Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Jo
I walked back into the kitchen with a scowl on my face. I didn't know how I was going to survive this pregnancy if Maverick continued to push my buttons.
I liked my freedom. I liked knowing that I could do what I wanted without having to check in with someone, and I had the feeling that wasn't going to happen as long as I carried Maverick's baby in my belly.
He already proved he was going to take protectiveness to a whole new level. One I wasn't sure I was ready for.
Actually no. I knew I wasn't ready for it.
Maverick was supposed to be a one-night stand.
Someone I hooked up with and never saw again.
Then he showed up in Willow Creek, and everything went to hell.
No matter how many times I said it was going to be the last time we slept together, I always went back for more.
Damn his magical ginormous cock and the magnificent orgasms it gave me.
"Are you okay, dear? You raced out of here like the demons of hell were chasin' after you."
"I'm fine. I just needed to have a word with someone where no one could hear us."
Grams looked at me like she knew exactly who I was talking about. And it was likely she did. The old woman saw too much.
"Okay. Ms. Daisy just walked in, and she's asking for you."
I sighed. Of course she was. The old woman loved to gossip.
Any other day, I would be excited to find out what she had to tell me because I could use it in my articles, but today I didn't have it in me.
For the first time since coming back to Willow Creek after college, I didn't care about reporting on the happenings of the town.
"I'll go see what she wants."
I found Ms. Daisy sitting in the corner at a table away from others. That was a sure sign she had juicy gossip for me and didn't want others to hear it before she could tell all her old biddies.
"Hey, Ms. Daisy. How are you today?"
"I'm fine, dear. How are you?"
I felt like this was a trick question, but instead of panicking because that would only make Ms. Daisy jump on me like a shark in bloody water, I plastered a smile on my face.
"I'm great. What can I get for you today?"
Ms. Daisy waved me off. "Nothing at the moment. I need to talk to you about something."
Oh, here we go.
"I'm a little busy today, Ms. Daisy. Can this wait until later?"
"I think you're going to want to have this conversation now, dear."
That had me stopping in my tracks and tensing up. "Whatever do you mean?"
Did she somehow find out that I was pregnant? Did she know Maverick was the father? I knew there was no way my grandmother told her, but Maverick wasn't exactly hiding the fact that he was watching me closely.
"I overheard something that I think you're going to want to hear."
A million thoughts filtered through my mind.
Okay, not really but two stuck out like a sore thumb. There were only two secrets I didn't want the town to know, and neither of them would be good if Ms. Daisy knew.
"What's that?"
"Is it true that you’re B. Feather?"
Shit. Fuck. And damn.
I knew that was going to come out, but I thought I had more time, and to be honest, I had pushed it out of my mind with everything else going on.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I tried to play it off, but I could see the old woman wasn't buying it.
"Now don't play me for a fool, dear. I heard it from a reliable source, and I wanted to give you the opportunity to tell me the truth before I spoke to others about it."
"Who's your reliable source?" I needed to know who was at fault because it could be any number of people after what recently happened.
"A lady never reveals her sources. You should know that considering who you are."
I walked right into that one.
I sat down at the table. It was either that or I was going to collapse because there was hardly anything in my stomach, and the nerves from this conversation were only making things worse.
"If I tell you the truth, do you promise to let me come clean before you talk about it?"
Ms. Daisy thought about it for a full minute before she answered me, "I suppose I could do that, but I want to be able to say I figured it out before you said anything."
She actually hadn't, but that was neither here nor there at the moment. "Fine, say whatever you like, just let me tell my readers in my own way."
"You have yourself a deal." She placed her wrinkly hand on the table and waited for me to shake it. "Now I would like some cherry pie and a coffee if you don't mind."
How quickly she could turn it off like she hadn't just threatened to upend my entire world.
"I'll be right back with those for you."
I headed straight for the kitchen and nearly ran my grandmother over when I pushed the swinging door a little too hard.
"Jo, what's wrong. You look like you've seen a ghost. What did Ms. Daisy say to you? Do I need to go over there and give her a piece of my mind?"
That was a good way of putting it.
"No, Grams, but I do need to talk to you before I leave today."
I had to tell her before I exposed my secret to the town. She deserved to know what I had been hiding all these years.
The shift slowly dragged on. By the time Grams and I were closing down for the day, I was ready to come out of my skin.
"Dear, whatever's botherin' you, just tell me. You've been wound tight ever since Ms. Daisy asked to speak with you."
That was putting it mildly. I didn't know if it was the fact that I was finally going to tell my grandmother everything or if it was the pregnancy that had me sick to my stomach, but either way, I felt like I was going to hurl.
"You're not going to like what I have to say."
My grandmother's gaze softened. "There's nothin' you could say that's going to change how much I love you."
I sure as hell hoped that was the case.
"You say that now but only because you don't know what I've been keeping from you."
"Then tell me what it is so we can work through it together."
"I'm B. Feather. I've been writing for the newspaper anonymously since I got back from college."
Grams blinked a few times, but she didn't say anything.
"Please say something." I would hate if she was mad at me or, worse, disappointed in me. My grandmother’s opinion was the only one that ever mattered to me.
"Of all the people I suspected, you weren't one of them."
"I know, and that's how I wanted it."
"Why didn't you tell me? You had to know I would keep your secret."
How did I kindly say I didn't know that at all? I went with a different answer instead.
"I didn't want to put that burden on you. It was better if I was the only one that knew so it never got out."
"I'm guessing you're tellin' me now because someone found out?"
"You could say that. Someone was blackmailing Vanessa to find out my identity and hurting her sister in the process. I agreed to give her the information. Somehow it snowballed after that."
"Life has a way of doin' that, my dear."
Yeah, I was beginning to see that.
"So you're not mad?"
Grams smiled at me. "I could never be mad at you. I'm a little upset I didn't figure it out on my own, but I'm not mad at you."
I wrapped my arms around my grandmother and pulled her close. "I love you, and thank you for raising me to be a woman who's not afraid to be whoever I want to be."
"I love you too, dear, and I'm so proud of the woman you've become."
Tears pricked my eyes. I blamed it on the damn hormones because never before did I cry like that.