“Come on, let’s grab your shit. What are you gonna do about your old apartment?”
I blow out a frustrated breath, not wanting to think about going back there. “I paid six months’ rent in advance, so I’m not sure where I stand on that. At the very least, I need to go back and clean up, or I can kiss goodbye to my deposit.”
“You want help, you call me, and I’ll be there.”
“Thanks, but I know my leaving will put you in a bind.”
“Don’t stress about it. Susie asked me for extra hours last week, so I can offer her yours and put an ad out for part-time work, aiming at students like you suggested. We’ll be fine. Seriously, you don’t need to worry about me.”
“Need to, maybe not, but I’ll do it anyway.”
She rolls her eyes as she starts gathering up things to pack while I move past her to my room. I haven’t had time to unpack anything, so most of it’s still in the bag. I grab my toothbrush, toiletries, bunny, and a hoodie hanging half off the bed. I shove it all in my bag along with everything Del hands me. Once I’m done, I turn around to give her another hug and see a roll of cash in her hand.
“Take it.”
“What? No, I’m not taking your money. Are you crazy?”
” The jury is still out on that one, but you’ll take it anyway or I’ll never get a wink of sleep. Consider it your emergency escape fund.”
“What are you?—”
She cuts me off with a look. “I want this to work out for you, whatever that looks like, Hazel. But I’ve been through enough to know that every woman should have a backup plan. You take this money and you use it if everything goes tits up and you need to escape fast. You get somewhere safe using this, and then you call me and I’ll come get you. If you never need it, great, you can give it back to me later down the line. But with everything being the way it is right now…and with the baby coming, I need to know that you’ll have an escape route, just in case. This is your escape route.”
“Del…” I whisper, feeling overwhelmed. She puts the money in my hand and curls her fingers around mine.
“Trust me on this. Take it. I had my dad and brother. Soon as I needed them, they came for me, but they don’t live local and it took them two days to get to me. For those two days, I was scared out of my mind, looking over my shoulder and hiding from the very people I once thought were my friends. I had nothing but the clothes on my back. I didn’t have my keys so I couldn’t get back into my house to get my purse. I slept under a bridge in the dead of winter, wearing nothing but jeans and a T-shirt. If somehomeless guy hadn’t taken pity on me, I wouldn’t have made it. I don’t think I’ll ever forget how cold it was. Even now, I can’t stand it when the temperatures drop suddenly like that. It takes me right back to a time I’ve spent years trying to forget. That money will get you a bus ticket, cab fare, a hotel room, and food. It will keep you safe until I can get to you.”
I don’t bother trying to hide my tears. I’ve had friends over the years, great ones and some not-so-great ones. But part of me has always felt like that heartbroken little girl staring down at her dead mom, completely alone in the world. Until now.
“I love you—not in a way that I want to jump your bones—though you do have lovely bones,” I babble. “And I can say that because before Midas, you’d have been just my type. But then he broke my vagina and my heart…and I’ve gotten way off track.” I blow out a deep breath as she looks at me with amusement. “My point is, I don’t tell people I love them often because love, to me, feels like a curse—one I’ve spent a lifetime trying to break—but instead I’m the one who gets broken. You’re worth the risk, though. Because I feel stronger for knowing you. You came into my life when I needed you most. Whether you like it or not, you’re stuck with me. And that’s why I’m telling you this now. If something happens to me…”
“No—”
“If something happens to me”— I keep going—“I need you to know that my life was better because of you. I want you to take a chance on the next girl and the one after that because you might just change their lives too.”
“If something happens to you, I’ll kick your skinny ass,” she snaps.
“Well, then I’ll do my utmost to keep my skinny ass safe.”
After a tearful goodbye, I head back down to Midas. As soon as he sees me, he jumps out of the truck and hurries over, taking my bag from me and wrapping his arm around my shoulders.
“What the fuck?”
“I’m fine. I’m just going to miss her, that’s all.”
“Babe. You’ve known her for five minutes.”
“Yeah, and she’s done more for me in those five minutes than most have done in a lifetime,” I snap back, walking over to the truck and yanking the door open. I climb in, ignoring him saying my name, and slam the door shut.
“Stupid big-headed pain in my ass,” I mutter as I feel fluttering across my stomach. I place my hand over my belly and grin, my anger and tears forgotten as my kid twirls like a ballerina inside me. “You don’t like Mama getting mad, huh?”
The driver’s side door opens, and Midas climbs in, his eyes coming to me before drifting down to my hands on my belly. “Everything okay?”
I nod. “I don’t think they like me being mad.”
He stares at my stomach, somewhat entranced. I bite my lip, wanting to shut him out, especially when two seconds ago he was pissing me off, but I don’t want to hide the wonder of my pregnancy from anyone. More than that, I want to share it. If I’m going to be cooped up with Midas for the foreseeable future, then I’m gonna have to work with what I’ve got.
“You want to feel?”
