good mood? Aren’t you hungover?”
“I only had two drinks.”
“Seriously? You just sat there and got me shit-faced?”
There was that grin again. “Yeah. It was great. ”
I rolled my eyes and hoped the ibuprofen would kick in soon.
“Do you have time for food, or are you in a hurry?” he asked.
My stomach growled, as if trying to answer for me. “I have time if it’s quick.”
“Good. I know exactly what you need.”
“What?”
“Zany Zebra.”
Okay, he was right, that actually sounded great.
The Zany Zebra was a burger and ice cream place in a building with, you guessed it, black and white zebra stripes. Back in the days of the feud, it had been Bailey territory. But their burgers were famous for being the best hangover food, so we’d found ways to sneak over there and get them without being seen.
Nowadays, the feud was over, and we didn’t have to disguise ourselves just to get greasy burgers. Which was a good thing. I didn’t have the energy for that nonsense. I just wanted some food—and at least a pitcher of coffee—so I could survive the day.
As I climbed into Zachary’s truck, he handed me a spare set of sunglasses, which cut down on the stabbing pain in my head. We drove over to Zany Zebra and got our food. Not only were they famous for their greasy burgers, they were open early and you could order said greasy burgers any time of day. I insisted on paying, although one could argue he owed me for all the bourbon he’d plied me with.
I inhaled two double cheeseburgers on the way to the Timberbeast. Zachary dropped me off, telling me to have a great day and make good choices as I got out of his truck. He was such an asshole.
Have a great day? Who was that guy, and what had he done with my brother?
It was probably the wife-effect. He was so happy all the time, his snark had been cut at least in half. It had happened to Josiah, too. He grunted less and smiled more since he’d married Audrey.
It made my chest ache. That had not been my experience when I was married.
Our side trip to the Zany Zebra had left me just enough time to swing by my house to change before going into work. I probably looked like hell, but there wasn’t anything I could do about that. At least I wasn’t late. I looked bad enough as it was. I didn’t need another knock against me.
My aviators cut out some of the glaring sunlight as I drove to work and my headache was starting to ease. Thankfully I had an iron stomach, so that wasn’t a problem.
What I was going to do about Harper was another issue.
I almost took the left that would have taken me past the bakery. Maybe if that wouldn’t have made me late, I would have. But what was I going to say to her? As the pain in my head receded, the tide of overwhelm washed over me.
She was pregnant.
I’d told her I was in love with her.
And she didn’t believe me.
Did I believe me?
I knew the answer to that but I couldn’t deal with it right then. I pulled into work and parked. I needed to focus. Compartmentalize. I was good at that. Do my job while I was on duty. Put aside my personal issues until I was off the clock.
I did just that for most of the day. But walking out to my car after I got off work brought my personal life crashing over me. I needed to talk to my son. See Harper. Figure out what I was going to say to her—what the hell we were going to do.
I slipped on my aviators, got in my car, and headed home to see Owen .
This was going to be interesting.
When I walked into the house, I almost tripped over Owen’s backpack. With a roll of my eyes, I pushed it aside with my foot. We’d been over this a million times. There was a hook for him to hang his things. But it was a battle for another day.
Or maybe I felt guilty.
He sat sideways on the couch with a mug of hot chocolate on the coffee table. A drip trailed down the side of the mug, but he’d used a coaster, so I didn’t worry about it.
There I went with the coasters again. Where had I gotten that? From my mom?
He glanced up from the game on his phone and pushed his headphones off his head as I walked in. “Hey, Dad.”
“Hey.” I’d never felt as awkward around my own son as I did right then. “Sorry about last night.”
“Don’t worry about it. Uncle Luke said you were too drunk to come home and went to sleep it off at Uncle Z and Aunt Marigold’s.”
Closing my eyes, I pinched the bridge of my nose. Thanks for that, Luke. “Yeah. I had too much to drink last night. It was irresponsible of me.”
“How bad is the hangover?”
“You’re fourteen. How do you know about hangovers?”
“From movies and stuff. And Uncle Z.”
Figured. “I’m fine. But we need to talk.”
“About what? I got my homework done already. I did it last night too, even before Uncle Luke came over.”
I walked around to the other side of the couch, moved his feet, and sat down. “Not about your homework. About me and Harper.”
His mouth turned up in a grin. “I already know.”
“Yeah, I’m aware that she told you.”
“That’s why you got drunk last night, huh?”
“Yeah, but… No. Owen. ”
“What?”
I groaned. “Just listen. Finding out Harper’s pregnant might be freaking you out, and that’s totally fine. It’s unexpected for all of us and you can take your time getting used to the idea.”
“I’m not freaking out.”
“You’re not?”
“No. Why would I be freaking out? This is awesome.”
