Luck of the Draw (A Betting on Romance Novel Book 1) (46 page)

Friends
. The tightness in Kate’s heart eased a little.

“So,” Rachel said, stepping back. “I’m guessing the ladies gave you a hundred pieces of advice, drove you crazy in the process, and you’ve come out here to work it out on your own.”

Kate gave a wobbly smile. “Something like that.”

“How about we go gather the girls and you tell us what’s going on?”

“It’s complicated,” Kate warned.

“Trust me. We’re good with complicated,” Rachel assured her as she held open the passenger door.

CHAPTER
FORTY-FIVE
____________________

“I
’VE GOT A PROBLEM.”

Jim tried not to roll his eyes as Doug sank pitiably onto his couch. Sure, no one wanted his help until he was knee deep in crap himself. He took a long slug of his beer and sat across from his brother-in-law.

“Join the club. So what’s the problem?”

Doug stared at his shoes. “I think my wife is having an affair.”

“
What?!”
Jim spewed beer across the rug.
Great.
One more mess to clean up. “What makes you think Rachel’s having an affair?”

Doug sighed. “Not an
affair
affair. At least, not yet.” He sighed again, reminding Jim of a sad, lost puppy.

“Doug
—”

“She’s been talking to an old boyfriend.”

“Old boyfriend? What are you talking about?
You’re
her only boyfriend!”

Doug sat up again, leaned his elbows on his knees. “Except for Jeff. She doesn’t know I know about him, but I do.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Who the hell is Jeff?”

“
Jeff
. Jeff. She had this
fling
with him back when I was in college. I thought it was long over, but I ran into him at the gas station today and he mentioned,” Doug took another breath, “
he mentioned he and Rachel met for coffee last week.”

Jim sank onto the couch. “Wait a minute. Jeff
Dayton
Jeff? But he and Grace...”

“Weren’t together at the time. It was after graduation when they’d split up.”

“Jesus.”

“Yeah.”

“But that was years ago, Doug. Meeting for coffee is no big deal. Especially seeing as he didn’t lie about it. I’m sure it’s ancient history. For both of them.”

“If it’s ancient history, why didn’t she tell me? But she hasn’t. Not one word! She’s gone and had coffee with some old flame and doesn’t tell me? Don’t you think that’s a little suspicious?” Doug was on his feet now, his hands gesturing almost comically.

“You actually think Rachel would cheat on you? Are you kidding?”

“No, I’m not kidding! She’s been acting weird lately. Restless.
Moody
...”

“She’s pregnant!”

“It’s more than that. I tell you, I think she’s thinking about having an affair with him!”

“Talk to her.”

“I can’t.”

“You will!”

“I won’t!” Doug plopped back onto the couch defiantly.

Jim’s legs ate up the distance to the kitchen. Of all the stubborn, stupid, ridiculous...! He had
real
problems to deal with, not some made up, imaginary— “Call her!” he insisted, thrusting his phone toward his brother-in-law.

“She won’t admit it.”

Jim rolled his eyes and punched in Rachel’s number. “Hey, Rachel? It’s Jim. Doug’s here. Yeah. Hey, the reason I’m calling is Doug thinks you’re having an affair. Uh-huh. I told him he’s crazy, but he’s got some— Rach?”

Jim dropped his arm. “Lost her. Must have gone out of range.”

Doug scowled and took a swig of Jim’s beer. “Isn’t that convenient?”

Jim sighed. “Oh, snap out of it. She’s
not
, I repeat,
not
having an affair with Jeff.”

“Maybe not yet, but she’s thinking about it.”

“Then get her thinking about something else!”

Doug raised his eyebrows. “Like?”

Jim grabbed his beer back and became intensely focused on pulling the label off his bottle. “You know. Spice things up a little.”

“Uh-uh. Rachel doesn’t like things too crazy if you know what I mean.”

Jim closed his eyes on a bid for strength. Where was Carter when you needed a guy with no verbal filter to say what needed to be said? He winced. “You sure about that? I mean... just asking.”

Doug peered up at him. Jim avoided eye contact. “Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”

Jim cleared his throat. “If you’re thinking what I’m thinking, then, yes.”

Doug frowned. “I’ve always held Rachel on such a pedestal. She’s a wonderful woman.”

“Yes. Yes, she is,” Jim agreed.

“She deserves to be treated well. With respect.”

“Yes. Yes, she does.”

“And she came back to me, you know? She didn’t want him after all. I swore then and there I wasn’t going to do anything, ever, that might remind her about, you know,
him
... Maybe that was a mistake.”

“Maybe.”

“And, hey, your sister’s a beautiful woman. Who wouldn’t want to—you know?”

“Nothing more needs to be said, I’m thinking.”

“You’re right.” Doug bounded from the couch. “You’re right! I just hope it’s not too late!” He clasped Jim in an awkward hug. “Thank you! I’m so glad we had this conversation!”

Jim grimaced and took a step back. “Me, too.”

CHAPTER
FORTY-SIX
____________________

“D
O-IT-DAY?”
R
ACHEL LET OUT an indelicate whoop of laughter. “Wait till Mom hears about this!”

“Rachel, I don’t know if they want it to be common knowledge.”

“I don’t know, sounds to me like they’re kind of proud of it,” Grace interjected, pushing aside her iced tea. “Think about it! They’re rebels, all of them. Nobody had sex before marriage back then.”

Kate bobbed her straw in her lemonade and smiled wryly. “Apparently they did.”

