Still Here: A Secret Baby Romance (13 page)

“
Y
ou look
like you are keeping a secret,” Jess said as she leaned in close to me. “What is it?”

She always knew how to read me. Even when we were kids. I’d never been able to keep a secret from her. I’d never even been able to try.

She could always pry them from me, as an expert fisherman prying a lobster from a trap. She was just as underhanded about it too. It didn’t matter if it was a high school crush or if it was where I got into college, she got it out of me before anyone else did. This was no different.

“Not this time, Jess,” I said. It was my best effort at a dodge, but she just smiled wide.

Dammit. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get out of it that easily.

“That tells me you have something to hide, and I’m right. You have to tell me.” She poked me with her straw before she pulled it out of the paper and plunked it into her milkshake.

Just looking at that thing made me green. I scooted away from it and tried looking out the window, focusing on a fixed point. I really didn’t want to vomit at Cherry’s. I was pretty sure she’d charge extra for that.

“Are you sure you just want a cup of tea,” she asked as she looked at me. “This turtle milkshake is really damn good. Cherry outdid herself on this one.” She waved it in front of me, teasing me on purpose.

She had to know something was up.

Cherry’s Diner was the best place in town for anything from sandwiches to chicken and biscuits to milkshakes. It was one of the only places that I’d meet Jess. The smell anywhere else turned my stomach up in knots right now. I couldn’t even walk by Maggie’s this morning. Hash browns and sausage made me throw up in the trashcan outside of it. That wasn’t fair to her customers.

“No. I’m good,” I said as I sipped the mint tea. It was the only thing keeping the nausea at bay. It was okay most of the time, but for whatever reason if it was before two in the afternoon, anything remotely food like made me sick.

She eyed me suspiciously. “You’re pregnant aren’t you?” It was more of an accusation than it was a question.

“How the hell did you know?” I asked. It was impossible. I hadn’t told anyone. Not a soul knew the truth. But she picked it up right out of thin air.

“I can tell by the color of you. You look like you are about to be sick. And you‘ve been that way every time I’ve seen you the past three days.”

I sighed. That was my big secret, and it was so obvious even she knew.

“Plus, in case you didn’t know, I’m a super sleuth.” She winked at me. “Have you told him?”

“Who?” I asked. I was playing dumb, and it wasn’t working. She just raised her eyebrow and looked at me. Dammit.

“Him. Wyatt. Does he know yet?” she asked.

“No, and it’s going to stay that way, do you understand? I’m not ready to tell anyone yet. Not him, not my mother. I haven’t even gone in for the first appointment. You aren’t going to tell anyone.”

“I won’t. My lips are sealed unlike yours. You were always bad at keeping secrets.”

I glared at her. But a part of me knew she was right. How in the world was I going to keep it from Wyatt? I was already struggling.

And when he told me that he pictured kids in the yard, I just knew it I was going to have a problem. Wyatt Graves was still not the kind of man I wanted to trust.

It had been years, but I still saw that betrayal, that kiss that haunted me. I was giving him a second chance, and hell, I forgot about it every time we were together, but when we were apart I couldn’t help but see it all over again.

No, I wouldn’t tell him about this. Not now. Not yet.

“Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me. But I get to be an honorary aunt. You hear me?” she asked.

“That sounds more than fair,” I grinned. Besides, I was going to need all the help in the world to raise this baby.

“When is your first appointment?” she asked.

“I went in and got a confirmation, but I have a first-trimester appointment scheduled for two weeks. Will you go with me?” I asked. I was hesitant, but I kept telling myself that it wasn’t real. It wasn’t actually happening. I made a promise to myself that the moment I saw that little baby inside of me I would admit it was real.

Then I would tell Wyatt. Two weeks. I could wait two weeks. It wasn’t that long.

“Here comes the devil,” Jess said as she pointed to the door.

He was too. A devil in a tight pair of jeans with a killer smile. And I was his victim.

If I had known it was going to be this fun, I would’ve signed up for hell a whole lot sooner.

