Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
CAITLIN
My morning sickness was particularly bad this morning.
I almost threw up on Mitch and Charles’ plates.
“Why did it have to be eggs?” I whined to myself as I sat on the bench outside the diner with my head between my knees.
Someone had kindly given me a mint ChapStick and I’d been diligently smearing it under my nose to try to mask the scents that were making me nauseous.
It didn’t always work. Like today.
“You feeling any better?” Aurora asked, sitting down next to me and handing me a cup of mint tea.
I took the cup but couldn’t bring myself to take a sip. “Not really. Please tell me this goes away?” I was absolutely miserable.
Aurora hummed for a moment. “Unfortunately, not for every woman. I was lucky, sort of. I had specific triggers that I was able to avoid for the most part,” she said.
“Like what?” I needed the distraction and held the cup to my nose to breathe it in.
“A1 Steak Sauce, oddly, which was great for me because I never used it. As soon as we figured that one out, Marc banned it from the diner and then never bothered to bring it back. That fake lemon scent in different cleaners? Sort of smells like a chemical lemongrass.” Aurora rubbed her chest. “That one was awful. And then there was Marc’s cologne.
It was the same fragrance he wore when I first met him.
I loved that scent and I would swoon every time I smelled it on him until I was part way through my first trimester.
We were having sexy times but I’d just eaten and… ”
I gasped. “Oh no!”
Aurora laughed. “Yep, all over him and the bed.” She shuddered. “We laugh about it now but at the time, I was devastated.”
“Does it still bother you?”
“No, thankfully, but the twins were almost two before we checked to be sure.” Aurora squeezed my arm. “You’ll get through it too. But we may want to keep you away from any egg orders.”
“Which is pretty much every breakfast meal.”
“Give it a few more weeks and see how you’re doing once you’re past your first trimester. If it’s still bothering you, you could always switch over to the lunch and dinner prep shift, if that would be easier,” Aurora offered.
“That might be a good idea. You wouldn’t mind?” Aurora had been an absolute gem of a boss to me. Her and Marc. And from the moment she found out I was pregnant, she’d been incredibly accommodating.
“Hey, I’ve been there. It’s miserable. Although the Alastair twins will be devastated not to have you serve them. In all the years they’ve been coming to the diner, you are the first and only server they’ve ever tipped.”
“I’ve been doing the crossword puzzle with them,” I said.
“Couple weeks ago, when I stopped at their table to refill their coffee cups, they were stuck on a Bauhaus clue. I was able to answer it. Ever since, we’ve sort of been doing the puzzle together.
” I never expected to enjoy it, but it was fun the way they always took me so seriously.
“Really?” Aurora chuckled. “They used to bring the obituaries to the diner and discuss all the recent deaths. It got way too morbid, and customers would complain, so Marc made them stop.”
I snort-laughed and cringed when my stomach threatened to go for a spin. Holding the tea under my nose, I took a small sip, hoping I would be able to keep it down. “I guess I have my own morbid curiosity as to what they’d find so interesting, but I’m enjoying the crosswords.”
“Good for you, hun. I know they appreciate you.” Aurora rose. “Okay, as your boss, I’m telling you to get out of here. Go for a walk. Go home and take a nap. Whatever you need. Text me in the morning if you don’t think you can come in. Otherwise, see you tomorrow.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to leave you in a lurch.”
“It’ll be fine. It’s the middle of the week and with the rodeo over, we’re not nearly as busy. Go. Take care of yourself.”
I watched Aurora walk back into the diner, grateful for everything she’d given me. If it hadn’t been for her, there was no telling where I might have ended up. I was able to drink half the tea and ended up tossing the rest before deciding to walk a little.
Walking up Main Street, I tried to avoid any triggering smells but since being pregnant was so new to me, I had no way of knowing what they were until I experienced them.
“Watch where you’re going!” someone snapped at me and I looked up to see one of my mother’s friends exiting Flower Power with a large bouquet of flowers and a card that said “congratulations” on it.
She wobbled where she stood as if I’d crashed into her.
I reached out to steady her but she snapped at me, “Don’t touch me! ”
I frowned at her. I might have been lost in thought but even I could see that I wasn’t the cause for her unsteadiness. I had no intention of going into the shop, so I tried to step around her and keep walking but she blocked my path.
“Don’t you want to know who the flowers are for?” she demanded and I shook my head.
“No, I don’t.” Mrs. Viola had taught Sunday school when I was growing up and the woman had a mean streak a mile long. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.” I tried to step around her but she blocked my path.
“They’re for your mother,” she smirked as she said it.
“Okay?” What did that have to do with me?
“To congratulate her on becoming a grandmother.”
Ah. I didn’t try to hide the eyeroll. Of course she’d buy my mother flowers but I certainly didn’t need to hear about it. “Awesome. You’ve told me about it. Should I pout or shed a tear or something since you didn’t buy them for me? You know, the actual woman pregnant with her grandchild?”
Whoa. I had no idea where that level of bitchiness came from. Probably the hormones.
Mrs. Viola stared at me in shock. When she opened her mouth to say something, I got hit with a strong whiff of old cigarettes and something not good.
I fumbled for the ChapStick and took a couple steps back, slathering it on under my nose.
I needed to get out of there before that small amount of tea I’d managed to drink came back up.
“Stay back!” I had my hand up in a stop gesture.
“Well, I… never!” the older woman said, practically shouting at me. She took an ominous step toward me, her mouth open to berate me.
“Is everything all right?” I turned my head at the new voice, relieved to see Brian striding our way. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me into his side. “Darling?”
I was taking short, rapid breaths, unable to slow them down and I waved my hand in Mrs. Viola’s direction. “Smells bad,” I managed to say and before I could clarify, the older woman reared back as if I’d struck her.
“What? Well, I never!”
Before she could say more, Brian stepped between us and calmly said, “She has morning sickness and something about you is triggering. I would suggest you refrain from saying more and be on your way.”
The woman simply couldn’t take a hint. She glared at the both of us and tucked the bouquet tighter against her chest before taking another step in my direction.
The stress of dealing with her along with my roiling stomach was too much for me.
I slapped my hand over my mouth and rushed past her to puke into the trashcan.
I heard her shriek behind me as if I’d gotten something on her.
Brian spoke to her quietly and I thought I heard him mention something about citing her for civil harassment if she didn’t move on.
With yet more angry mumbles coming from her, she finally moved on, but it took me several minutes before my stomach finally calmed down. The entire time, Brian stood behind me, rubbing my back and making soothing noises.
“Thanks,” I finally managed to say. “I don’t know what that smell on her was, but…” I shuddered. “It didn’t smell good.”
“She’s gone now.” I could hear someone calling for him on his radio and he stiffened behind me.
“Tell Amy I’m on my way,” he said into the radio and I felt my heart drop.
Of course he was needed elsewhere. Straightening my shoulders, I forced the nausea away and was surprised when it seemed to calm down.
Wiping my mouth, I turned around with a smile on my face even though I knew it was strained.
“Sounds like you have to go.” He was watching me with concern.
“I do, but only if you’re okay.”
I managed to muster a smile. “Are you headed to the town hall? Any chance you could help me home first? It’s sort of on the way.” The turn for South Chaska was before the mayor’s office.
“Of course. Come on. Let’s get you home,” Brian said and I blew out a relieved breath.
He wrapped his arm around me and we headed for his house.
I probably would’ve been fine on my own.
In fact, I knew I would be, but I appreciated having Brian’s assistance.
I knew it wouldn’t always be the case, but I would take what I could get for now.