All I Want Is You (A Chester Farms Novella) (12 page)

Her dad straightened. "You started your own business? How do you even know how to do that?"

She tried really hard not to laugh, but she did smile. There was just no way to answer that question without sounding like a smart-ass. "College. Economics are part of the business path. And my jobs. I’ve maintained a full time, forty hour work week since I started my Freshman year. Sometimes I worked two jobs. I know what it takes."

"You should have stayed in longer to see the odds of survival. In the worst economy, you thought it was a good idea to start your own business?"

"I think it's a good idea. And the people there do too since they keep coming back."

Her mother sat back down and rested her forehead against her fingertips. "What is this business?"

"An ice cream shop." It sounded silly and ridiculous on her own ears, but she loved it, too.

Both her parents took a sharp look at her and clearly they didn't think it was great. Her dad's arms hung long by his side. "You started an ice cream store...in winter? Did you even think about anything?"

"I started it at the end of Summer. Bella Warren doesn’t get feet of snow on the ground and have harsh winters where you can't even go outside. It's getting colder now and I'm still doing fine. My profits go up every week."

He shook his head. "You have no idea what you've done. You could have had a future, now you're going to count pennies the rest of your life just to keep your electricity on. Where are you living?"

"The store has an apartment in it." That was close enough. It didn't look like they were visiting any time soon. "I don't have any extra expenses, just the store itself."

Her mother pushed away from the table. "I have no idea what to say to you, so I'm going to take a walk. I don't know what happened to you, but I didn't raise an irresponsible daughter."

She should let her mom go, but then she'd be stuck in the house with her dad staring at her like she'd grown another head. "There's more."

An empty laugh filled the room as her mom turned back. "I can't image what else you could have done."

Tasha swallowed and blinked at tears. She'd been prepared for disappointment with opening the shop since the day she signed the lease. Knowing the coming response to what she had to say cracked her chest open. "I'm pregnant."

Her mom collapsed back in the chair.

Tasha didn't bother looking toward her dad. He didn't say anything so that meant she likely wouldn't enjoy the expression on his face. In all the times she'd imagined her future and being married, having kids, this moment wasn't among them. There was supposed to be a party with a box to be opened and blue or pink balloons would fly out. It was happening like this regardless. "I'm about six weeks."

Her dad returned to the table and took a seat himself. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned away from her. "Do you even know who the father is?"

She flinched at the cruel remark that sliced off another piece of her. "Yes. Of course."

He lifted a shoulder. "I wasn’t sure."

Her mother shook her head. "Is he going to do anything?"

"He's aware and is prepared to be involved."

"For now." Her mom snorted. "Do you have any idea what you're in the middle of? What you've done to yourself."

"Yes."

"How long have you known this boy?" Her dad's voice was deeper than she remembered.

She recalled that heavy tone from years ago when she was a girl. She couldn't remember what she'd done, but she remembered the disappointment. This time she wouldn't cower under him. This was her life, her choices to make and while things weren't ideal, she was still proud of it. "Since August."

Her dad rubbed his temples. "Let me get this straight. You dropped out of school, lost your scholarship, got yourself pregnant and biggest of all, this baby is due at what should be the height of your busiest months in this ice cream store."

She licked her lips. She hadn’t really thought that far ahead with it all put together like that. "Yes."

Her mom brushed at the table. "Get rid of it."

Tasha blinked. "Get rid of what?"

"The store, the baby. Go back to college. If you worked so hard before, you can do it again and pay your way through the last bit of it. I’ll pay for your books to help if you go back."

Tasha sat back and covered her stomach. Not to protect what was inside so much as to stop her from puking up the cheeseburger she'd had on the way. This baby was a complete unexpected curve ball in her life, but get rid of it?

As in put it up for adoption? Or did her mom mean abortion? Unthinkable. All of it was completely unthinkable.

She always wanted kids and she was an adult, not some fourteen year old teenager who couldn't even drive to the store for diapers. If there was anything the last few weeks taught her, it was that stepping away from the plan with Patrick left her standing on her feet. They could do this and she was done being talked into a life she didn't want. Now more than ever, this was exactly what she wanted and she sat up in her chair. "No."

"You're throwing your life away and you can do so much more." Her mom pointed at her. "You are worth more than the trash you've turned yourself into."

Tasha refused to let that sting. Her life. Her choice to decide if she was throwing it away or at the start of something great. "You always say things happen for a reason."

"If you live like you're supposed to, then they do!"

"How do you know I'm living wrong?" She shook her head. "I don't know what's going to happen, but I know the last few months have been some of the hardest I've been through, but they've also been the happiest. This is my life. You decide if you want to be part of it."

Her parents looked to each other and to the floor. Her father shook his head. “You need to do what your mother said."

"This is your grandchild. And me. I’m not asking for money or anything." She looked between them both and desperately searched for some of the compassion she remembered in her parents when she was a girl. "You can't support what I want and what makes me happy?"

Her mother flicked hair off her neck. "You're too young to know what you're doing. You’re only twenty-one. You don't know what it's like out there. You're going to have this baby. That business is going to fail over the colder months and then you'll have nothing. Moving back home will not be an option for you then. I'm telling you now so you know what to expect."

"I wish I'd known to expect this as a girl when you both said you loved me and would be there for me no matter what. I guess when you turned your back on Tom, even as successful as he’s become, it was too much to hope you’d accept the life I want." Tasha didn't wait. She pushed out of her chair and left the house. She took her time after she opened the door, hoping to hear one of them call her back.

