Veer (Clayton Falls) (19 page)

“What kind of deal?”

“I’ll go if Molly and Ben can come t
o
o. I really need to spend more time with her.”
I could already see where things might be heading with Gavin. S
pending time together was one thing, letting anything happen again
, at least anytime soon,
was another altogether.

“You’re hanging out with her tonight...”

“So? That’s tonight.”

“Fine. I accept your terms.”

We were in front of my car when I got brave again. I leaned in toward him and whispered.
“So were you being serious about the dreams, I mean about having them…
?
”

“Yeah, I was being serious.” He picked up my hand and laced his fingers with mine. “Were you?”

“I had one.”

“So you
’
r
e
still claiming it was just one?”

“One really good one.”

I reached for the door latch
,
but I felt his hand on my arm. “Before you go, tell me, Becca
. Did
the real thing live up to your dream?”

“It surpassed it.” I got
in
the car before I could see his reaction. He really was bringing out a different side
of
me.

Chapter
Nineteen

Becca

“Hey
,
Mol, you home?
”
After knocking a few times, I tried the door and was surprised to find it opened.

“I’m up here,”
s
he yelled.

I walked inside with
a sinking feeling growing larger by the second. Something was going on—something was wrong.

Molly
sat
cross legged on the light pink tiled floor of the master bathroom. She didn’t look up.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

“I don’t know.”

I sat down next to her, finally realizing she
held
something in her hand.

“Is that what I think it is?”

“Yes.” She held out the piece of white plastic so I could see the two pink lines.

“Wow, congratulations. I didn’t know you guys were trying to get pregnant.”

“We weren’t.”

I took a moment to formulate a response. This was one of those situations where you had to say the right thing. “Oh. Well, congratulations anyway.”

“Ben’s going to freak out. I still can’t figure out how to tell him.”

“
Did
you just find out?”

“No. This is my third test.” She pulled out two more sticks from under the sink.

“Seriously? You didn’t trust the first two?”

She
shrugged
. “I wanted to be sure before I told
Ben
.”

“I’m sure he’ll be happy.”

“What if he’s not?”

“Why wouldn’t he be? You guys are married
,
and he has a good job. What’s the problem?”

“I’m not ready.
What
if he’s not either?
”

“What do you mean you aren’t ready?”

“I haven’t even settled on a career yet
.
I
t’s too soon.”

“Then how’d it happen?
” I tried to keep the bitterness out of my voice, but this was a really sensitive subject for me.

“I forgot a few pills last month.”

“Aren’t you the one who has an alarm set on your phone to remind you to take them?” I used to make fun of Molly about it in college. Every time
,
she’d go off on a tirade about being responsible.
I didn’t need an alarm.
I took my pill at the same time every day just in case.

“Not anymore. I turned off the alarm
after Adam died
,
when
it wasn’t such a big deal
.
I never worried as much with Ben
,
I guess.”

“Maybe it was your subconscious way of getting what you really wanted—a baby.”

“Please don’t go all psychology mumbo jumbo on me.”

I laughed
. T
his had nothing to do with my psychology major in college. “I’m just saying it’s possible.”

“At least I haven’t really been
drinking. I’ve had maybe one beer this month.”

“That’s a good thing.” I touched her hand to get her attention. “
This
is a good thing.”

“I hope you
’
r
e
right. Do you really think Ben will be happy?”

“I don’t know Ben that well, but my bet is he will be. He’s so in love with you
. W
hy wouldn’t he love knowing you’re having his baby?”

“I hope so. I just have to decide when to tell him.”

“Tonight. Why wait? I’ll do my own thing, give you some time.”

“No. That’
s silly
. W
e have
plans.”

“Yeah, but telling Ben this news is important.”

“I know.
But what are you going to do?”

“I noticed a R
ed
b
ox at the gas station
.
I’ll
pick
a movie
up.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

I heard the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. “I’m going to let you talk to him.
Tell
me how it goes.”

“I will.”

I gave her a hug before walking back downstairs. I ran into Ben on my way out.

“Hey there, where are you going? Aren’t you girls hanging out tonight?”

“Uh, I think you guys have plans now.” I smiled, and he gave me a perplexed look.

“Have a good night!” I called as I headed to my car. It was so nice to have it back.

***

The
R
ed
b
ox was practically empty when I got there, but
that
wasn’t surprising
on
a Friday night.
After giving up on finding a new release, I start
ed
scanning the older movies. I eventually settled on a
Denzel Washington
action flick I hadn’t seen in
a while
.
It wasn’t my favorite movie, but it would entertain me enough.

