The prospect is still asleep, and I sneak out the door and meet her at her car.
“What’s going on?” she asks.
“I’ll explain on the way. Just drive.” I climb into the back, and Isabella waves to me from the passenger seat.
“I just love secret road trips. Where are we going?” she asks.
“My place, I guess,” Lola says.
“Take me to my bar.”
Lola meets my eyes in her rearview mirror. “You sure.”
“Yep.”
“Okay. The Gaslight, it is.”
When we walk through the door, Baja yanks the stir stick out of his mouth.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he asks. “You’re supposed to be up at the cabin with Woody.”
“Where’s Keno?” I snap.
“He and the guys are halfway to Denver by now. And you shouldn’t be here.”
A woman sitting at the bar, sipping on a Coke with another girl, turns to me. “Did you say Keno?”
“Yes, why?”
“Because I’m looking for him.” She turns and reveals her pregnant belly. “He knocked me up and took off. I thought he might like to know he’s gonna be a father.”
My mouth drops open, and I stare at her belly.
Baja backs away and pulls his phone out.
I turn to Lola and Isabella, my eyes glazing and my lip trembling.
Lola grabs my hand. “Come on.” She leads me to the back stairs and up to my apartment.
Once the door closes, I burst into tears. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“Look, you don’t know the whole story. We’re not even sure it’s his.”
“Was he in town six months ago?” I snap.
“Well, yeah, I guess he was. He and Shack have been here since before Halloween, I think. I know they were here for Thanksgiving. So…” She starts counting months off on her fingers.
I burst into tears and flop onto the couch. After a good cry, I wipe my eyes. “I’m so done. It’s over. I can’t do this.” I stand and begin pacing. Then a thought comes to my mind, and I look out the kitchen window into the alley.
There sits the pickup truck with the motocross bike still strapped in the bed.
“Lola,” I say. “Whose truck is that?”
I still have the keys to that bike in my pocket.
She comes to look.
“I think that’s Utah’s. Why?”
