Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
GEORGIA
Georgia
Omg! Grant is in town
Joey
Hot baseball dad Grant?
Rylee
The guy you hooked up with at the reception?
Yes
Presley
Where’d you see him?
I bumped into him at the store
Presley
Was he surprised to see you?
Not as surprised as I was
Joey
What are you going to do?
Rylee
Did you tell him about the baby?
No! I am not going to blurt out that I’m pregnant in the bread aisle
Presley
So what’s your plan then?
We’re getting dinner at the emporium
Rylee
So you’re going to blurt out that you’re pregnant over pancakes?
Rylee! Now you’re making me question myself
Presley
No
Presley
This is a good plan
It is?
Joey
Yeah
Rylee
You just need to figure out how you’re going to break the news to him
Presley
We don’t want him running out on you
Now you guys are making me worry about this
Rylee
Maybe break it to him after you get the bill so then you can leave if things get awkward
Seriously, not making me feel any better
Joey
Everything will be okay
Joey
He might be shocked at first, but I think he’ll handle the news well
Oh God, I’m nervous
I might puke
Presley
That could be the morning sickness
Ugh
I have enough to worry about
Joey
Wear that new dress you got
Joey
Maybe it’ll distract him enough to not be worried about the news
Him or me? I’ll be worried either way
Joey
Fine, but wear the dress because you’ll look hot!
Presley
I agree
Presley
Mainly because you won’t have much longer that you can wear it
Thanks for the reminder
God, I feel like I’m going to be sick. Not because of the baby, but because of the nerves. Who would have thought that the hottest night I’d ever had would result in a baby?
Certainly not me. Nothing like two little blue lines to change your entire life.
I check my phone again. I’m twenty minutes early for dinner, but I don’t care. I’m sipping on my water and trying to figure out what to say to Grant.
“Hey, I’m pregnant. You’re the dad. Why don’t you try the Nutella and banana pancakes? Everyone loves them.”
Wait, can I have any of these things?
Shit.
I pull my phone over to me and start googling. Jesus. I’m really going to need to get one of those books that tells you what to expect when you’re pregnant.
Well, according to the Internet, I can. At least that’s one thing I don’t need to worry about.
Now that I know what I can and can’t eat, that takes some pressure off. Figuring out how to tell him is still worrying me. I want to be somewhat delicate and not blurt it out.
“Hey, Georgia. Are you waiting for someone?” Amy asks, coming over with a glass of ice water.
“I am.”
“Ohh, hot date?” She waggles her eyebrows at me.
“Something like that,” I mutter. “Can I get a lemonade?”
“Sure thing. I’ll be right back.”
My eyes flit around the restaurant. It’s not too busy tonight. Hopefully that means there won’t be many prying eyes. Or open ears. I’m sure it will be all over town within a week, but I at least want some time to adjust to my new normal.
Glancing outside, I see Grant pacing in front of the door.
Is he as nervous as I am?
Sorry to break it to you, bud, but your night isn’t going to end how you want.
I watch as he finally opens the door and comes inside. His gaze surveys the restaurant—no doubt taking in the old tables and fake pleather booths. It hasn’t been updated in a long time, but the Pinecrest Pancake Emporium doesn’t need it.
The pancakes speak for themselves.
A smile lights up his face when he sees me and walks over.
“Hey, Georgia.”
“Hey, Grant.”
I stand and he gives me a kiss on the cheek. Nope. Not going to think about how good his lips feel. That’s not why we’re here tonight.
“You look nice,” he says.
“Thanks.”
Now that Grant is here, I’m so nervous, I could puke. At least the one thing I haven’t had to deal with is morning sickness. Sure, the occasional wave of sickness every now and then, but not daily.
“I’m glad you asked me out.”
I rub my hands over the skirt of my dress. “There might have been another reason why I did.”
He gives me a smile that I have to do everything to ignore. I don’t need to get swept up in how sexy this man is. No, I need to stay focused on the task at hand. Like the fact that I’m pregnant and this man is the dad.
“Are you the official welcoming committee then for Pinecrest? Because if so, I like it.”