I stared at him. Was he serious? “It’s awesome?”
“Yeah, it’s great. I’m going to be a big brother. Harper thought I’d freak out too and I don’t know why. I hope it’s a boy. No, then he might be like Will. Then again, if it’s a girl, she might be like the twins. Do you think it’s twins?”
“No. I don’t—I hope not.”
“You have to admit, that would be cool. Emma and Juliet are fun.”
His cousins were fun. The sudden image of a tiny baby girl in my arms almost sucked the air from my lungs. But this conversation was starting to go sideways. “I don’t think twins are likely. And that’s not what I’m concerned about right now.”
“What are you concerned about?”
He had no idea. I had a list a mile long. “You, first of all. I don’t know how this is all going to work out, but our lives are going to change.”
“Are you going to get married? You should.”
“Slow down, kid.”
“I’m just saying, it would be cool.”
I looked at him for a moment. He really was okay with this. There wasn’t a hint of sullenness in his posture or expression. He wasn’t worried, he wasn’t concerned. He was just… happy.
“I’m really glad you like Harper so much,” I said, my voice soft.
“Yeah, she’s great. You did good, Dad. ”
Something about that almost brought the sting of tears to my eyes. “Thanks, son.” I took a deep breath. “Speaking of, I need to go talk to her. Are you good for a while?”
“Yeah, fine. If you’re going to be late, I can make a frozen pizza.”
I shook my head. That kid. He was something else. I patted his leg. “Love you.”
His brow furrowed—the look he gave me when he thought I was being weird. “Love you too.”
I went back to my bedroom to change, then left again to talk to my newly pregnant girlfriend.
A zing of nerves swept through me as I walked up to her door and knocked. I wished I’d handled it better when she’d first told me about the baby, but there wasn’t anything I could do about that now.
Except grovel and hope she accepted my apology.
She opened the door and I almost asked what the hell had happened to her. She had smudges of flour on her face and smears of something chocolatey on her apron. Her low ponytail did little to contain the flyaways around her face. It looked as if she’d been caught in a windstorm.
But her green eyes were so big and hopeful, the ache in my chest almost took me down.
“Hi.”
“Can I come in?” I asked.
She nodded and I followed her back to her kitchen. Suddenly, I could see why she looked like a mess. Dirty mixing bowls were piled in the sink and empty sacks of sugar and flour had fallen on the floor. What looked like a couple dozen cupcakes sat on the island, and a glob of chocolate frosting oozed out of a piping bag.
“How are you feeling?” she asked .
“Shitty, but I deserve it.”
“You had a few too many. We’ve all been there.”
“Harper—”
“Oh, no.” She pressed her hands to her cheeks and looked around, as if just seeing the disarray. “I’m covered in flour, aren’t I? I don’t even know what I’m doing. Stress baking on steroids. What am I going to do with these?”
“Harper.” I moved closer to her and just like that, I knew. How I felt. What to say. I touched her cheek and my confidence grew, my resolve solidifying. “Just listen to me for a minute.”
She pressed her lips together and nodded.
“I’m so sorry for how I handled it when you told me about the baby. I was surprised, but that’s no excuse. I shouldn’t have let you leave. And I’m sorry I didn’t call you today. I was hungover and I had to work. But really, I wasn’t sure what to say.”
“It’s okay, I understand. I—”
“Shh.” I put a finger to her soft lips. “I know what to say now.”
Her eyebrows lifted.
“I love you. I meant what I said last night. I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you. And that’s crazy. It’s totally unlike me. I’m not a jump in head-first, be spontaneous guy. I’m a take it slow, be responsible and careful guy. Except when I’m not.”
She smiled, and I took my finger off her lips and caressed her cheek.
“When I’m with you, I feel whole in a way I’ve never felt before. I can’t explain it. Maybe it’s crazy and maybe it’s too fast, but I don’t care. I love you.”
Her lower lip trembled.
“It’s okay if you can’t say it back yet. I just needed you to know.”
“I love you too,” she burst out, talking fast. “Sugar cookies, it’s so crazy, but I do. I love you so much I’m afraid I’m going to explode.”
I slid my hands around her and hauled her against me. Our mouths met in a kiss, slow and deep.
“So we’re doing this?” I asked when I pulled back. “We’re having a baby?”
She nodded. “We’re having a baby.”
This time I didn’t react in shock or, like an idiot, let her walk away. I let her words sink in. Really heard them.
And I smiled.
She giggled, a few tears breaking free from the corners of her eyes. I leaned down and kissed her again. I loved her. I really did. I loved her so fucking much, I would have died for her.
And she was having my baby.
Nothing was going according to plan. But for once in my life, I didn’t want the plan.
I just wanted her.