I stop talking because I am crying too hard. Josie hushes me, pulling me against her.
“It’s okay,” she says softly. “We will figure it out. All of it.”
“How?” I ask, pulling back. “How can any of this ever be okay? Gavin won’t speak to me. Holly and Ben’s wedding is ruined. I might be out of a job, which is really inconvenient because babies are not cheap and I really need the money. Especially if Gavin is through with me.”
“I don’t think Gavin is going to be through with you,” she says.
“How do you know?” I sniff, wiping my nose. “I omitted the fact that he is going to be a dad…again.”
“You just said it,” she tells me. “He’s been a dad before. I don’t think turning a blind eye is characteristic of him.”
“Yeah, but there’s one big difference,” I say somberly. “The mother of his other children was the love of his life.”
“You don’t think Gavin is in love with you?” Josie frowns.
I thought he was. I was almost sure that was the direction things were heading. But now? After everything that’s happened? If I’m being honest…
“I don’t really know.”
Chapter 37
Gavin
My head is still spinningwhen I wake up in the morning. But it’s not just my head; it’s the whole damn room and my stomach.
I’m not a heavy drinker. My party days are long past. What happened last night was no party, but I did have a lot to drink. The empty whiskey bottle on the bed next to me is proof.
I sit up, hoping to get my bearings a little, but all it does is send the soup in my brain down to my stomach. I think it’s best to get to the bathroom now.
After emptying last night’s mistakes into the toilet, I turn on the shower, strip down and step in, pressing my hands to my face. Suddenly, everything comes rushing back. The snowball fight, the flirting with Charlotte, finding her and Ben, finding out Charlotte is Ben’s ex, and finding out I am the father of the child she is carrying.
It’s almost enough to make me sick again, but luckily, I can keep the bile down and my head up now. Of course, I still have no idea what I am going to do. I do know that I need to kick this hangover in the ass so I can deal with whatever is going onoutside my cabin. I still run the place after all, and I am sure last night’s turn of events sent everything into a frenzy.
I enjoy my shower for exactly five more minutes before slipping into some jeans, a long sleeve, boots and a coat and go out to face the music. But when I get outside, there is no music. The place is dead, desolate.
I guess that answers the question of whether the wedding is officially off.
I think about grabbing coffee to nurse away the ringing in my ears, but decide to go straight to the source and head for the brewery. Like the rest of the resort, it’s empty too. Jordan is the only one in there, wiping down the already clean bar and completely avoiding eye contact with me. Smart man. Jordan may be one of Ben’s best friends, but he is the last person I feel like dealing with right now. In fact, I’m not really in the mood to deal with anyone right now.
“Beer,” I say as I sit down at the bar.
“Any preference?” Jordan asks, and I know he knows why I am there, and it’s not just because of last night. He’s a bartender. He can smell a hangover a mile away. Actually, this one is bad enough that I bet everyone can smell it a mile away.
“IPA,” I answer.
“You’re going to have to be a little more specific than that,” he says. “West coast, East coast, hazy–”
“Dealer’s choice,” I cut him off, pinching the bridge of my nose between my fingers. “Mix them together for all I care, just give me a damn beer.”
“Yes sir,” he says before pouring me a glass and setting it down in front of me before disappearing in the back of the bar. And finally, I am alone with my beer, and I can focus on my thoughts.
Until a hand clasp over my shoulder, and I spill my beer down my chin and onto the bar top.
“Seriously?” I ask Elias as he sits down next to me. “You know the brewery is still closed, right?”
“Yeah, looks real closed,” he says.
“Fine. You want a beer? Hey Jordan,” I call out, but as Jordan reappears out of the back, Elias shakes his coffee cup with a smile.
