Calling Kupid (Kupid's Cove Book 1) (5 page)

I was more than surprised when a text came through in seconds. It felt like he was waiting for my response. It felt very personal. I laughed aloud when the next message came in.

I love your sense of humor and the fact that you can spar with me on my level. I need more of that in my life. Talk soon. G.

I flipped the ringer off on the phone tucking it in my purse for safekeeping. I heard Dr. Sawyer pull my chart from the rack on the wall. I tried to breathe normally as the door cracked open and I caught sight of that long white coat.

I pulled my coat around me tighter. It was January in Snowberry, which meant it was bone chilling cold. The snow that fell a few days ago had left the sidewalk slick in patches. The brisk wind that had stayed when the snow left was cutting right through my coat, leaving me cold to my core. Honestly, I felt like crying after leaving Dr. Sawyer’s office. I wanted to go home, make a cup of tea, and pretend today didn’t happen. Unfortunately, I had to talk to Hank first. I walked to the city center for the exercise, rather than take my car. After all, I would hate to be called thick-waisted by anyone ever again.

I snorted to myself and stuck my tongue out inside my head, like an immature eight-year-old. It made me giggle, which also wasn’t very mature, but I didn’t care. Sometimes a gal needs to be immature to get through life.

I saw a familiar figure sitting on one of the benches that surrounded the now empty summer fountains as I approached the city center. Her head was bent low and she was clutching a bag from the pharmacy in her hands. I hurried over to sit down next to her, my arm going around her shoulders instinctively.

“Freddie, are you sick?” I asked my best friend.

She made eye contact with me in a daze. “Kate?” she asked. The look on her face told me she didn’t know where she was.

“Freddie, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”

She held up the bag, but instead of speaking, she started to cry. I helped her up, and put my arm around her waist as we started walking back towards my office.

“Whatever it is, Freddie, it’s going to be okay,” I promised, my voice quiet as she leaned on my shoulder. “Is Flynn okay?”

She nodded, but her soft crying changed to sobbing at his name.

“Did you have a fight?” I asked, wishing I could figure out why my usually calm, very cool, and far too collected friend was freaking out.

“No, we didn’t fi-fight,” she hiccupped.

Okay, new tactic, take her to my apartment and get her a cup of tea. She needed time to calm down then maybe, she would tell me what was going on. I pushed her through the door of the law firm, pushing the door closed against the cold wind. Rosie stood up immediately, coming around the front of her desk.

“What’s the matter, Freddie?” Rosie asked.

Winifred just shrugged, not making eye contact.

“Rosie, would you help me get her upstairs to my apartment? I don’t have any clients the rest of the day, but you know where I am if you need me.”

“Of course,” she agreed, taking Freddie’s other arm, which was still clutching the bag from the pharmacy.

We managed to get her up the narrow set of stairs and into my apartment where she collapsed onto the sofa. She hid her face in the couch cushion, which effectively killed any chance of conversation.

I walked Rosie back to the door. “She’ll be okay. If you need me just hit the intercom.”

“Okay, let me know if I can help. How did your working lunch go?”

“I feel like I went ten rounds with Mike Tyson. The guy is so suave I’m not sure if I’m coming or going with him.”

“Is that why you were yelling so much?”

It hit me that she didn’t know the story, but I couldn’t tell her now. “That’s a long story. I promise to tell you, but I have to look after Freddie first. I was supposed to go to the pharmacy and talk to Hank, but that will have to wait. I think I’ve had all I can handle of Gideon Armstrong today anyway.”

Rosie opened the door. “Okay, I’m cool with that. I’ll let you know if anything comes up. Keep me posted.”

I gave her a salute as I closed the door. A deep breath in forced me to put Gideon out of my mind for now. I had to get to the bottom of my friend’s discord.

I put a cup of water in the microwave, digging out a teabag from the box in the cupboard while I waited. I’m not usually a tea drinker. In fact, growing up Mormon, tea and coffee were a no-no. Hot chocolate, thankfully, was not a no-no. I never could figure that out since hot chocolate has caffeine in it, but I guess it wasn’t enough for the church to frown upon it.

