“God, Jake. I hit my stomach today. On the edge of one of the tables at the diner.”
He nodded. “Have you had any cramps? Bleeding? Any pain in your lower abdomen since?”
She shook her head. “No. It was a little sore. But I guess that makes sense. It was more on the edge of my hip.”
“Babies are very well protected. I was already going to suggest taking it easy, but that goes double now, just to make sure everything’s okay.”
She sighed and closed her eyes again.
“Jessie, you know, there are options. I have some pamphlets that can help you make a decision. Resources too, if you need help.”
Jessie nodded, holding out her hand. Jake slipped the shiny paper into her outstretched palm.
“What happens next?” she asked, already knowing what she needed to do. She needed to tell Hawk.
“You’ll need to schedule an appointment with your OB/GYN. You can go over your options again with them, and they can answer any questions you might have.”
“Okay.”
“Are you feeling a bit more stable? Do you want to try sitting up?”
Jessie nodded, and Jake was right there, again, to help her sit up that time. Reaching over his shoulder, Jessie watched ashe grabbed something off the counter behind him and held it out to her. A box of apple juice. She took it, surprised by how cold the box was in her hand.
“What is this for? Where did it even come from?” A humorless laugh escaped from her tight smile.
“Oh, all of the exam rooms have mini-fridges in them.” Jake rolled his stool out of the way, pointing to the small appliance under the counter. “Fainting is a lot more common than you would think. There’s also orange juice, but you said you’d been feeling nauseous and I thought that might not be the right call.”
Jessie fiddled with the straw before poking it through the small foil covered opening. “Thank you.”
“It’s no problem. I’m going to let my staff know that this room is occupied and you can sip on that apple juice for as long as you need.”
Jessie stood, her hand grasping onto the exam table for stability. “I appreciate that, but I have to get back to the diner.”
“I’m sure your mom would understand if it took a few more minutes for you to get back.”
Panic seized her again. Maybe she needed to talk to Sloane about some anxiety reduction techniques because good lord, at this rate she was headed for a heart attack.
“You can’t tell her!” Jessie blurted out as her heart rate doubled. “I mean, it’s protected information, right? Even though I have insurance through my parents, and god… she normally still schedules my appointments for me. You can’t tell my family, right?”
“No. I can’t. And I wouldn’t. Not even if Dolly set down an entire key lime pie in front of me.”
Jessie smiled. “Okay. That’s good. And I’m good.” Knowledge was power, and now that she knew, she could form a plan. She could face it head on. She would be okay.
Four
The door to the diner opened and Jessie wanted to cry. She wasn’t going to be okay. That stupidCLOSEDsign should have kept people out, but she knew it was dumb to press her luck and not throw the lock. Lesson learned.
God, she felt awful. The little grape nestled in her belly was literally sucking the life force out of her. A teeny, tiny, adorable little grape–at least, that’s what the pregnancy app she’d forced herself to download to stop the panic clawing at the back of her throat as she walked back to the diner after her appointment told her. Knowledge was power, and Jessie knew that seeing all the information about where she was at in her pregnancy would help.
The long days at the diner weren’t helping either. The dizziness seemed to peak in the mornings, but the nausea was all day long. She couldn’t serve–her mom still thought it was just a stomach bug–so Jessie was forced to take closing shift duties. It was normally a fair trade off, but Jessie couldn’t imagine being on her feet for another second. She’d finished her online class an hour ago, and now that she wasso close to having the place sparkling, the money counted and back in the lock box, and her exhausted self out the door and on the way to her warm and soft bed, the last thing she wanted to deal with was a customer who couldn’t read a fucking sign.
But her heart dropped into her churning stomach as soon as she turned and saw who was there.
“What do you want, Hawk? I’m about to close and I need to get out to the ranch. I feel dead on my feet.”
He rubbed his hand along the back of his neck. Poor guy actually looked uncomfortable. No. She didn’t care. They’d agreed. One night only. It didn’t matter if she hadn’t stopped thinking about how fucking perfect he was. It didn’t matter that she had his child growing in her belly. How the hell was she supposed to tell him?
“I was just taking a walk. Didn’t think I’d see you in here for closing.” He pushed one of the wooden chairs in front of him closer to the table. “You’re sick, Jess. You told me you were going to talk to Dolly and go home. You need time off. You were supposed to take time off a few days ago.”
