She glanced up at me, her mouth full of fries.
“You don’t have to keep pretending, okay? Iknow.” I said softly, but firmly.
She scowled and her nose scrunched. “Youknow?” She wiggled her fingers like I was the one being cryptic.
I threw my hands up. “That you’re pregnant.”
Her face blanched, aghast. “I’m not pregnant.” Crap. She hadn’t realized it yet. Man, I was such a prick.
I softened. “I think you are.”
She scowled, not convinced.
“You love fruit, but suddenly it sounds gross. You couldn’t eat a perfectly good protein bar. You almost passed out last night. You did pass out today. And you hate—absolutelyloathe—mushrooms.” I let out a shaky laugh. “So I kind of hope you are or maybe something worse is going on.”
Her eyes grew bigger, and she looked like she’d swallowed a fuzzy caterpillar. “No!” She pulled up the calendar on her phone and sat there for a minute, staring at it. The blood drained from her face for the second time today. Her shoulders slumped and her chest rose and fell like she couldn’t catch her breath. A hand went over her mouth and she squeezed her eyes shut.
She slipped her hands under her thighs and sat there for a long time. I didn’t know if she was praying or just trying to process it. I wanted to touch her shoulder, but she was so rigid I wasn’t sure she’d let me.
I leaned back against the headrest, staring at the ceiling, angry at the world.
Of course Clementine would be pregnant. I mean, it could’ve happened anytime in the past eight years of her marriage. But no. It happened right when I had to live with her. Karma may as well have put a big fat welcome sign on herfront door. “Hey there. Glad you’re here. Jerkface Billy knocked up the love of your life and now you get to watch her have his baby. Happy you came. Make yourself at home.”
She peeked at me, shame in her eyes. And it broke me. I couldn’t be mad at her. Not for getting pregnant, or puking up my breakfast, or being completely reckless with her health. She looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders and I was the only one who could lift it.
“Clem.” I opened my arms, hoping beyond hope that she would accept my offering. She dove into me, sobbing, her left cheek pressed against my chest. I willed my heart to stop betraying me. There was no way she couldn’t hear how fast it was beating. Or how hard. She slid her arms around my waist so tight. So I wrapped my arms around her back and ran my fingers up and down her spine. She snuggled in even closer like she’d been touch-deprived. Man, I would’ve given my roping scholarship back in the day to have held her like this. That rose shampoo wafted up my nose, causing electricity to sizzle all the way to my fingertips.
It wasn’t even thirty seconds before she sat up, leaning back into her own space. Fury flashed across her face. “I’m going to kill Billy.”
I raised an eyebrow. Had nobody given her the birds and the bees talk? She was a grown woman. She had to know it took two to make a baby.
She snorted. “He always threatened to cut holes in the protection. But I never thought he’d actually do it. Seems I underestimated him in more ways than one.”
“Wh—are you serious? You think he did this deliberately?” I wiped a hand over my face. “You didn’t want a baby?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I mean, I want kids. A bunch of them. It’s just…Sophie was sick and things with Billy…” She chewed her lip. “I didn’t think we were ready.”
I threw my hands up. “You’ve been married eight years.Most women would’ve had three babies by now.” It was none of my business. I should’ve shut up. Besides, I was glad she hadn’t had any kids. I’d been holding my breath for years, waiting for the announcement that they were expecting.
“I didn’t think Billy was dad material, okay? He has a foul mouth, drinks too much, and thinks it’s funny to call me names. It’s like he never aged past fifteen.” Her voice shook. “And my kid deserves great parents. Plural. Not a great parent and a mediocre parent.” Her hands balled up in her lap, and I had to stop myself from reaching out to hold one. “Momma said she and Daddy wanted to wait a year after they got married. But the minute they said I do, she loved him so much she wanted to have his baby.” She pressed her hands to her cheeks. “I kept waiting for that feeling and it never happened. Billy got his way on everything—but not for a baby. I wouldn’t budge on that.”
I didn’t know what to say. I’d always thought she was having fertility problems. It hadn’t occurred to me that she was purposely holding off. Maybe Holden was right, and she was different. Maybe she wouldn’t run back to Billy after all.
“If he did that…he’s even more evil than I thought,” I said.
“Right?”
I turned the truck back on and pulled out onto the road.
“Home is still that way,” she said, pointing behind us.
I let my jaw drop open in mock surprise. “You don’t say.”
She rolled her eyes but laughed. “Where are we going?”
“Grocery store.”
“Why? We have food at the house.”