I slid in my credit card and waited for the machine to process the rental. It was taking longer than usual and making a funny humming noise, so I started losing hope. Just then
,
I heard voices coming out of the convenience store, and I definitely recognized them both. I thought about ducking out of sight, but my movie was just about to pop out, and I couldn’t just leave it. First of all I wanted it, and besides
,
I’d end up having to pay for the darn thing if it wasn’t returned.

“Becca?” I pulled out the movie and reluctantly turned.

“Hey.” I waved to b
oth Gavin and Ronny
.
They were each carrying a six pack of beer.

“Did you get my message?” Ronny
asked just as Gavin jumped in with his own question.

“Weren’t you supposed to be hanging out with Molly tonight?”

I decided to tackle Gavin’s question first
. I
t was the less awkward one. “Yeah, she had some stuff to do.”

“Stuff?” He gave me an amused smile.

“Uh yeah, girl stuff.”

“Okay…”

“So,
about this weekend
, would you maybe want to catch a movi
e or something tomorrow?” Ronny
asked hopefully. I’d totally forgotten about his message. He’d su
rprised me by calling at all
.
I’d hoped
when I shut him down the other night
that
it would have been the end of the story.

I glanced over at Gavin, wondering if there was any chance he could help.

“Becca’s not going to
a movie with you
.”

“Why not?” Ronny
looked at him, ignoring me completely.

“Because we’re seeing each other.”

“Since when?”

“
It’s been
a few weeks
.” Gavin winked at me.

“
A few weeks? That couldn’t have been long after we went out
…” Ronny
finally turned to look at me.

“I’m sorry
.
I should have called you back.”
I tried to smile.

“No, I get it. It’s cool.”

Wow, this was awkward. “So nice seeing you both, but I’m going to get going.”

“
Not so fast.
” Gavin took a step to the side, blocking my escape route.

“What?”

“What movie is that?” He pulled the disc from my hand
, maneuvering it so he could see the title.
“
You’re
into action movies?
Y
ou really are one of a kind, huh?”

“Not really. I just like Denzel.”

Gavin shook his head. “Whatever you say. So you’re just going home to watch it?”

I wasn’t sure what the fifty questions were about. Maybe he was still tryi
ng to put on a show for Ronny.

“Uh huh, what are you guys up to?” I decided to at least try to play polite.

“Poker at Matt’s.”

“At Matt’s? His wife is nicer than I’d be.” Just hearing his name made me cringe a little.

“He’s got a nice basement
,
” Ronn
y
explained.

“Cool, okay, have fun.”

“You can join us if you want.”

“Oh, uh
,
no thanks.”

“So you’re not into poker?”

“Not with a bunch of drunk guys
. N
ope.”

They both laughed.

“Matt’s around the block from you, so
maybe I’ll stop by
when
I leave
.
I’ll call you.
”
Gavin
squeezed my hand
.

“Okay…” I wondered once again whose benefit the display was for. “
S
ee ya.”

Gavin pulled me back before I could step off the curb and kissed me lightly on the lips. “I’ll see you later.”

“Good nigh
t
,” I said
,
still affected by the kiss. I wondered if he actually planned to stop by, and I wasn’t exactly sure how I felt about it.

***

Jake didn’t even bother to knock this time
, he just used his key
. “It’s just me, so don’t get up.”

I looked away from the TV and curled my blanket closer around me. I was wearing a fairly skimpy set of cami and shorts pajamas and definitely wasn’t expecting company
without a call first
.

“You are not leaving until you give me your key. That is not cool.”

“I thought you’d be glad to see me.” He smiled as he sauntered over and sat next to me on the couch. “What’s with the blanket
?
I
t’s hot out.”

“I like snuggling.”

He smiled. “I can help you with that if you want.”

“As tempting as that offer is, I think I’m going to pass.”

“All right, just saying…” He
put his feet up on the ottoman
and put an arm behind me.

“Make yourself right at home
,
why don’t you?”

“I used to live here, you know.”

I rolled my eyes, but I’m sure he didn’t notice.
“Used to, meaning past tense.”

“But I like it here better than my
place
.”

“Take it up with your parents and not me.”

“Oh, but I’d rather take it up with you.”
He grabbed my bag of popcorn and shoved a handful into his mouth.

I shook my head. “You are so annoying.”

“You are so beautiful.”

“Ok, what do you want?”

“What do you mean?” he asked
as if
he was actually insulted.