As a Mormon it was a no-no to drink coffee, tea, alcohol, or soda. That was just the tip of the Mormon iceberg. I couldn’t smoke, not that I was interested in that, gamble, also not big on my favorite Saturday night activities, watch R rated movies or have premarital sex. I love R rated movies, but let’s face it, if you aren’t watching Disney nowadays you’re watching an R rated movie. The premarital sex part was still hanging on, so far. I wasn’t a virgin by virtue as much as I was a virgin by choice. I hadn’t found anyone who deserved to be my first. Gideon’s face came to my mind and I promptly pushed it away, refusing to think about him right now.

I dunked the teabag in the mug, giving Freddie time to stop crying. She was still face down in the couch, but she was quiet. I decided tea sounded good, making a second cup for myself. I keep it on hand for when I’m feeling poorly. Today definitely wins as a tea day. I was certain I wasn’t going to go to hell for using tea in that manner. I might go to hell for thinking unclean thoughts about Gideon Armstrong, but that was a lost cause at this point.

I grabbed the two mugs as well as a box of tissues, carrying it to Freddie who was moaning into the pillow. I set it all down on the coffee table before laying my hand on her shoulder.

“Fred, you have to tell me what’s going on. Sit up and have some tea.”

She followed my orders, accepting the mug from my hand. I noticed the bag she was carrying earlier smashed underneath her. I picked it up and pulled a box from inside the bag. I looked up at her in surprise.

“This is a pregnancy test.”

She nodded, her chin trembling and her eyes starting to water again.

I laid my hand on her knee and squeezed it. “It’s nothing to cry about, Freddie. You and Flynn want kids, right?”

It was too late to stop the tears, but she managed to nod. “We do, but we have a three-year plan.”

It was taking all my restraint to keep from laughing at this poor, sad sack of a woman. I held it in because she was obviously in distress. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings by taking it lightly.

“It’s okay to have a plan, but sometimes those things change, babe. Why do you think you’re pregnant?”

She sucked up a shaky breath and tried to talk without sobbing. “Remember when I cut my hand on the boat trying to put it away for the winter?”

I turned her left hand over and ran my finger across the scar. “Do I ever. You nearly cut off two fingers. Flynn was hysterical when he called me.”

She smiled a little at the mention of her husband’s name, which was better than her earlier sobbing.

“What does that have to do with you possibly being pregnant?”

“I had to take antibiotics after the surgery. I didn’t know that they made my birth control less effective, so we didn’t use any other protection. Why didn’t they tell me that?” she asked, pounding her fist on her knee. “Now I’m late.”

“How late?”

“Almost two months.”

“Why did you wait so long to take a test?”

“I kept saying to myself, ‘Tomorrow I’ll get my period’. But it’s been a month of tomorrows and still nothing. I know I am. I feel weird and I’m sick a lot.”

I rubbed her leg trying to keep her calm. “I have to ask why you’re so upset about this, honey. I know that you didn’t plan it, but you’ve have been married almost a year. You know Flynn loves you enough to lay down his life for you. Remember what he said when he was the one to donate the blood you needed for surgery after your accident?”

She half smiled as I took the hand that was injured, running my finger across the love line that now had multiple stitch scars across it.

“He said I’m his forever now because his blood runs through my veins the way my love runs through his heart, pure and clean.” She bit her lip and nodded silently as she remembered his words during that time.

“He loves you, Freddie; that’s why I can’t figure out why you’re so upset about this.”

“I’m scared!” she cried, dropping the mug of tea in her hand.

I ignored it and grabbed her shoulders. “It’s okay to be scared. It’s okay to need some reassurance. The way you’re feeling is okay, so stop fighting it. Let yourself be scared. If you are pregnant, you’ll be scared many, many times in the next eighteen years. The word here is ‘if’; so let’s do the test so we know for sure.”

She leaned back against the couch exhausted. “How do you know all this?” she asked suspiciously. “You don’t have any kids.”

I held out my hand and she took it, so I could pull her up. “I’m a woman. I can put myself in your shoes.”

I pulled her along behind me, something I’ve done many times since we first met in middle school. I was half her size, but I was always the one tugging her along to our next adventure. Freddie lost her parents when she was barely sixteen. She was nothing but a shell of the person I used to know for a decade after that tragedy. She is the reason I came back to Snowberry and took the job at the law firm after graduation. She needed someone to look after her. That was my job for almost a dozen years, but then Flynn came along. He showed her how to trust, live, and love again. He needed to be the one to comfort her now. Hopefully, I could text him when she wasn’t looking.

