Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 85950 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85950 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“Want to explain that weird noise you just made?”
I fight the urge to cross my arms over my chest and take an indignant stance.
“I haven’t had any tests done, but I don’t think I’m infertile.”
I stare at the back of her head, confusion making me tilt my head. “IVF is for infertility, right?”
“Or women who want to get pregnant without a man.”
The news hits me like a semi-truck skidding uncontrollably on black ice.
Without a man.
I never pictured Adalynn Tate as the type of woman who wanted to be a single parent. She’s more of the white picket fence with a yard full of kids, waiting for her husband to get home so they can all sit down at the table and talk about their day type of woman.
Maybe I’ve gotten it all wrong. Maybe her reason for not dating much is different from the fantasies in my head that tell me every once in a while that she wants me and wouldn’t settle for anyone else.
“Are you a lesbian?”
The icing spatula clanks onto the table when it falls from her hand, but she doesn’t pay any attention to the mint green mess she’s made before turning back around to face me.
“Excuse me?”
I don’t repeat myself because I know it’s a rhetorical question.
“Do you honestly think that a woman has to be a lesbian in order to want IVF?”
I hold my hands up in mock surrender. “Don’t bite my head off. I’m just asking questions here.”
“I was looking into IVF because I want a baby. I’m not dating anyone. If I went about getting pregnant the normal way, it would be years before it would be appropriate, with the whole dating-marriage timeline.”
“You said it probably won’t happen. Why?”
She takes a deep breath as she turns back around. The way she starts whipping the icing in the bowl is an indication of her annoyance.
“It’s expensive.”
“How expensive?”
I know she sank a lot of her savings into opening this bakery, and as popular as her cupcakes and other sweet treats are, she doesn’t charge enough to get rich off the townsfolk. Even charging that little extra to the tourists doesn’t make much of a difference.
“The range is between nine to twenty grand, depending on where you have it done.”
I choke on a cough. That’s a crazy amount of money. I know for a fact that if she did do it, even on the low end, it would leave her incapable of paying for anything else.
“And that’s why,” she says, reacting to my response, “I said it probably won’t happen.”
“I could help you pay for it,” I offer, the words like sandpaper on my tongue.
I’d do anything for this woman, even if it means watching another man’s baby grow inside of her.
Adalynn is meant to be a mother, and I know without question that she would be the best at it.
She turns in my direction, but instead of agreeing, she’s giving me that soft smile. I recognize it as the one that will come with a thanks but no thanks. She gives it often, always feeling a little guilty when someone tries to give her something she doesn’t want to take. It can range from seconds of mac and cheese at dinner or an offer to fix something that’s broken.
She has a heart of gold, and she’s the type of woman who never wants to disappoint anyone.
“I can’t ask that of you.”
“I’m offering. It’s different.”
She frowns, her eyes dropping to the spatula in her hands. “Still. I—”
“Don’t like owing people,” I interrupt because I know what she was going to say. “But I’m offering. I know you’d never ask.”
“You’re serious?”
I nod, another flutter of disappointment in my chest because the look on her face says she’s considering it. That tells me just how much she wants this.
“Just think about it,” I tell her, before looking down at my watch. “I have to get to work. Still on for dinner tonight?”
She nods as I step closer and press my lips to her temple.
I don’t look back at her like I normally do because I need to escape. The thought of her going through with it makes my skin crawl, but my feelings are irrelevant. I’d do anything for that woman, even if it means paying for another man’s seed to be deposited in her body.
Chapter 6
Adalynn
Dinner at my mom and stepdad’s house was weird. Conversation flowed just like it always does. My brothers just grinned at me when I asked them about the new girl they were dating rather than spilling the tea. It annoyed me because they’re always so quick to tell everyone about someone they’re dating.
“She must be really special,” Dad had said before shoveling a forkful of fettuccine into his mouth.
The boys looked at each other—that twin thing where they have full conversations with one look going back and forth between them—but they didn’t confirm nor deny any of it.