“I’m pregnant,” I blurt out.
Shit. So much for not blurting it out.
“You’re what?” He looks stunned.
“Hey, are you Georgia’s date?” Amy comes back, dropping off my drink and addressing Grant.
“Uh, yeah.” He clears his throat. “Can I get a Coke, please?”
“Sure thing, handsome.” Amy winks at him before walking back into the kitchen.
I stab at my straw, pulling it out of the wrapper and taking a large sip of the tart and sweet drink. It helps to settle my raging nerves.
“Look, I know this isn’t what you were expecting. I mean, I wasn’t expecting it either. I never planned on being a mom, and—”
I don’t really need to go into specifics about why I want to keep it or delve into my past. That would be way too much to talk about tonight.
“Wow.” He leans back in the booth, scrubbing a hand over his face. “I don’t really know what to say.”
“You can take as much time as you need to figure out what you want to do,” I say.
He nods, but isn’t really looking at me. His eyes are glazed over.
Even shell-shocked, he looks as sexy as I remember him. Although, I’m not even sure my memories did him justice.
A light layer of scruff lines his jaw. The short-sleeve button-up shirt highlights his biceps. His brown hair flops over his forehead. It’s so long I want to sink my fingers into it. Relive that night.
Focus, Georgia.
You should not be ogling after Grant. No. You need to be having a conversation about the baby.
“When did you find out?” he asks.
“A few days before I bumped into you. Kind of kismet timing,” I say.
“Right.”
“Like I said, you can take as much time as you want to figure out if you want to help.”
“This is definitely not what I was expecting when I met you here tonight.”
“I…well, it’s not like either of us went into that night thinking we’d have a baby together.”
His jaw ticks as he leans over the table, clasping his hands. Strong hands that are burned into my memory. Flashes of that night flood my brain.
The fiery kisses.
The way his hands took me over the edge.
The feeling of him inside of me.
Again, not what I need to be worrying about right now. I made up my mind that I want to have this baby. Whether he decides to help out or not is up to him.
“Look, I want to say that I’ll help you, but…”
“But you just moved to town and that’s a big change itself?” I finish for him.
“Yeah. God, I feel like such a dick right now.”
Grant leans back in the booth, scrubbing a hand down his face.
“It’s not your fault. It’s neither of our faults. It just…happened.”
Amy comes back with Grant’s drink, but neither of us order dinner. I have a feeling this is going to be a short-lived evening. Based on how stunned Grant is right now, I think he might be leaving soon.
“Can we exchange numbers?” Grant asks. “Maybe talk again in a few days?”
“Sure.” I unlock my phone and slide it over to him.
He punches in his number and then texts himself.
“I have to think about Luke. He’s already going through a lot.”
“I get it. It’s not like this is a small decision to make. Like getting bangs or something,” I say.
“Bangs?”
I wave him off. “Ignore me.”
Did I really just compare a baby to getting bangs?
I’m more nervous than I thought. Being back in Grant’s presence—his very sexy presence—must be scrambling my brain.
He fishes his wallet out of his pocket and drops a ten-dollar bill on the table.
“I’ll call you, okay?”
I nod. “Sure.”
The nerves are back as he gives me a tight-lipped goodbye and leaves. Well, that could have gone a lot worse. He could have told me he wasn’t going to have anything to do with this baby and left immediately.
I get his reasoning for hesitating. I do. He just moved here.
New job. New town. New everything.
And with a son to worry about, I get it.
“You okay, Georgia?” Amy asks. “Your beau didn’t want to stay?”
I shake my head. “He had to get home for his son.”
“Oh, well. His loss. You want anything?”
“Yeah. Can I get the banana and Nutella pancakes to go, please?”
“You got it.”
I have no idea what Grant is going to do, but even if he says no, I’ll be okay. I’ve been through worse. Even if it’s only me, this baby will have the best life because they’ll have three aunts that will dote on them every single day of their life.
I look down at my stomach, resting my hand there. It’s the same and different all at the same time.
“I’m going to give you the best life,” I whisper.
No matter what.