Chapter Fourteen
A my paced the length of the kitchen, half a sandwich in one hand, and her phone in the other. She’d been staring down at Tru’s contact info for the better part of an hour. It was funny. When Tru had broken things off with her to spontaneously marry his costar, she’d been devastated and heartbroken, but in the midst of all that she’d never gotten around to deleting his contact info. Now she wondered if that was fate’s little way of saying they weren’t quite done with each other yet. Okay, so it actually wasn’t very funny at all. Amy would have much preferred never to speak to the man again.
“Do you want another sandwich?” Faith asked, standing at the counter next to Caleb. They’d been puttering around with dinner, but Faith had stopped to make Amy a sandwich when she realized she hadn’t eaten anything but toast and banana bread. Amy didn’t know how to tell her she wasn’t all that hungry. She was full of dread and doubt, and she didn’t know what to think about Josh, and with all that swirling around inside her there couldn’t possibly be any room left for food.
She shook her head. “I’ve still got this half.”
“But are you still hungry? You must be hungry. You’ve hardly eaten today.”
“And now you’re eating for two,” Caleb added.
“I’ve been eating for two for months apparently.”
Faith hummed. “I wonder if you’ll have any cravings.”
Amy shrugged. She wasn’t much concerned with food cravings at the moment.
“You definitely have aversions. And that’s a thing too, I think. Like turkey bacon. You can’t stand the stuff. Must be why you always wrinkle your nose at me whenever I cook it.”
Amy looked at her, deadpan. “Are you serious right now?”
Faith licked peanut butter off the end of her knife. “What?”
“Disliking your turkey bacon has nothing to do with being pregnant. Trust me.” She shook her head, trying not to laugh. It felt like such a silly thing to laugh at, especially right now, when she was trying to work up the nerve to call Tru, but she couldn’t help herself. “That had everything to do with you choosing a subpar bacon variety.” Amy stopped laughing suddenly. “You know, Josh and I had a good laugh about that last night.” She put her phone down on the kitchen table and slumped into a chair. Last night already felt like a million years ago. So much had happened since then… So much had happened to rip apart this thing she and Josh were building.
“Oh, Amy,” Faith said. “He’ll be back.”
“I’m not sure he will,” Amy said, more to herself than Faith. If this was her reality, she needed to come to terms with it. “You didn’t see the way he ran out of here.”
“He cares about you,” Faith said. “I can see it in the way he looks at you. Trust me. You haven’t seen the last of Josh.”
Amy shook her head. “Even if I have, I can’t really blame him, you know? I’m sure he feels blindsided and maybe even like I lied to him.”
“But you didn’t,” Caleb said. “You had no idea about the pregnancy when you met him.”
“ I know that. And I hope he knows that. But it doesn’t change the fact that we fell for each other. Maybe even imagined a future with each other. Heck, I know I was starting to. All the while this big secret was growing between us. And now suddenly everything we thought we knew is different.”
“Not everything,” Faith said softly. “Not the way you feel about each other.”
“I don’t know,” Amy said. How would Josh really feel about hanging around her while she was carrying another man’s child? “It might not be something he can get past.” Saying the words out loud, she hoped would make them hurt less. It was a logical argument. Something she should expect may become a reality. But it didn’t make them hurt any less. They spilled over her lips like sand, rough and grainy, getting caught between her teeth and making her throat burn.
“Just give it some more time,” Caleb suggested. “A man like Josh is a quiet thinker. Let him process everything that happened today. Then he’ll come back around, you’ll see.”
Amy blinked back tears. It was useless though. They fell and she swiped her hands over her cheeks.
“Oh, Amy,” Faith said. “Don’t cry. Please.”
“I’m not sad,” she said, sniffling. “I’m angry. I’m angry that after all this time Tru McCoy is still somehow screwing me over.”
“You don’t need to call him right now. You can take some time to process everything, too. Josh isn’t the only one who’s had a world-altering bit of news dumped in his lap today.”
“No. I need to call Tru because I need a plan going forward. It’s been almost four months already and I can’t just wing it. I’m having a baby and that baby deserves a plan. I need to know if Tru wants to be part of that plan so I can just move on with my life, I guess.”
“What can I do?” Faith asked.
Amy rubbed the last of the tears from her eyes. “Get me some olives.”
“Olives?”
“Yes.”
Faith laughed, and Amy did too.
“Okay, we’ll just run to the store before it closes.” She took Caleb by the arm. “You text me and let me know if you suddenly develop a hankering for any other random foods. But we’ll just cover the gamut. You know, peanut butter, pickles, salty, sweet, savory.”
“Thank you,” Amy said. Faith walked over and pulled Amy up into a hug.
“It’s gonna be okay. You know that, right? Whatever happens. Because you’ve got me and Caleb and the rest of our family. And this baby is going to be so, so loved.”
Amy nodded. “I know.”
Faith kissed her cheek. “We’ll be back in an hour. Try not to let Tru McCoy rattle you. He’s not worth your spit,” she called over her shoulder as she headed for the door.
Caleb lingered, giving her a long look. “You know, his movies aren’t even that good.” And with that, he followed after Faith.
Amy waited until she heard the door close and the car start in the driveway before she picked up her phone again. It was time to stop dreading this and just do it. She had to tell Tru he was going to be a father, and she had to do it today, to save her own sanity.
