“Oh, fantastic. I’m looking forward to getting out of the house a little more and seeing all the locals around town.”
“Perfect. Well, I’ll call you to set up the first day.” With a grin, I walk her back to the door.
“Thanks so much,” she gushes, clearly happy to have a job.
“Thank you! I’m so glad you stopped in.” I watch her head out and down the street, glancing back to wave, before I close and lock the door.
Leaning back against the door, I take in the space. It’s all coming together—the bakery, the business, this new life I’m building. I rub my belly, the skin pulling a little tighter each day. I need to get everything open before the baby comes. I need the income. I need the stability.
I walked away from my family with nothing but my small inheritance, and they’ve made their disappointment loud and clear. My sister was already buying baby clothes and picking out names for the child she thought I was going to give her, yet neither she nor my mother ever listened when I said I wanted to keep the baby. When I packed my bags and left home and reinforced that I was not giving them what they wanted, their shock quickly turned to anger.
So when this baby is born, I know I’ll have a fight on my hands. And I need to be ready. I need to prove, to them and to myself, that I can do this. I can work. I can run a business. I can provide for my child.
6
Griffin
“You’re back a day early?” Tanner looks at me with a quirked eyebrow as we sit at his bar. Hudson is here too, the three of us meeting up for dinner.
“Got done in Sundown Valley early.” I sip the whiskey in my hand. Tanner sure as hell makes a nice drop. I have stock of each of his releases in all my houses, so no matter where I am, I’m never without.
“Early? Is Stonemore a lighter build than you thought?” Tanner watches me carefully. They’re not competitors as such. One in the whiskey game, one in wine. But they compete in the overall liquor market, so I’m careful with my words.
“Not by a long shot,” I share. “The build we’re doing for them is huge. Luxurious. It’ll make the Stonemore brand the standout feature of the entire wine region. People will flock from everywhere to go to Sundown Valley to see it. A premier destination. One I’m grateful to be a part of.”
Truth be told, I worked twenty-hour days, three days straight, just to get back here quicker.
“Just miss us, then?” Hudson chimes in with a cheeky grin.
“Never. I need to wrap up the bakery this week.” I take another sip, needing the burn. I’ve done nothing but think of the beautiful baker since I met her. Outwardly beautiful, of course, but also determined, with a strong work ethic, if her long days and early mornings are anything to go by. Yet aside from me, there doesn’t seem to be anyone else in that bakery to help her. She’s all alone, which doesn’t sit well with me. The fact that her back screen door was broken and her smoke alarms didn’t work left me furious. Whispers is a safe place, but there are assholes everywhere.
“Ahhhh. Savannah tells me you like her cinnamon rolls.” My eyes flick to Tanner. He’s seen her? Jealousy coils deep within—a feeling I haven't felt before.
“Have you tried them?”
“Unfortunately…” he murmurs.
I know they’re terrible, but when I saw her get all glassy-eyed while talking about her grandparents, I wanted to do anything to make her smile. So I asked for more. The cheese pies she offered me were like cardboard, yet I shoved every last one into my mouth when on my jet that night. They were so bad, I didn’t shit for days.
“She’s lost her sense of taste. Not sure why. But she wanted me to taste test them,” I grumble, pissed that Tanner has eaten her goods now too.
“I mean, it’s a common side effect,” Hudson quips, and I look at him and frown.
“Side effect?”
“It happens in about ninety percent of women in their first trimester. Those in their third, like Savannah, it drops to about ten to fifteen percent of women.”
My soul leaves my body. I feel it swoosh out from my legs down through my feet. Thank God I’m sitting down.
“Trimester?” My voice is like gravel. I look between Tanner and Hudson, both watching me, and I feel like I’ve been hit with a hammer.
“Savannah’s pregnant,” Tanner says, deadpan.
“Since when?” My pulse spikes. Chest tightens. I feel like I’ve been sucker punched.
“Yeah, I didn’t see it at first either. But she only has a few weeks to go,” Hudson confirms.
“A few weeks?” I nearly choke on my whiskey. “How the hell is that possible?”