“Hey handsome, she’s over here!” Jess said as she waved to him.

“Jess!” I hissed. I’d just told her I was pregnant, and she was calling the father of my child right over like it was no big deal.

I had no idea how I was going to hide this. I was already starting to feel guilty.

“Well, who’d you think told him to come find us?” She grinned. “I’m still paying you back for all those years.”

I glared at her. Talk about betrayal.

“I can’t stay too much longer,” I said as I looked over at the clock on the wall. Since I’d moved into the apartment, I hadn’t had much time to get out to the house.

“Let me drive you,” he said. It wasn’t a question; he didn’t mean it any other way. I knew Wyatt wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“Thank you,” I said. I wasn’t going to argue with him. Not here in Cherry’s Diner.

The whole town would be talking about it.

He grinned at Jess.

“She’s all yours. At least, until I need her for the dress fitting.”

“Dress fitting?” I asked.]

“What, do you think I’d bring my mom? No way. My sister might be my maid of honor, but you’re going to be a bridesmaid too, aren’t you?” she asked. She fluttered her eyes at me.

“Of course, I didn’t think you’d ask me. I’d been away so long.”

“Of course, I would. I wouldn’t want anyone else to be there beside me. Now go, but you make sure she comes back in one piece, Mister.” Jess winked at him.

“I swear the two of your have been scheming.”

“I think you know us better than that. We call it strategizing,” Jess said as I stood up. As soon as I was within a widths reach of Wyatt he put his hand on me and that little electric touch was riding up my entire body.

I couldn’t escape it. Couldn’t escape his touch. It was like he was everywhere all at once.

"
H
i mom
," I said as I walked into the little cottage. She was sitting on the couch with a different book in her hands. I swore she went through two or three romance novels a day.

And she never stopped going on about romance. For a widow who lost her husband, she was still so optimistic. She always said dad was the love of her life. My mother loved to love.

I cherished that about her.

"I brought a friend," I said as Wyatt came in after me.

"Oh right, so that date went well, did it?" she asked.

I'd refused to talk about it since it happened. Any of it. I wasn't going to share my love life with my mother.

"Sit down and have a little visit with me," she said as she patted the couch. Wyatt took a seat on the chair across the room, and I sat down next to her.

"You doing alright?" I asked.

"I'm doing okay," she said, "except-" she looked from me to Wyatt and back to me again. She was hiding something. My mother always liked to pretend everything was okay. She didn’t want to worry me. She did it with dad and she was doing it now.

"Except what?" I asked.I wasn’t going to let this stand.

"Maybe I should step out onto the porch?" Wyatt asked.

"No, honey. You can stay right here." My mom said. "It's just a little thing."

"What thing, momma?" I asked.

"They found something. A lump in my breast."

The floor might as well have disappeared from under me.

"What did they say?" I asked.

"They won't know until they do a biopsy, they are planning it for Wednesday," she said.

"Do you need me to be there? Can I take you?" I asked. She’d been through this before, but I was away at college. I was a kid. I didn't know the reality of cancer.

I didn't know what it could do to a family.

"No, no. Your Uncle Sam is going to take me," she said.

"Are you sure, we can be there for anything you need," Wyatt said. He looked just as concerned as I was.

It was sweet.

"I'm more than sure," she said as she smiled at us both. "I'm just glad to see you getting along."

I blushed. I'd say we were more than getting along.

"Told ya he was cute," my mom said as she grinned at us both.

"Mom!" I exclaimed, but Wyatt just laughed. “I’m still going to worry, you know.”

“I do, but in the mean time we can have a bit of a laugh, right?” she asked. “It would help keep my mind off of it.”

I could only imagine what she was going through.

"You have the entire town against you, you know," he said.

"I know, team Wyatt."

Even I was team Wyatt. I just wasn't willing to admit it yet.

I
walked
into my house to find the door open and the light on. My damn father didn't know when to keep his nose out of it. I sighed and threw my mail down.