Oh God.
She was going to be sick again.
She pressed the back of her hand to her lips and breathed hard.
Calm down . Faith and Caleb were right. Tru McCoy wasn’t anything. He was just like any other man. Hollywood heartthrob. Those words meant nothing. It had all been one grand farce in the end, probably to get her into bed. Her and however many other women he was schmoozing on the sidelines.
When the anxious wave passed, she hit Tru’s contact number and lifted the phone to her ear. With each unanswered ring, her heart raced faster and faster. Maybe he was on set somewhere and away from his phone. Or he could have changed his number since they’d been together.
Then the call rang through to voicemail and she heard Tru’s voice for the first time in months. It startled her, sending an unpleasant shiver up her spine. Part of her was secretly glad he didn’t pick up. How awkward would that conversation have been? She would have stumbled over her words. He would have been confused hearing from her after all this time. It was better like this. She would leave him a message with all the details. That way he could get over the shock of hearing about the pregnancy first. And then they could speak about the baby when and if he called her back.
“Hi, Tru,” she said as the phone beeped. “It’s, uh, Amy. Hawkins,” she said as an afterthought. Who knew how much of an impression she’d really left? “Sorry to bother you like this. I know it’s unexpected, but…” She hesitated. She couldn’t tell him about the baby like this. Not on a voicemail. “Can you give me a call when you have a chance?” she said, the words rushing out of her. “It’s really important. Uh, okay thanks. Bye.”
Amy pulled the phone away from her ear and winced. Well, that was somehow both better and worse than she’d expected. Nothing to do now but wait for the horrible moment he replied. Amy hadn’t even had a chance to put her phone down before it started ringing. Tru’s name popped up and her eyes almost bugged out of her head. He was already calling her back!
“Dammit,” she muttered under her breath. She thought she’d have a little more time—maybe even a day—before he returned her call. She answered the phone, somewhat stunned. “Hello?”
“Amy, hi!” Tru said, his voice booming through the phone. Even after listening to the voicemail, it was still a shock to hear it. “It’s been a minute.”
“Yeah, you could say that,” she said.
“How are you?”
“I mean…” Where did she even start with that question?
Tru plowed on without letting her answer. “Look, I’m really sorry about the way things ended with us.”
“Tru, that’s not why I’m calling,” Amy hurried to say. “I—”
“I know I didn’t do right by you. Trust me. I know. And I’m so glad you reached out. I wanted to, honestly. I just didn’t know how to make things right. But when I saw you call, I knew this was my chance.”
“Your chance for what?”
“To fix things with us,” he said, like it was the most obvious answer in the world. “My romance with my costar was ill-advised.”
“Your romance?” Amy practically choked on the words. “Tru, it wasn’t just a romance. You married the woman!”
“And it was a stupid decision. One of the stupidest I’ve ever made.”
“Tru. Look, there’s something—”
“We’ve already filed for divorce.”
Amy touched her hand to her forehead. Her thoughts were all over the place. This was her child’s father? “I don’t know what to say.”
“Then don’t say anything. Not over the phone. Not like this. Can I come see you?” he asked.
What the hell was she supposed to say to that? “Tru, wait,” she said. Better to just spit it out and tell him the news before this went too far.
“No, I’ve decided. I’m coming to see you. To apologize in person. Let me make it up to you, Amy. I’ll fly to Bronco,” he said. “I’ll come there and you’ll see. You’ll see how sorry I am. How much I’ve changed.”
Amy frowned. He was talking a mile a minute. And changed? In four months? “I… I’m not in Bronco, I’m in Tenacity right now—”
“Perfect.” He cut her off. “I’ll come to Tenacity then. Tomorrow. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He hung up before Amy could say anything else.
She blinked down at the screen and contemplated calling him back, but wouldn’t it be easier to have this conversation in person anyway? Before she could make up her mind, her phone rang again. It was Josh this time, and she gasped. She hadn’t expected to hear from him again today after the way he rushed off.
She answered, her heart pounding. “Hi.”
“Hey,” he said. She could hear the murmur of voices. A lot of voices. He must be in town somewhere. A door opened and closed with a thud, and the voices died away. “I’m sorry about how abruptly I left,” he said as the silence lingered.
“It’s okay,” Amy said. “I don’t blame you for your reaction. I’m still in shock about it myself.”
“Right.” Some more silence. “Well, I’ve done some thinking, and I’m going to follow your lead here. Whatever you want to do, I will support you.”
“Oh?” Amy said, a little taken aback.
“I mean it.”
“Okay, that’s, um… Well, it’s good to hear. I actually just called Tru to try and tell him about the baby.” She wrinkled her nose. She shouldn’t even be telling Josh this. It would make everything worse. “He didn’t really let me get a word in, but he’s coming to town tomorrow. I suppose in many ways it might be easier to break the news like that instead of over the phone.”
Josh got very quiet again.
“You still with me?” she asked. Maybe she shouldn’t have told him Tru was coming. But she didn’t want to lie to him.
“Yeah,” he said, but she wasn’t sure he was. Then he said, “Okay. That’s…uh, good, I suppose. That’ll be good. For you to tell him.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, um, you get some rest and call me if you need anything.”
“Okay,” she said. “I will. Thanks.”
She hung up and stared down at the phone. Somehow this felt just as bad as him walking out.