Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 104288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
I wake up groggy with a two-ton weight on my chest. It takes a minute to register why I’m sleeping in the queen bed in my childhood bedroom.
Oh, right, the guy I’m in love with whose baby I’m having let me walk away after he shut me out.
I’m awake for all of twenty seconds before I start crying again.
Not only that. I had to run to my parents’ house because I had nowhere else to go. The same parents who warned me the choices I was making were stupid at best, harmful at worst.
Lo and behold, they were right.
The realization is humbling. And devastating.
I reach for my phone, my heart lifting for a brief moment in the hope I see Tuck’s name lighting up my screen. Maybe he tried to call. Sent some texts, at least, giving a better explanation of why he shut down the way he did.
Tuck’s name is on my screen. But only because he sent one text last night. How are you?
The hope in my heart crashes and burns.
That’s it. One text. Didn’t even include a picture of Katie. He’s got to know I miss her as much as I’m missing him.
What an asshole.
I debate not texting him back. But that would make me an asshole too, and that’s not how I roll. So I type Baby is fine, please send pictures of Katie and leave it at that.
He doesn’t text me back. But I don’t have much time to wallow, because a minute later, there’s a soft knock on my door.
“Yeah?”
Mom peeks her head in. “I was listening for you, sweetheart. Can I bring you some coffee? Something to eat?”
I have to give it to my parents. They may not approve of my choices, but no matter what, they’ll always be there for me.
“Coffee would be really great, Mom. Thank you.”
She returns a couple minutes later with a steaming mug, a big glass of ice water, and a plate topped with slices of my favorite chocolate chip pumpkin bread she’s baked from scratch for as long as I can remember.
“Thank you so much, Mom.” I sit up in bed and take the water and the plate from her, sipping the water before I set it on the nightstand. “I really appreciate you letting me stay here.”
Mom sits on the edge of the mattress and smooths the bedspread over my knees. “This is your home too, Maren. You’re always welcome. Were you able to sleep?”
“A little. Baby kept me up.”
Mom hovers her hand over my belly. “Can I feel?”
Heart twisting, I smile and grab her hand. “Of course. She’s quiet right now. Or he.” I press her hand to the top of my stomach. “I think that’s the head right there. Or the butt. At my ultrasound at the hospital, the baby wasn’t head down yet.”
Mom keeps her hand on my belly. “I wish you would’ve called us before y’all left the ER.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” I bite into a slice of pumpkin bread. It’s rich, not too sweet, with just the right amount of spice. “Mom, this is delicious.”
“Thank you. Figured you could use some comfort food.”
Tears blur my vision. “I appreciate that a lot. But the hospital—it was all such a whirlwind. So scary.”
“Exactly. I would’ve loved to have been able to be there for you. Especially if Tuck wasn’t, well, fully present.”
I filled Mom in on the broad strokes last night after Dad went to bed. They picked me up from the ferry together, but I was too much of a mess to really say much until later. I also feel more comfortable opening up to Mom.
“He did just fine taking care of me. Physically, I mean. But emotionally . . .” I look out the window and shake my head. “It’s really like a light switch went off. One minute he was a dream, and the next he was just, like, gone.”
The baby kicks. I move Mom’s hand so she can feel it. The baby kicks again and she laughs, delighted.
“How sweet is that?” she smiles at me.
“Speaking of sweet, the baby perks up anytime I eat sugar.”
“Crazy how the sugar rush happens even in utero, isn’t it?”
Wiping my nose on the sleeve of the sweatshirt I slept in—it’s weird sleeping in clothes after all this time—I manage to smile too. “It makes me happy seeing you happy about this.”
Mom’s smile fades. “I know we haven’t been seeing eye to eye lately—”
“That’s an understatement.”
“But I want you to know your father and I are here for you. Whatever you need, however we can help—our disagreements don’t change that.” Mom blinks. She’s not a hard ass, but she’s not a softie either, so it’s rare to see her tear up like this. “I’m sorry you and Tuck are not getting along right now.”
I finish my pumpkin bread and take the mug of coffee from Mom. “I think it’s more than not getting along. He’s changed, Mom. And I don’t know how to fix it.”