“I guess you’re right.” Rachel grabbed an onion ring from the basket in the center of the table. “I can’t believe how good these taste. If I don’t eat when I get hungry—” She cut herself off abruptly and stuffed an onion ring into her mouth.

Kate nodded. “No problem.” The smell of the onion rings wasn’t doing great things for her own stomach, but she’d been so grateful when Rachel had stopped the car, she hadn’t quibbled about where they were going.

“So,” said Rachel, “you weren’t crying and walking aimlessly in the dark because our grandmothers had premarital sex, so how about you tell us the real reason we’re here?”

Kate grimaced and bobbed her straw again, glanced around the diner. “You get right to it, don’t you?”

“I have a feeling we have a limited amount of time till Dad runs out of entertainment for Liam and calls for reinforcements.”

“Right.” Kate sipped her drink. “Do you want the short version or the long one?”

“Quit stalling,” said Grace. “Give us the short and we’ll probe for details.”

“Right.” Kate played with her straw. “The thing is... I’m...” She blew out a long breath. “This is harder than I thought it would be.”

“We could say it for you, but I think it’s good for you to say it first,” said Rachel.

“I’m sorry?”

“You need the practice. You know, for when you tell the father. So go ahead, tell us.”

“You know I’m pregnant?!”

Rachel took another hearty bite of onion ring. “Well, duh. I think we kind of got the hint when you opened with the premarital sex story. Plus, you go a little green around the gills every time I bite into an onion ring. Why didn’t you just say something? I could have ordered something else.”

Kate blinked her surprise at the three other women around the table. What was it with these people? Was she that much of an open book? “I don’t know what to say.”

“Why don’t you say the words? As I said, good practice.”

“Okay.” She took a breath. “I’m pregnant.”

“See? It gets easier every time you say it. I know. First few times it feels so unreal, and I actually thought I
wanted
to get pregnant.”

Grace turned abruptly. “Thought you wanted? What’s that supposed to mean? Of course you want to be pregnant!”

“You’re pregnant?” Susan gasped.

Rachel blushed, nodded. “Eleven weeks.”

“Congratulations!”

“Thanks.”

“What do you mean, ‘thought you wanted?’” Grace said again.

Rachel frowned. “We’re not talking about me. We’re here for Kate. Kate needs to be able to say the words.”

“I don’t know how—” Kate began.

“Yes, you do,” Rachel insisted. “I know it’s scary, because every time you say the words, ‘I’m pregnant’ it makes it more real. Like you’re one step closer to that delivery room.”

Susan frowned delicately. “I don’t remember it feeling like—”

“What do you mean, ‘thought you wanted?’” Grace persisted.

“She’s right,” Kate replied shakily. “It’s true.” She buried her face in her hands.

“Okay,” said Susan, “she’s pregnant. The next logical question is: who’s the father?”

“Doug, of course!” Grace gasped.

“
What?!”
Rachel cried.

Kate held up a hand in silent plea. “Are we talking about me or not?”

“We’re talking about you,” Susan assured her, giving her friends a quelling look. “So, who’s the father?”

“You don’t know?” asked Kate.

“Oh,” said Rachel, “we have a hunch, but let’s pretend we have no idea.”

Kate blanched as Rachel stuffed another onion ring in her mouth. “The ironic thing is, I thought the baby was Randy’s, my late husband’s...”

“Mmm.”
Susan frowned. “I’m thinking that’s not a good opener. For telling the father. It’s not a good way to start. I mean, you don’t want him to remember who else has been in the picture, because we all know it’s irrelevant. I wouldn’t open with that.”

Kate sat back, nonplussed. “I’m sorry. I don’t know if I can do this. This is too weird. You... our grandmothers... no one is reacting...
normally
.”

“You mean we’re not freaking out?” Rachel said.

“Well, yes. I mean you are, but not about
this
.” She waved a hand toward her belly.

Grace reached across and touched Kate’s hand on the table. “Don’t you get it? It’s because
this
is not a tragedy.
This
is a miracle!”

“A miracle?”

“Yes! Life doesn’t always go according to plan. I mean, it rarely does. But it works out. So what if you’re pregnant with Jim’s baby? We know it might not be the order you’d like things in, but it doesn’t make it bad—”

“Wh
—
?
How do you know I’m carrying
Jim’s
baby?”

Grace blanched this time. “
Ohmigod!
Are you saying it’s
not
Jim’s?”

“
No!
I mean, yes! It’s Jim’s.”

“
Phew!
You had me freaking for a moment there.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Grace dabbed her forehead with her napkin and took a few deep breaths as if to calm herself. “So. Now what?”

“Yeah,” Rachel said. “When are you going to tel
l him?”

“I don’t know,” Kate replied. “I’m afraid of how he’ll react.”

“Jim? Why would you be afraid of him? You must know he’ll do the right thing.”

Kate sighed. “Why does everyone keep saying that? Don’t you understand that’s the
last
thing I want him to do?”

Grace frowned. “No, I don’t understand. Don’t you care about him?”

“Of course I do! Too much.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Rachel asked.

“I don’t want to be another person Jim is responsible for! I don’t want to be another person he ‘saves!’”

“Seems to me those are just words,” Susan said.

“But they’re important words!”

“Really? Are they so important you would push him away because of them? And what about the baby? Doesn’t he or she deserve a father? A father
—I might add—who would be more than willing to be a part of its life?”

“I’m not saying I’ll keep him out of the baby’s life. I’m just saying I don’t know if now is the time to tell him. Up until this morning, this wasn’t even a possibility I’d considered. I need to get my head around it. I need to think things through.”