CHAPTER FOUR
JO
“Jo, are you listening?” Amara snapped her fingers attempting to get my attention. If her frown was any indication, it wasn’t the first time she had tried.
I felt bad. My cousin was my best friend, but between her being a newlywed and me trying to hide my news, we hadn’t had much time together. Earlier, she had showed up at my office with lunch and said we were going to catch up.
If she hadn’t dangled blondies in front of me, I would have made an excuse to skip out on lunch.
“You’ve been so distracted lately.”
“Sorry,” I sighed.
I wanted to share with her last week that I had discovered I was pregnant, but I was still wrapping my head around it. Of the many times we were together, we went without protection only once. Putting that aside, I was on the pill. The attorney in me wanted to sue someone’s ass.
There had been an overwhelming amount to process. I’m going to be a momma.
A single mom at that.
From the moment I saw the plus sign, I knew I wanted to have this baby. Parenthood was going to be a lonely road because I haven’t heard from Ryan in over three months.
After our last visit, there were some phone calls. Then a text — even though the man hated texting, he texted — saying he would be out of touch for a couple of weeks, then nothing.
And I just don’t mean anything to him. His visits to Chase stopped too. I couldn’t probe too deeply, but what I was able to get from Amara as that Ryan hadn’t reached out to his buddy in months either.
Not my circus, not my monkey.
I had to figure out how I was going to raise this child, which included putting on my big-girl pants and telling my parents, my old-fashioned parents. They are going to want to know who got me in the ‘family way’. I don’t want to tell them or anyone, for that matter.
Ryan and I weren’t even a couple. He didn’t owe me anything. At least, that was what I kept telling myself.
Snap, snap. Amara’s fingers were inches from my face.
“Okay, spill. I just threatened to eat all your brownies, and you were so lost in thought you didn’t object.”
“I’ve got a lot on my plate right now, but I promise we’ll catch up soon.”
“You know what? We need a girls’ night. I say after work we drive over to Chesterville and see Nancy. Then you can tell us what’s up.”
Nancy was like family. We’d all known each other our entire lives. Like my cousin, she owned a restaurant. It was the only Chinese cuisine for miles. The thought of her garlic spareribs and ginger beef seemed like the best idea in the world. Maybe it was just what I needed — my girls, good food, and to unburden my secrets.
I felt bad. I’d kept a lot from them. They had no idea I’d held onto my virginity for thirty-five years or that I had hooked up with Ryan. Keeping things close to my vest was a skill I’d gotten fantastic at.
“Sure.” I nodded. It was time.
My cousin clapped. I wondered how she would feel later when I let the cat outta the bag.
“Hey, are you sure you can get away? I don’t think Chase would allow you out of his sight.”
“That man.” A grin took over my cousin’s face before it disappeared. “Well, I was hoping Ryan being in town would keep him busy enough that, he wouldn’t mind.”
I had something smart to say about how lovesick they had been acting, but the mention of Ryan made me forget what I was going to say. He was in town. In my town. All the things I had convinced myself of went out the window. Turned out I did care that he hadn’t contacted me.
“Ryan? It had been a minute since he was around.” I tried to sound casual but doubted I was pulling itoff.
“Yup. We weren’t expecting him, but he rolled in this morning. He is staying at my cottage.”
The same cottage I was hoping to buy from my cousin to raise my baby. Well, once I told her I was pregnant. The thought of him being there pissed me off.
