AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I didn’t want to cry, so instead I grabbed a bottle of water from the mini fridge and tried to take deep breaths. When the phone rang, I was planning to ignore it, but since everyone else was working, I figured the least I could do was answer.
“Morgan? It’s Beth.”
“Oh, hi. What’s up?”
“I wanted to find out how the opening went last night. I haven’t heard anything. Ash, Hannah and I are dying to come.”
“Give me a couple more nights under my belt.” I pinched the bridge of my nose as tears threatened again.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. Just busy.”
There was a pause. “Tell me what’s going on, Morgan.” She said it like a mother would, which I supposed made sense because she was a mother. Would I someday sound like that?
Needing to release the awful pain, I blurted out. “I’m pregnant.”
“Oh, ah. I didn’t realize you and Kade — although, we’re talking about Kade—”
“What makes you think it’s Kade?” We’d never been out, so how would she have known?
“I just thought… since you and he were spending so much time together— look whoever it is, did he not take it well?”
“I haven’t told him.” I hoped she dismissed the idea that it was Kade, although I don’t know why. Like Kade, eventually she’d find out.
“Why?”
“Because he probably won’t want it. Because he’ll think I trapped him.”
“Even if he said that, it doesn’t matter. He has a right to know. If there was one thing I learned in my situation with Ash, it was that it’s wrong to withhold that type of information. I remember distinctly you telling me that.”
“You and Ash are different. You loved each other. I’m just a notch. He was planning a hookup when I was having breakfast with him?”
“What?”
“She’s going to show him her new French lingerie and new sex tricks she learned in Paris.”
“Ah, hell. Morgan, I’m sorry. I can see why you don’t want to tell him, but honey, he needs to know. He has rights. And he’ll have responsibilities, which you’re going to need him to help with. Starting a business and being a single mom will be hard.”
“I won’t fail you, Beth.” I felt like I was going to crumble. She’d given me so much, and I was ruining it.
“Don’t worry about me. You were there for me and Hannah, so you can bet we’ll be there for you. But don’t underestimate this man. Maybe he won’t be your fairy tale, but he could step up for you and the baby.”
“I’m not ready. Please, don’t tell anyone.”
She paused again, and I wondered if she’d be able to keep my secret. “All right. But don’t wait too long, Morgan. You have to put that baby first now.”
She was right, of course. Mom and I were barely getting by as it was. I was tired from trying to help her business and start my own. Adding a baby to the mix would surely cause a breakdown.
The petty part of me thought about showing up at Kade’s while Jolie was showing off her lingerie to tell him about the baby. But I could too easily see the smirk from her, wondering how I’d ever think I’d get a man like him. And I couldn’t decide if he’d be horrified or pissed that I’d trapped him.
“Morgan,” John’s voice came through the door. “Dinner is starting.”
“I’m coming.” I wiped my tears and took a big drink of water. I pressed my hands over my belly. “Whatever happens, baby, you can trust that you’ll be loved and taken care of.”
With my head high, I walked out of the office and to the kitchen, just in time for the first order to print out.
21
Kade — Monday
Two days later, I still couldn’t figure out what the fuck had happened with Morgan on Saturday morning. No matter how many times I replayed the morning through my head, I never figured out why she left.
We woke and had sweet, slow sex. We started making breakfast together. We talked about babies. I hadn’t freaked out about it, so that couldn’t be it. I had to interrupt the morning by taking a call from one of the restaurants whose order got messed up. Was she mad that I let the call take away from our breakfast?
When I returned, she was at the dining table, happily drinking tea. She’d felt comfortable enough to go through my kitchen to find tea and seemed content. And then minutes later, she was dressed and rushing out the door. I didn’t buy that she needed to get to her mom then, and I certainly didn’t now, since she hadn’t responded to any of my texts over the last couple of days.
I called the restaurant on Saturday to check on her.
“She’s a ball buster tonight,” John said.
“What do you mean?”
“She’s all business, take no shit…to be honest, it’s good to see, but I think she’s scaring some of the waitstaff.”
