AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The bodega cheers.
I take her into my arms.
She stares up at me, her smile warming me like the sun.
I ask, “Will you please come back to live with me? Be with me? Be my one and only.”
“Yes. I’d love that.” She glances back at the line. “I just need to do one thing first.”
“What is it?” I ask.
She locks eyes with me. “I just need to break off the engagement with my fiancé.”
“What?”
“You know. The one I was trying the dress on for?” she giggles.
“God.” An exhale of breath whooshes from my lungs. “Don’t even joke like that or I’ll have you over my knee so fast?—”
“Shh!” She glances around, her face blushing. “Not here. It’s not like the kinky Village. It’s a regular people store. Let them buy their snacks without corrupting them, please.”
“What are you here for anyway?”
Her face drains of color. She gives me that look I know so well. The one she gave me in my house, making me break things off. I steel my nerves and take my sister’s advice not to let the pain from the past rule my thoughts.
Instead, I focus on her, wrapping a protective arm around her trembling shoulders. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“It’s nothing.” She holds her item behind her back where I can’t see. “Wait for me outside with Claudia. Tell her what happened between us. Catch her up on everything and I’ll be right out.”
“Okay, but I have to do one thing first.” And I take her in my arms, kissing her. Staking my claim for everyone in this little store to see. A few whoops and hollers echo through the small store, egging me on into a deeper kiss.
She pulls away, fully flushed now. “Go!” she laughs. “I’ll be right there.”
The woman lets Lily slip back into her place in line.
After treating her so poorly, I go against every instinct I have and instead of investigating, I respect her privacy and don’t pry into what she’s buying.
Instead, we wait on the sidewalk for her and afterwards, Claudia takes us out for ice cream to celebrate our reunion. Over a towering cone of fudge ripple, I keep stealing glances at Lily, wondering what the secret is that she’s hiding from me.
A secret that almost broke us.
CHAPTER 28
Lily
I stare down at the little white cardboard box. The plastic stick inside could possibly change my life. Funny that such a simple device could determine the trajectory of my entire future.
Two little pink lines that means there’s no turning back.
What will he think? How will he feel? Is he ready to be a father?
Raise a baby with me? I’m not sure if it’s the baby or the fact that I’m so overwhelmed by my thoughts, but I suddenly feel sick, nauseous like I’m on a boat rolling on a stormy sea. I put a hand to my belly, willing it to calm down.
This could be the most important two minutes of my life. Now is not the time to have my head in a toilet.
A strong urge to be in his arms overtakes me, but I want to do this by myself. Old wounds opened fresh, first when he left me the goodbye note breaking up with me. Then again, when I found my period was once again late.
The thought of him knowing I might be pregnant, then taking off, leaving me all alone…
