Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Scarlett
“ W hat did he say?” Anna’s voice sounds off as soon as she answers my call. I’m lying on my back on the same bed I’ve slept in for the last week at Barnette’s Bed-and-Breakfast after meeting Zander at his bar. I extended my stay by a couple more days. I wanted to talk to him more after he’d had time to think about our…baby. But I can’t hide out in Greendale Valley forever.
“He says we’re in this together,” I tell her.
“That’s great! Right?” she asks.
“It is. But now it somehow feels a little more real.”
“It didn’t before when you were puking your stomach contents up?” she asks with a giggle.
I roll my eyes even though she can’t see me while matching her laugh. “Yes, it’s been real for me since I found out, I just mean now that I know he’s in this with me, it’s officially time to tell my parents. They’re going to see me differently from here on out.”
“I mean, yeah. They’ll see you as a strong woman. Because you are,” she says.
“They’ll be disappointed in me. I’m a grown woman, just shy of thirty years old. But still, something about telling them I’m pregnant after that shitshow of a ruined wedding…and adding into the mix the baby is a man’s I basically had a one-night stand with…” I trail off.
“Stop overthinking this, Scarlett. Your parents love you. They’re going to love this baby, and they’ll love Zander too if he’s a good dad whether y’all are a couple or not,” she says.
I sigh. “I know you’re right. It’s just the initial shock they’ll be in that I’m talking about. I know I need to rip the bandage off and tell them. I guess I’m being a chicken.”
“I can come with you if you want,” she says.
“Zander may go with me,” I admit out loud. I’m still not sure if that’s the best idea, but if he’s telling the truth about being all in, I’d like to be a united front on things concerning our baby.
“Really? That’s good…I think,” she says.
“I hope so. It’ll be a test run to see how well we fare under pressure.”
My phone vibrates against my hand, signaling another call. I glance at the display to find it’s Zander. “Hey, Anna, let me call you back. Zander is calling. I need to answer,” I say.
She laughs and says, “He’s already stealing my bestie away. But for some reason I seem to like him better than I ever liked Eric from day one, and I don’t know much about him. Call me back later. I can come back to Greendale Valley if you need me. Love you, hunny-bunny.”
“Love you too, tootsie-wootsie.”
I sit up and switch over to answer his call. “Hello?”
“Hi, it’s Zander,” he says.
“So it is,” I say and silently berate myself. Why am I so awkward with this man?
“Uh, can you let me in?” he asks.
“Let you in? Let you in where?” I ask as I search the room like he’ll appear out of thin air.
“I’m here, at your door.”
I jump up from the bed and dart to the bathroom to check my appearance. My hair is wild, and my mascara is smudged from lying across the bed with my arm over my eyes. I set the phone on the side of the sink and run some water, wetting a washcloth to wipe under my eyes.
I hear a soft knock at the door and stand taller. I still look disheveled, but it’ll have to do considering he’s right outside my door. I end the call and hurry to the door before looking through the peephole to make sure it’s him. Sure enough, he stands there waiting on the other side.
I take one more glance around the room I’ve been calling home for the last week and cringe when I see it’s not as tidy as I’d like it to be. I spy my bra on one of the chairs reminding me I’m not wearing it. A quick glance down and I see my pebbled nipples through my oversized T-shirt. Heat rushes up my neck and face. But I have no time.
I open the door and gaze into his dark eyes. My breath hitches when I catch his eyes move toward my chest. I notice his pupils get larger before his gaze finds my own again. He holds up a brown paper bag. “I uh, I thought you might want something to eat,” he rushes out.
I smile and wave him in. “How’d you know what room I was in?”
“Oh, when you said you were staying here, I called and told them I had a food order for you,” he says.
I cross my arms. “That seems to me to be on the illegal side, or at the very least unethical. What if you were a serial killer or a crazy ex-boyfriend?”
He turns slightly red. I’ve never seen a man like Zander Bailey get embarrassed before and I’m here for it.
“I didn’t mean to intrude. It was a last-minute thought. The Barnettes would never give out sensitive information to someone if they didn’t know them or thought it jeopardized safety. This is a small town, and they know lots of people love our food at High Road Bar. I played on that. Sorry, I should’ve called you ahead of time.”
I wave my hand in the air to signal it’s okay. “I understand. No harm done.” I wait for him to hand over the bag of food, but he stares instead.
“Can I have what you brought?” I ask.
“Yeah, sure. I wasn’t sure what you might be craving, if anything, so I made you my favorite burger and some fries. I brought another ginger ale and a chocolate shake,” he says while handing me the bag and setting the drinks on the small table in the corner of the room.
His gaze lands on my bra that just so happens to be slung over the chair in front of him. He turns, sneaking a peek at me again, and letting his stare fall to my pebbled nipples. His nostrils flare as he glances back at my face.
“Yeah, sorry about this.” I open my arms and gesture across my chest. “Sore boobs are no joke. You’re lucky I’m wearing a shirt at all. Before I got sick and found out I was pregnant, I kept wondering why they hurt so bad. I mean, they get sore when you’re about to start your period too, but this is a whole other level,” I tell him.
“Scarlett,” he says my name in a raspy, almost pleading voice.
I sit down in the chair that has said bra on display and open the bag he brought. It smells delicious. How could he possibly know what I want to eat? Is he for real right now? This man must be flawed somehow. Then it dawns on me, I’m going to fall for this handsome-but-grumpy man if I’m not careful. I find myself silently wondering how you wouldn’t love the man you’re about to experience having a child with. I guess I can love him without being “in love” with him. I just hope my heart knows where that line is.
