He didn’t speak, just looked at her, then he held out a hand.
“Want to have a look inside?” He nodded to the house behind him. “I have lemonade, and you look like you could use a glass.”
She had to tell him, she just had to. Hope nodded, and he stepped aside, motioning her to go first. Hope tried to relax, but was sure her back looked rigid.
“I built it five years ago. It sits in here nice, don’t you think?”
“It’s beautiful,” Hope said honestly. It was something she’d build, if she could ever afford to build a house.
They rounded the front and she saw the windows. They stretched the entire front of the house and were glass from floor to ceiling. The middle section was open wide with bifold doors.
“Wow.”
“That’s how I feel every time I come home.”
A deck ran along the front, and beyond it just grass. It was beautiful in its simplicity, because the view did the rest, and when you looked behind you, there was the magic of the house.
“It’s really something,” Hope said when she could think of nothing else. “Willow and Buster’s wedding will be amazing here.”
“That’s the arch I’m building for them.”
It was slightly to one side, and once again simple, in the same wood as the house.
“Willow wants flowers and greenery all over it. We’ll set up the chairs either side of the aisle and run a carpet down the middle.”
“She asked me to do the photos.” Hope wandered over to the edge of the lawn to inspect the view and put some distance between herself and him.
“I know, and you’ll be amazing at them.”
“I’ve never done a wedding. It seems so much responsibility. What if I mess them up?”
“Have you ever messed up?”
She shook her head. He was close now, standing at her back.
“Talk to me, Hope.”
“I’m pregnant.”
Hope closed her eyes as he sucked in a deep breath, almost like she’d punched him hard in the stomach.
Newman was the man who always knew what to say, especially when it was to make someone he cared about feel better, but right at that moment, he was at a loss for words.
“It’s a shock, take your time. I nearly puked.” Her words penetrated the terror of what he’d just learned.
“Jesus,” he managed to wheeze out.
Her shoulders were hunched and she was looking out at the lake. He was in shock; he could only imagine what she was going through, seeing as she had to carry the baby.
“I’m not getting rid of it, Newman.”
“You think I’d want you to?” He hadn’t meant to raise his voice.
She spun to face him. “I don’t know anything about you. How could I? We’re not friends. In fact, we have nothing in common!”
He was going to be a father.Newman tried to get his head around that fact.Father… me!
“We need to talk about this,” he managed to get out in a tight voice as he battled the panic.