Silence filled the air and infected the part of her where she'd always held her family near.

Chapter Eleven

Patrick tapped the tip of his shoe on the concrete sidewalk in front of the shop to knock off any mud or dirt and pushed open the glass door. The tree glowed from the corner and he smiled that way as he stepped in. They hadn't gotten to stringing lights all over the place like he'd considered, but there was still time for that. He cleared his throat and tugged at the belt on his pants. It was the middle of the day, around her busiest time and those thoughts would get him nowhere.

If she was anything like the last few days, it wouldn't matter what time of day it was. Ever since she came home after visiting her parents, she'd been in a slump and didn't want to talk about it. Her often swollen, red eyes had said plenty and Patrick had been damn tempted to try to find her parents and ring their necks. It hadn't gone well and there'd been nothing he could do to cheer her up. Even this morning when he had to leave for work before she woke, dark circles had marked her eyes.

Tasha scooped ice cream for a retired man who lived a few blocks over. Her head was down and he couldn't see if she looked any better.

Another man he didn't know was at table in the corner with a banana split.

Tasha called out the total for the order so Patrick stepped around the end of the counter and fixed a glass of water where he'd be out of her way. The stranger had his back to the wall and watched Tasha work, then his gaze fell on Patrick. He gave the man a nod and a smile and the guy returned to looking back at Tasha. Then he tended to his ice cream. Generally the only time strangers ended up in town was if they were lost.

He grabbed his cup and eased back around the shop while Tasha finished with her customer. He held his hand out to the man. "Patrick."

The guy wiped his fingers off on a napkin and returned the handshake. "Tom."

Tom. He eyed the man and the familiar colored hair. "Tasha’s brother by any chance?"

The man smiled. "Yep. I see she’s mentioned me."

"A time or two." He sat back in his chair just as Tasha came around the counter. A smile was broad on her face with a glow that seemed to surround her. She looked to be feeling better, but damn if a little part of his chest didn't swell and feel good too. He smiled back at her. "Feeling better?"

Her eyes squinted with her somehow bigger grin. She sat next to him and squeezed his hand. "Much."

"I'm glad."

She gestured to Tom. "I guess you already met Tommy? He popped in a couple hours ago and surprised me."

Tom winked at her. "I can't let my baby sister go off and ruin her life without me."

She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Stop that."

Tom lifted a shoulder. "I'm just repeating what Uncle Bill said." He looked to Patrick. "I also ruined my life and got the don't come back response, too."

Dark thoughts landed in Patrick's head as her talk with her parents came into focus. Probably a good thing she hadn't let him go with her for that. He would have ended up in jail by the time he finished shoving their heads up their asses. "What did you do?"

"I decided to throw my life away in sales to become a starving artist."

Tasha shook her head. "He ended up best friends with a rich kid in college. The guy's dad saw Tommy's work and commissioned him for several paintings. He was never a
starving
artist."

"Hey now." Tom reached out and lightly jabbed his sister on the arm. "I've stared into my fair share of empty refrigerators in the middle of the night."

"Because you didn't go to the grocery store the day before."

Tom lifted a shoulder. "Possibly." He looked to Patrick. "My sister's told me a lot about you."

Patrick nodded. "All good, I hope."

"You seem fine." Tom's eyebrows lifted. "Thank God for that. Uncle Bill just said she got knocked up by some guy in a backwoods town. Beating somebody's ass isn't good for my hands, so I was hoping to avoid that."

Patrick chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. It was what it was. Nothing could change things. He was just glad to see that someone Tasha loved cared about her. "You're really in just for the day?"

"I wish I could stay longer, but I flew in from Hawaii when I heard. I'm working on a mural there and I have a deadline. Just this short visit is going to throw me way off schedule, but your baby sister is only kicked out of the family once, so it'll be worth the late nights to make up for it."

Tasha shook her head and rested her elbow on the table. "Such a hard life. It's southern California, Aspen, Upper New York. You're always off somewhere." She glanced to Patrick. "Don't feel sorry for him."

"Not a chance of that happening." Except Patrick did feel for the guy. Getting to see whatever he wanted and all that sounded great, but where was his home? No family, no house, no place where he belonged? He'd rather stay right here in Bella Warren for the rest of his life than have the kind of life Tom was out doing.

Tom glanced around the shop and nodded. "Place looks good."

"Thank you."

Tom grinned. "I wasn’t too surprised to hear you dumped college. Good for you for doing what you want."

Tasha wiped at her eye. "Thanks. It’s been hard, but good."

"You always had the best lemonade stand on the block and you always loved ice cream. I think it's a win-win. Hell, I get to be an uncle, get to see the kid when I want
and
get free ice cream out of the deal."

Tasha leaned toward him. "Good. Sounds like I'll get to see you more, too."

Tom just grinned and wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes. He looked his way. "What did your parents say about the kid?"

"Haven't told them yet. I figure it'll make for a great Christmas present and it's just around the corner."

Tom winced. "It'll probably be a memorable one."

Probably so, but then his parents should know he'd be fine. He didn't expect them to be thrilled by the news, but they would know he could do this and be there for him. He took care of things that were his. He looked toward Tasha and started to grab her hand, but two people walked in the store. He leaned back. "I figure they'll be shocked and then mom will be thrilled. She's a sucker for babies."