"Do you want a cup of coffee?" I asked, not even bothering to look at him in the living room. I knew his damn boots when I saw them. At least he had the courtesy to take them off.

"Black," he said.

"Coming right up."

I'd spent half the day going over the quarterly report, and I was tired of work. I didn't want to think about it and I sure as hell didn't want to think about it now.

"Are you sure you aren't trying to find a way to move in with me, Dad? You've been hanging around for quite a while," I said as I grabbed him a cup and flipped the switch on my coffee maker.

"You caught me," my father said. I could practically hear him roll his eyes as he said it.

"What do you need now, ol' man?" I asked.

"I need to know if you are at all interested in this business," he said.

"This one? I absolutely am. I want to grow it properly."

"This is just one small aspect of what I do. You know that." He was serious this time. Not biting or sarcastic.

The pressure to be his son had never been comfortable. It was always something. Build his empire. Build his fortune. Fulfill his legacy. It was almost too much pressure for one man to take.

I didn't want any of it. I didn't want the fortune, the money. Sure, it made things easier for a little while, but it wasn't who I was anymore.

It wasn't who I wanted to be.

"I like what I do now, Dad. I don't need the rest of the business." I shook my head. It was the last thing I wanted. I wasn’t his fucking crony.

"You have an MBA, son. It's what I've spent so many damn years training you for," he sounded tired. Not angry. "You have all the qualifications and expertise."

"I do, but I'm not interested. My life is here in Montana." Everything I wanted was here. The land. The people. Rose.

Rose was here. That was the real reason. I'd been the guy he was talking about. The player with all the women on my arms, the one who would've taken over the business.

Hell, if he would've asked me just a couple months ago I might've taken him up on his offer.

“You need to think about it. This is your future you are talking about,” my father said. He wasn’t angry anymore, he wasn’t yelling.

He was concerned.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Are you still seeing Rose?” he asked. It was his way of changing the subject. To jump from a tense one to an even more contentious topic.

“I am.” I gritted my teeth. “We’ve been seeing a lot of each other.”

“And her mom, how is she doing?” he asked. It was a gentle probe, but I had a feeling it was what he was more interested in. Everyone knew he loved her, even after he married my mom, had me. Even after all these years. It was why he helped Jack out when he had cancer. Why he was so protective of her and Rose.

It had been more than thirty-five years since they’d been together, but he still carried a torch for her. She would always be the one that got away. I could completely identify with that.

“Not so great. She’s had a scare. They found a lump,” I said as I swallowed. Just like with mom. A lump in her breast, one that took her life.

“Did she tell you?” he asked.

“She did.”

Silence passed between us.

“I know you don’t want my advice, but I think its time you bury the hatchet with her. I think you should go talk to her, dad. Let her know you are thinking about her. She’s scared and honestly, she could probably use a friend.” My father and I were a lot of things, but loving was never one of them.

That didn’t mean I didn’t love him. I did. And he loved me. In his own way.

It hurt to watch him be so angry with her. So angry that she made her choice. It was why my mother left him. She swore he loved someone else. That he didn’t really care for her. She watched her relationship wither and she put it out of its misery.

I understood exactly what she meant. Because no matter who I was with, once Rose touched my life I couldn’t just replace her.

But she walked back into town and into my world, and I couldn't imagine anything else. It might be hard as hell to convince her, but we belonged together.

Even if she didn't want to believe it. I just needed time. I could make her see.

Hell, I could swear by the way she looked at me that she already knew.

“I’ll think on it, son. I really will. It’s been a lot of years since she and I really talked. Hell, since before you were born.” He and I had never opened up like this. It was almost frightening.

We were actually talking to one another like adults. With respect.

It was almost enough to make my jaw drop.

“Well, son. I better get on down the road. You think about what I said, I don’t want you to waste this.” He stood and whatever spell had come over the two of us dissipated and Branch Graves was once again the angry bitter man who was hell bent on forcing me to follow in his footsteps.

I watched him go and I put it out of my mind.

I had a date to plan.