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)
“We vowed to be pregnant at the same time.”
It takes much longer than it should for a woman in her late twenties for her words to compute, but when they make it through all the grey matter in my head, I can’t stop the smile that spreads across my face.
“You’re having a baby?”
Tears begin to fill both our eyes as she nods. Hers, no doubt, because of how happy she is, and mine because once again I feel like I’m being left behind.
She left right after graduation. She had different plans for her life. I’ve never asked her about it, but I guessed a long time ago that she left because Chase did. Despite her claim of hating him, I think she wanted to be a worldly woman, that maybe in her mind that’s the kind of woman he’d want if they ever reconnected. When both of their lives went up in flames and they ended up right back in this sleepy little town, it was their roots and not their life experiences in the city that they bonded over.
We stayed in touch as much as we could, but life always has a way of getting busy and coming between even the closest of friends.
“I’m so happy for you,” I say with genuine excitement despite my own feelings of failure.
I rush around the counter and wrap her in a hug.
“When did you find out?”
“Last night,” she answers, her hands going to her lower belly. “Other than Chase, of course, you’re the first person I’ve told.”
“Your parents are going to flip with excitement!”
I watch as she chews the inside of her cheek. “I’m nervous to tell them.”
Lindell is a very small town, tucked into a mostly forgotten part of Texas, about an hour west of Austin. It’s a place that had remained mostly untouched by time, technology, and all the bad things that come with both of those. With old-fashioned ways comes old-fashioned ideals. I can see how she’s nervous about being a pregnant, unwed woman.
There will be people in town who have a certain opinion about it, but most people will look at a couple in love and think this is the greatest thing in the world. Chase, a former hockey star, has been seen as the town’s hero. Something he isn’t quick to acknowledge, despite the huge sign on the road into town announcing his success. The man is pretty humble, considering the fame he’s encountered in life. You can find him down at Wooden It Be Nice, his father’s hardware store, working five days a week like he doesn’t have a bank account with more zeros in it than any normal person could even fathom.
“They moved you into his house before Chase even asked you to,” I remind her. “They’ve already claimed the boys as their own grandchildren.”
She gives me a weak smile, but she hasn’t fully accepted that they’ll be ecstatic about her news.
I see it the second she switches gears, and I know my friend can’t be dissuaded.
“So back to Cash.”
“Not back to Cash,” I tell her and make my way back around the counter. “That pact was in junior high.”
“And I still got Chase. Now it’s your turn to get Cash.”
I do my best to shove down the jealousy I’ve fought since she disclosed that Chase and she were together. Those feelings aren’t fair to her, and it’s not right to be upset that someone else is happy.
“Maybe if you just put yourself out there,” she suggests.
“It’s not going to happen,” I say, my tone a little firmer than it has been.
“Maybe get him drunk and jump him.”
“Madison,” I say, shaking my head and pinching the bridge of my nose. “That’s illegal and morally repugnant.”
“I think—”
“I’m well aware of what you think,” I interrupt. “It’s never going to happen. We’re friends, and that’s it.”
“We’re supposed to be pregnant together,” she says, her lip a little too pouty for her age, but it makes me smile, nonetheless.
Putting myself out there to Cash is so dangerous, I only ever consider having the bravery to risk it in my head. I can’t lose him. He’s too vital to my life.
She snaps her fingers. “What about using a sperm bank?”
“That’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever said.”
I somehow manage to get her to shift her focus to baby names and plans for the nursery. She’s an interior designer by trade, so this is the only topic that I’ve ever been able to change to in order to distract her.
She spends the next two hours discussing her plans, while I spend that time wondering if her last suggestion isn’t as far-fetched as I had originally thought.
Chapter 3
Cash
Despite being told I’m family and that I can just walk in, I still lift my arm and press the doorbell on Adalynn’s dad’s porch and wait for someone to answer the door.