Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91622 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91622 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
* * *
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. If Erin’s head wasn’t already pounding, she’d smack it against the car window for good measure.
Breathe, she ordered herself, trying to pretend the breakfast bar wasn’t trying to force its way back up. What had she been thinking, sitting in Cole’s dad’s driveway, her head on the steering wheel, sick as a proverbial dog? Cole seemed to have bought the whole I didn’t eat bit, so she exhaled hard. She needed to tell him, and she didn’t want to. Didn’t know how.
With no meetings scheduled for this morning, Erin stopped at The Family Restaurant to see her friend Macy Donovan instead of going to work. She decided it was time to confide in someone she’d known a long while and get advice on how to handle this from someone other than Trina, who Erin trusted, but who didn’t go way back with her.
She pulled into the parking lot and paused, taking in the old building on the edge of town. Macy and her siblings had been trying to talk their father into remodeling and changing up the menu, but so far no luck. Still, the place was a town staple, and everybody seemed to show up here at one time or another, either for the food, the company, or a combination of both.
Today, Erin needed Macy’s good old-fashioned common sense. She walked inside and settled at the counter, waving at her friend to let her know she was there. After seating an older couple, Macy made her way to the stool beside Erin and settled in.
“Hey, hon. Long time no see. How are you?” Macy asked, tapping her long hot-pink nails against the counter.
“Truth?” Erin wasn’t in the mood to segue into it or beat around the bush.
“Of course. What’s wrong?” She narrowed her gaze. “I should have known when I didn’t see or hear from you lately that something was up.”
Erin nodded, leaning in close. The last thing she wanted was for this to become news on the Serendipity grapevine. “I need you to keep this quiet, okay?”
Eyes serious, Macy nodded. “Cross my heart,” she said, doing as much with her fingers.
Erin swallowed hard. “I’m pregnant,” she whispered, then immediately slapped her hand over Macy’s mouth before her exuberant friend could scream her reaction.
Macy’s eyes opened wide.
“Got a grip?” Erin asked her.
She nodded, and Erin released her hand. “How the fuck did that happen?” Macy asked in her usual outspoken way. “I thought you said you used protection?”
“Shh!”
Macy nodded. “Okay, we need to talk,” she said, this time in hushed tones.
“Nobody knows except Trina, who bought the test because I was too stupid to face reality, and Alexa. And now you.”
“Oh, honey, what are you going to do?” Macy asked with her hand on Erin’s arm.
“I’m having the baby, of course!”
Macy smiled. “I figured that. I just meant with the rest of it.”
“I’m taking it one day at a time. I have to tell him, but I thought maybe I’d wait until I’m past the first trimester.” Which wasn’t much longer. “You know, relatively safe and all that.”
“You’re young and healthy. I’d say you’re going to be fine, and the longer you wait, the harder it will be. Yes?” Macy asked.
Erin nodded, tears forming. “Sorry. I’m just so damn emotional, on top of everything else.”
“You know it takes two to make a baby, so don’t be afraid to tell him. That man’s bark is worse than his bite, and if you slept with him, I’m sure you’d agree.”
“Yeah. Except we’re not even friends. Ever since that night, he’s gone out of his way to avoid me.” And Erin refused to admit out loud how much it hurt.
“He’s got demons. He has to. Between how his father always treated him and the fact that nobody knows where he’s been . . . You’ve seen the shadows in his eyes.”
Except that night, Erin thought. All she’d seen in those dark orbs had been heat and passion. She shivered in her seat.
“Tell him,” Macy said, patting Erin’s hand.
Erin nodded. “I’ll figure out when. And how.”
She sat at the counter and drank a cup of tea, which helped settle her stomach. Then she paid, hugged Macy, and headed for work.
The district attorney’s office building was located adjacent to the police station and across the street from the courthouse. In the center sat a beautifully manicured lawn and gazebo, the pride and joy of downtown Serendipity. Though her office itself was small, Erin had always loved the view her window provided of her hometown. It made the hours she spent holed up in there easier.
Being late meant she had to park far from the entrance. Though it was August, today was an unseasonably cool day, and the breeze blew gently over her skin. She grabbed her briefcase in one hand, draped her suit jacket over her other arm, and then shut the car door behind her. She was halfway to the office entrance when she heard a distinctive popping sound and whipped around to see what caused the noise. She didn’t see anyone nearby. She took another two steps, then she felt a searing burning pain, unlike anything she’d experienced before, rip through her arm.