AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But I picked up another one. Partly because it occurred to me that she was only two years older than me and she was a megastar with a Grammy to her name, her own house, and a record deal.
Also because maybe if I kept shoveling chocolates into my mouth it would keep me from putting my foot into it yet again tonight.
ChapterTwelve
Faith
Saturday shoppingwith the girls hadn’t been nearly the fun distraction I had hoped for. Sera had pregnancy indigestion all day and was moving slowly with a look of discomfort on her face. Shawna was hungover from the party the night before and Ava had ditched out in lieu of hanging out with her friends. The only one who had a great time was Marigold, who came home with two new stuffies and a pair of pink cowboy boots.
After shopping I dropped Shawna off at the airport.
I turned the car off in the line at departures and got out so I could hug her. She hugged me back tightly. Her normally olive skin was pale and she had bruised circles under her eyes. Her dark hair was piled on her head in a messy bun.
“I feel like shit,” she said. “But it was so worth it. I can’t believe I met Jolene Hart. She was so cool and fun and so was everyone else. But I shouldn’t have had that last old-fashioned. That was about three too many.”
“If I had three old-fashioneds I would be in bed right now. The bed in the hospital.”
“I had five in total. It was just three too many.”
“That makes you a total badass.” I smiled at her. “I’m glad you came. I’m sorry if I was a buzzkill last night.”
“You weren’t,” she assured me. “And I get it. You want MacKay but you don’t want him. You want him on the hook for you, but you don’t want to be committed to forever.”
I wrinkled my nose. “You make that sound awful.” Me. She made me sound awful.
But she waved it off. “It’s called being twenty-three. But maybe you’ll get some clarity on it over the next few months. Just let it ride and see how it plays out.”
Nothing was going to play out. MacKay had walked away over my indecisiveness. He’d shut down, put up walls, however you wanted to say it. Which was the smart thing to do.
Smart, but hard.
“I’m going to miss you,” I told her.
“Come to Florida.”
“I just might.” I smiled at her.
“I’d better go before I miss my flight.” She turned and gave a hearty wave, then put her hand to her head. “Ow. That hurt.”
I laughed. “Sleep on the plane and I’ll talk to you soon.”
Glancing at my phone, I sighed when I saw it was six. I was going back to Wanted the next morning and I had very mixed feelings about it. I loved the town itself and I did love my job in spite of all the tension between me and MacKay. I didn’t entirely love living alone, which had surprised me. My whole life I’d wanted to live alone and now I didn't really think I was enjoying it.
Maybe I was just lonely because I hadn’t met any real friends yet in Wanted, but I was feeling sad at the prospect of leaving in the morning. I wanted to stay with my family.
With those thoughts rolling around in my head, I walked into chaos.
Sera was doubled over in pain, leaning against the wall, as Cash was talking to someone on the phone and snapping his fingers at Marigold, who was crying and trying to hug Sera’s leg.
“Get off of your mother,” he told her, and his voice held stress and a little bit of fear.
I shoved my phone in my back pocket, dropped my keys on the console table, and reached for Marigold. “Come here.” I held my arms out to her and she ran into them. “What’s going on?” I asked Sera as I stood back up, struggling to adjust to Marigold’s weight. “Are you okay?”
I was alarmed by the look on her face. She was clearly in pain. If she was in labor, she was three weeks early. I didn’t think that was necessarily a huge deal but the amount of pain she appeared to be in was unnerving.
“We’re going to the hospital,” she said. “Something is off. I feel like I can’t breathe and that I’m having a heart attack or something. It doesn’t feel like labor.”
Given that this was her fourth baby, I trusted her take on it. “Should you sit down?” I asked, nervous. She was grimacing and writhing back and forth on the wall.
