Chapter Sixteen
T his couldn’t be real.
Isabel looked at the fourth positive pregnancy test lined up on the bathroom counter.
Then she pulled the box out of the trash and reread the directions.
Lots of tiny print, but not much information about false positives.
Maybe a quick internet search would offer additional guidance.
Sighing, she tossed the box back in the trash along with the others.
Four tests couldn’t be wrong, could they?
She didn’t talk to that many people about pregnancy tests.
Okay, so to be honest, she talked to zero people about pregnancy tests.
But she’d never heard of four in a row being incorrect.
How? She sank down on the edge of the tub. How had she become pregnant? They’d been fighting so much when— Oh.
She pressed both palms to her flaming cheeks. Their weekend away at the resort.
Although it had ended with their painful disagreement while they’d been trapped in the gondola, she hadn’t stopped to think about how their intimate encounters before their epic standoff might have led to pregnancy. A baby.
The one life change she’d feared had happened.
Tears pressed against her eyes.
She gulped back a sob. This was supposed to be a happy event. But here she sat in her bathroom, alone, alternating between shock and dismay. She couldn’t be pregnant now.
They were hardly speaking. Yes, sure, Mason had made it very clear that he wanted to have a family.
But she hadn’t been ready, and they had finally agreed to take a break from discussing the subject because they were just getting more and more upset with each other.
Neither of them were making any effort to appreciate the other person’s perspective.
But now. Well, these test results changed everything.
She went and found her phone, came back to the bathroom, took a picture, and then swept all of the sticks into the trash can.
She had to tell him. It wasn’t something she could keep a secret, not with the way she’d been feeling.
Last night during the meeting for the library’s expansion, she’d almost fallen asleep.
It had been so difficult to get out of bed and get ready for work this morning.
Jerry, Irene and the rest of her crew at the candy company would hold things together.
Like they always did. Production had ramped up for the spring and summer demands.
But now Jovi spent every spare minute trying to find that recipe.
Not that it mattered. She still hadn’t come up with a product they could test with focus groups.
Time was running out, so any hope of convincing their parents not to sell was fading fast.
Oh, this was not a plot twist she wanted to encounter, but it was happening. There must be some sort of lesson she was supposed to learn from this.
Where was Mason today? She started entering his number, and when his name popped up, her finger hovered over the call icon.
This really wasn’t something she could tell him over the phone, but she certainly wasn’t going to send him a text.
She needed support. Encouragement. She needed to tell her family. But first she’d have to tell Mason.
Isabel took a deep breath and pressed the call icon. The phone rang once, twice, before Mason finally answered.
“Hey, babe,” he said, his voice filled with weariness.
“Hey,” she replied, her voice shaky. “Are you busy right now? Can we talk?”
There was a brief pause on the other end of the line. Was he still at Garrett’s? Or had he moved back in with his parents?
“Yeah, I just wrapped up a meeting online, and I don’t have to work until tonight. Is everything okay?” Concern laced his words.
She swallowed hard, trying to find the right words to say. “No, everything is not okay,” she finally admitted, her voice trembling. “Mason, I’m pregnant.”
Silence hung in the air. C’mon, say something. Anything.
“Mason, I’m pregnant,” she repeated, her voice barely above a whisper this time.
The silence on the other end of the line stretched on.
Her heart pounded. She couldn’t decipher his reaction.
She knew how much he wanted to start a family, but she also knew how strained their relationship had become lately.
Could he see this as an opportunity to reconcile? Or would it push them further apart?
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Mason cleared his throat.
“Isabel… I don’t know what to say. Are you sure?” he asked gently, as if afraid that even the slightest wrong response could shatter her fragile emotions. His hesitant voice provoked more tears.
She took a deep breath to steady herself before answering.
“Yes, Mason. I’ve taken multiple tests. They’re all positive.
” Her voice wavered, betraying her vulnerability.
She braced herself for his reaction. “I understand if you need some time to process this,” she whispered, struggling to keep her tears in check.
“I just thought you had the right to know.”
“No, no.” There was a pause before Mason’s voice came through the phone, steady and determined this time. “Okay,” he said firmly. “We’ll figure this out together. We always do.”
Oh, he was so loyal. A sob broke free. Tears blurred her vision. “I know.”
“I’ll be home in a few minutes.”
She ended the call. Mason’s words brought a surge of conflicting emotions: relief and fear all at once.
They had been through so much together, but this news changed everything.
Her mind swirled with doubts and uncertainties.
This wasn’t the way she had imagined their strained relationship mending.
How would they navigate this new chapter as parents?
Soon enough, she heard the familiar sound of Mason’s keys turning in the lock, followed by the creak of the front door opening then closing. His eyes found hers. Without a word, he crossed the room and enveloped her in a warm embrace.
She melted into his arms. Clung to him, seeking solace in his familiar presence. Oh, how she needed him. Wanted him. Desperate for the sense of comfort and security he’d always provided. Was the love they shared still there, buried beneath layers of miscommunication and unresolved conflicts?
“Are you okay?” Mason murmured, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her head.
“I’m scared,” she admitted, her voice trembling. “Scared of what this means for us.”
He pulled back slightly to look into her eyes, his gaze filled with tenderness. “I’m scared too. Your miscarriage was tough for both of us. We’ll take things one day at a time. And you’re going to be an amazing mother.”
His eyes drifted to her lips. Then he leaned in and claimed her mouth with his.
Their kiss was filled with a mixture of passion and reassurance. Her worries and doubts faded, and she relaxed into his touch.
When they broke away, both breathless and flushed, Mason caressed her cheek with his thumb. “We may not have planned for this, babe,” he murmured, his voice filled with sincerity, “but that doesn’t mean it’s not meant to be. We’ll face whatever comes our way, together.”
“I know.” She sniffed, then slid her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest. “So what was your meeting about?”
He hesitated, and his breath hitched. The small circles he’d been tracing with his palm on her low back slowed. “I was speaking with the hiring manager in Juneau. He offered me the job.”
* * *
Add shed access to his list of reasons to justify buying that snowblower.
This morning, Burke had used the nifty device to carve a clear path through the towering snowbank to Mac and Lois’s shed.
He inserted the key Charlie had given him into the padlock and turned it, feeling a satisfying click as it loosened.
With a strong push, he swung open the metal door.
It creaked loudly in protest. He grabbed the first thing he saw—an old vacuum cleaner—and propped the door open.
Darby Jane had gone home after school with a friend, but he expected her back soon and didn’t want to miss her arrival.
She’d be upset if she went inside the cabin and he wasn’t there.
Inhaling deeply, Burke took in the earthy scent of dirt and sawdust that permeated the air inside the shed.
Then he fumbled around on the wall until he found a light switch.
When he nudged it, two fluorescent lights flickered overhead.
Wow. He surveyed the sturdy building’s interior.
Charlie and Denise had accurately assessed the situation: stuffed to the gills.
Stacks of cardboard boxes, plastic crates filled with books and discarded small appliances claimed nearly every inch of space.
Burke put down the space heater he’d carted over from the cabin, found an open outlet on the wall and plugged it in.
“Please, please work,” he whispered, then tapped the power button. The device clicked and groaned, but soon the coils glowed orange and hot air warmed his skin.
“Excellent.”
Through the shed’s windows, the sky had turned brilliant shades of pink and lavender, announcing another late February sunset with glorious fanfare.
It was a balmy twenty degrees below zero.
Even though he wore a T-shirt and a sweater under his coat, he relished the idea of shedding at least one of his layers.
Shouldn’t you be writing?