26. CHRISTMAS EVE — THE REED LAND, NORTH CAROLINA #3
I took deep, slow breaths, and just like Silas always did, Josie instinctively anchored herself to my rhythm. Her chest stopped heaving, the wild, vacant terror slowly draining from her eyes as she let out a long breath.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice raw. “And God… I feel so sick. The hunger just hit me out of nowhere, and if I don’t eat right now, I’m going to throw up on your boots.”
“What’s baby Reed demanding?”
“Ice cream. Definitely chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, or I’m going to die.”
“Say no more, kid. Let’s go.”
We drove straight through downtown Wilmington.
I parked the truck near the old wooden boardwalk of the riverfront.
The ice cream shop was packed with holiday tourists.
We sat down side-by-side outside of the shop with our ice cream.
The wind was biting, but Josie was completely oblivious to the cold, furiously eating with a plastic spoon like her life depended on it.
I rested my elbows on my knees, staring out at the distant bridge across the river.
“I know you’re terrified. I’m here, completely. Even when the suspension ends, and Si and I have to go back on the road, even if we’re halfway across the country in a different time zone, I’m just a phone call away.”
She put the cup onto the bench, turned, and threw her arms around my neck, burying her face in my shoulder. She wept with deep, overwhelming gratitude. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her tight against the cold wind, letting her feel the unyielding security of my promise.
“Thank you,” she sobbed into my leather jacket. “That’s… Cal, that’s exactly what I need. I just needed to know someone had me.”
“I’ve got you, kid. Always.”
The sun had completely set by the time we drove through the iron gates of the Reed land. I went straight down the gravel road, pulling into the driveway of Scott’s house.
The second we walked through the front door, the house was a buzzing, warm hive of Christmas Eve preparations. The kitchen was alive with the sound of clinking pots and shouting voices.
Silas sat on the living room sofa, looking completely exhausted, a poorly wrapped box hidden behind his feet.
The second he saw me, his face lit up with a relieved smile.
He stood up, completely oblivious to the emotional demolition derby Josie and I had lived through, and started walking toward the foyer.
“You’re finally here!” he called out. “We’ve been back for an hour. Come on, let’s head back to our house. I want to show you what I found in town before—”
He looked at me. Then his gaze dropped to Josie.
“What’s going on?”
Scott walked out of the kitchen, a dishtowel in his hand, his sharp eyes missing nothing. “Josie? Where the hell have you been all afternoon? Your mother’s been looking for you to help with the pies.”
The air in the room grew thick enough to choke on. Si reached out, his hand grabbing my forearm, completely clueless to the bond I formed with his cousin today. “Come on, babe. Let’s go home. Let them handle the dinner prep. We’re in the way.”
“I can’t leave, Si.” My tone left absolutely zero room for argument.
“What do you mean you can’t leave?”
“Josie needs to talk to her parents, and I’m not walking out that door until she’s finished.”
He stared at me, the gravity of my tone finally penetrating his confusion. He looked at Josie, then looked back at me, a sudden realization dawning in his brown eyes that something monumental was happening.
Cadence and Jayme walked into the living room behind Scott, their faces masks of concern.
“Mom. Dad. Cadence,” Josie whispered, her voice trembling in the quiet room. “I… I need to tell you something.” She paused before she finally found the courage to speak the truth. “I’m pregnant.”
Scott’s face went a dangerous, bright red, his jaw dropping in total, unadulterated shock as he looked at his daughter.
Jayme let out a sharp gasp, her hands flying to cover her mouth as tears instantly welled in her eyes.
She sprinted across the rug to wrap her arms around her daughter.
Cadence let out a shattered cry, running over to join the embrace, the sisters melting into each other in a chaotic sea of strawberry-blonde hair.
And then, there was Silas.
I looked over at my husband, and the visual was the most hilariously, tragically bizarre thing I had ever seen in my entire life.
He looked like the sickest, most profoundly horrified human being on the face of the earth.
He hadn’t said a single word. His eyes were wide and fixed on his little cousin like she had just transformed into an alien right before his eyes.
His jaw hung so low it looked unhinged, his golden skin fading into a pale shade of shock.
His cousin’s pregnancy must have been a concept that didn’t compute in his meticulously organized mind.
He looked over at me, silently screaming the one question his mouth couldn’t form:
How the fuck did that even happen?
I reached over, grabbing him by the shoulder, squeezing firmly to pull him back from the edge of his own mind.
“Breathe, champion,” I whispered to him. “Welcome to Christmas Eve.”