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I frowned at her over the dinner table, where we were eating noodles in broth. “What do you mean?”
“None of those boys are too hands-on in their businesses. Especially the businesses overseas. They hire people who can do the work for them, and simply manage the people. I bet they even hire managers to do that part, and they just manage the managers.”
She was right about that. And as frazzled as I felt, John Parker had been a big help to me. Because of him, I wasn’t as worried as much as I had been about pulling this off.
“I don’t know, Mom.”
“I want to do this, Morgan,” my mother said in clipped voice. “You’re not the only one who can build a dream.”
I jerked back, surprised by her outburst.
She sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound harsh. But I need something to do. I won’t let this lupus confine me to doing nothing. Maybe I can’t clean, but I can tell people what to do.”
I smiled. “Yes, you can.”
“Now, tell me about the restaurant.”
“It’s going well. The new manager is turning out to be very attentive.”
My mother arched a brow. “Attentive how?”
“Not like that.” I frowned. “At least, I don’t think so.”
Her other brow lifted.
“He’s very eager and complimentary, which I think is just his sucking up to me.”
“But?” she prodded.
“He always stands a little too close, will put his hand on mine. Sometimes I think he might be flirting. I try to ignore it.”
“You’re the boss. Maybe you need to tell him he needs to stop. What if he does that to one of your waitresses?”
She was right. “I haven’t seen that, but you’re right. I don’t know. I think that’s just part of who he is.”
That night, I lay in bed, playing out several of the interactions I had with John. Was I reading more into it or was he coming on to me? He never acted like that when Kade was around. Of all the people to suck up to, Kade was the one, but he never seemed to be trying to impress him. Just me.
The next morning, I woke with the stress of everything roiling around in my belly. I sat up and immediately felt nauseous. I rushed to the bathroom and emptied my stomach. This restaurant couldn’t open soon enough. I wouldn’t be able to manage the stress much longer.
“You alright, honey?” my mother said as I emerged from the bathroom.
“Just stress and nerves,” I said, attempting to move past her back to my room.
She put her hands out onto my shoulders to stop me. “Stress is bad. You need to take a break.”
I shook my head. “I’m on the downhill stretch, mom. Once the restaurant opens and it’s making money, then I’ll be able to relax and all this morning sickness will go away.”
She jerked back. “Morning sickness?”
I rolled my eyes. “Not that.”
“Are you sure? When was your last period?”
I opened my mouth to tell her, but then snapped it shut as I realized I couldn’t remember. What I did remember was letting Kade have his way with me several weeks ago in the restaurant without the use of a condom. I hadn’t worried about it at the time, because I was sure the timing was off.
My mother’s eyes softened. “We need to get you a pregnancy test.”
Finding my inner strength, or maybe it was denial, I brushed off her comment. “It’s just stress, mom. I assure you.”
Still, when I went to the pharmacy to pick up my mother’s prescription, I grabbed a pregnancy test. If it was negative, I could alleviate my mother’s concerns. If it was positive… well, I wasn’t going to think about that right now.
When I arrived at the restaurant, I went straight to the staff restroom and peed on the stick. Five minutes later, I looked at the results.
Pregnant.
Oh my god. I leaned on the sink basin in disbelief. How could I be pregnant? With Kade’s baby? I closed my eyes. He would be horrified. Yes, he was sweet and kind to me, but our relationship was this business and an occasional makeout session. He was a committed bachelor.
I splashed water on my face, pushing this new crisis aside. Right now, the most pressing matter was getting this restaurant opened.
I walked out to the main area, where I saw John talking with Beth.
“Morgan,” Hannah cried out in excitement and ran to me.
I scooped her up, and I realized that I was going to have one of these little beings. “How are you, munchkin?”
“We want to see your restaurant. I want to be your sous chef.”
“She’s adorable,” John said. “You want to be a chef when you grow up?”
She nodded. “I already help Morgan. Huh, Morgan?”
“That’s right, sweetie pie,” I gave her a hug and set her down.
“We’ve come for the tour,” Beth said.