“Aren’t you going to eat with me? It’s not polite to watch someone eat, you know.”
He sits on the other chair. “I ate at the bar earlier.”
I unwrap the burger and take a bite. A moan escapes my lips, it’s so good. “Oh my gosh. Best burger ever,” I tell him as I pull a french fry from the bag.
He fidgets in the chair like he’s trying to get comfortable and swallows hard. “I’m glad you like it.”
“Aren’t you supposed to still be at your bar? To close or something?” I ask when I’m almost finished eating.
“Dad is closing for me tonight. I’m right where I need to be,” he says in a tone that gives me chills.
I swallow the last bite of food and chase it with the chocolate shake he brought. He can’t say things like that to me or I stand no chance of successfully drawing a line between us. I know my pregnancy emotions are partly to blame. But not totally. The allure of this man is something else.
“Do you have a doctor’s appointment yet? Like an official one with a baby doctor?” he asks abruptly.
“You mean an OB/GYN?” I ask, trying to hide my amusement.
“Yeah. That one. Do you have one yet?”
“I called after we talked earlier today and got set up with Dr. Ray here. Once you said you were in this with me, I thought it might be better to have the baby in Greendale Valley. I know I only live about an hour away, but this just seemed the better choice. Dr. Boyd who treated me in the ER recommended this doctor too,” I tell him.
“I hear Dr. Ray is good. She recently delivered my friend’s baby. That’s why I was at the hospital when I ran into you. She and her husband were there.”
I sit a little taller at the mention of this woman he seems to be close to. “Is this the friend who lent us her studio that night for my…pictures?” I can’t help but ask. He arches a brow at my question.
“Yep. One and the same. Hawk and Brittney Abbott. She’s a singer and songwriter and his family owns a record label,” he says.
“Oh, wow.” I could never compete with someone like that. I feel the need to change the subject back to our baby and away from some other fabulous woman he’s close to.
“Are you asking because you want to come?” I ask, circling back to his question about my first appointment.
He holds my stare for a heartbeat and then says, “Yes, I think I’d like to if you’ll let me.”
“Of course. I’ll send you the information. We can meet there. I’m only staying here for a couple more days. I need to get back to the city and do some work. I’ve been working from here on what I can, but I need to be in person for some meetings coming up,” I tell him.
His brows furrow. “You can stay with me some. If you want, I mean.”
I feel my eyes widen involuntarily. “Um, I’m not so sure that’s the best idea.”
“I’m not so sure it’s the best idea for you to spend money to stay here or somewhere else when you could stay in my guest room for free. We need to get to know each other better, don’t you think? And what better way than for you to stay with me some?” he asks.
I’m speechless. This man has left me with my mouth open…literally. “That’s kind of…big.”
“Having a baby is pretty big too, sunshine,” he quips.
“It is, but this is all moving fast,” I say quickly.
“You’re right, but this baby will be here in no time. Your pregnancy won’t last forever. I think it’s best for us to be as prepared as we can in the meantime,” he says.
I stand, wondering something I should have wondered before now. “Where do you think the baby will be staying?”
He gapes at me while I start to spiral down this hole of panic. It’s dawning on me, if we aren’t a couple, we’ll be splitting time and houses with the baby.
“I know the baby will be wherever you are, Scarlett. Take a breath and calm down for me,” he says in a voice meant to soothe me.
It’s not until he says those words that I realize I’d been pacing, and he pulled me to him, my back to his front. His arm is across my chest and shoulders while his other is across my hips.
“I’m not trying to tell you what to do or where to live, but I want to be near the both of you. I know we aren’t a couple, but we’re together in creating and raising this baby. And I figure we can set you and the baby a room up at my place. I think you’ll like it there,” he says a little too close to my ear, and chills prickle my skin.
My chest moves rapidly under the pressure of his arm. And suddenly my panic turns into something else. Something I don’t need to examine closely. Need…want…desire. But I suppose it only makes sense I’m attracted to the man I created a baby with. Didn’t I read there’s something scientific to that?
“I’ll think about it. Maybe you can show me your place tomorrow.” I can’t believe I conceded without more of a fight.
He releases his hold on me. “I’ll show you whenever you’d like.”
I turn around and face him. The food is thinking about making a second appearance. I dart toward the bathroom and start to gag. The contents of my stomach are emptied into the toilet relentlessly, and then I flush it down. Behind me, I hear running water and turn to see Zander wringing out a washcloth.
He dabs it on my neck and face. “Here.” He takes my hand and leads me toward the bed.
“I didn’t mean to upset you. Let’s get you to bed. I think you’ve had a long few days,” he says as he pulls the covers back for me.
“You didn’t…upset me, I mean.” I climb under the covers and settle in while he moves to the table where the ginger ale is.
“I’m going to set this on the nightstand,” he says.
He locks my door and turns the lights down. Then, he kicks his shoes off and lies on the bed beside me but propped up against the headboard and on top of the covers.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“I’m going to stay a while and make sure you don’t need anything. I told you, I’m in this with you, and that means taking care of you while you’re sick. I’m not the kind of man who leaves when things get hard. Is that all right?” he asks.
I nod. “Thank you.”
He leans over and kisses my forehead. “Get some sleep, little sunshine.”