I flipped the light on in my bathroom and set her down on the edge of the tub. “Okay, let’s see what this says to do. It shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Hank said it’s the best one. It will tell you really early if you’re pregnant.”

I lifted a brow at her. “You told Hank?”

She shrugged. “I had to. I didn’t know what to buy, but I was so embarrassed.”

I knelt in front of her and kept my hands on her knees. “There is nothing to be embarrassed about. You’re a grown, married woman. I’m sure Hank was delighted to be the one to help you with this kind of milestone. The directions are easy. Pee on the stick and it will tell you ‘pregnant’ or ‘not pregnant’ on the little LCD screen. No room for error.”

“Okay. You aren’t leaving, are you?” she asked, standing up.

“Well, I’m going out of the bathroom, yes,” I laughed, hugging her for a second. “But I’ll be right outside. When you’re done bring the test out and we will look at it together.”

She took a deep breath. “Okay. I can do this.”

“Yes, you can. I know you’re scared, but no matter what that test says, Flynn will still love you, maybe even more than he does now, if that’s possible.”

I let her hand drop as I left the room, latching the door behind me. I leaned on the wall and closed my eyes, excitement in the pit of my stomach. I could hear her rustling the foil wrapper and smiled. She was going to be a great mom; she just had to get past her ‘plan’ and the order in which she thinks life needs to happen. This just might be a true case of God being the one to make the plan. Occasionally He likes to shake Freddie’s otherwise orderly world up.

I pulled my phone from my pocket. Time to text Daddy and get him over here. It rang in my hand and I jumped, answering it before checking the caller ID.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Kate, it’s Flynn. Have you heard from Winnie? She hasn’t been answering her cell phone for hours. I drove home because I was worried, but she’s not here either.”

“Yeah, I have actually.”

“Oh, good. Do you know where I can find her?”

“Here.”

“She’s at your apartment?”

“Yes.”

“Who are you talking to?” Freddie called from behind the closed door and I grimaced.

“Is that her?”

“Yes, but I can’t really talk.”

“Is something wrong, Kate?” I heard the worry seeping into his voice. “Do I need to come over there?”

“Sorta and yes, I would do that.”

“You can’t talk because she’s there?”

“That’s correct,” I answered.

“I’ll be there in ten minutes. Don’t let her leave.”

“You can count on it.”

I hung up the phone just as the door opened. She stuck her head out. “Who was that?”

“Just a client,” I promised, smiling nonchalantly. “Are you done?”

She showed me the test. There was an hourglass flashing in the corner. I knew she was going to hold her breath for the next three minutes. I led her back to the couch, but halfway there she stopped and covered her mouth with a shaky hand. I held her by the waist as we looked at the stick. It read,
Pregnant
.

“Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God,” she moaned.

“I think God had something to do with this, but mostly it was you and Flynn,” I teased, convincing her to walk the rest of the way to the sofa.

She sat heavily holding the stick in her hand. “Why is that hourglass still flashing? Maybe it’s wrong. Maybe ‘Not’ is going to appear?”

I had to bite my cheek to keep from chuckling. “No, honey, you’re pregnant. That hourglass is going to tell you how many weeks in just a few…” The symbol disappeared and 3+ appeared below the positive result.

“What does that mean, Kate?” she asked, her voice shrill.

This time I laughed happily and hugged her tightly. “It means you’re more than three weeks pregnant! You’re going to be a mommy!”

She was stiff in my arms, so I sat next to her, my hand on her arm as she cried silent tears. “Are those happy tears or sad tears?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she cried. “I’m going to be a mommy and I want to be happy, but I’m scared of what Flynn is going to say. He’s not where he wants to be with the business and he has to work a lot. He wanted to wait for a few more years until he didn’t have to be on call. Now I’ve ruined that.”

The last few words came out in a shaky voice. I rubbed her shoulder while I checked the clock. He should be here any minute.

“You haven’t ruined anything. There are plenty of couples who have kids at a less than opportune time and it works out just fine.”

I heard a knock and let out a sigh of relief.

“Who’s that?” she asked, frozen at the sound.

“It’s probably Rosie. I’ll be right back.”

I hurried to the door and threw it open to an anxious Flynn.

“She’s on the couch. She’s scared, so be gentle.”

He didn’t even respond, just flew past me into the living room where he stopped short when he saw his wife.

“Winnie? Why are you crying?” he asked, crawling over to her. “Did someone hurt you?”

She shook her head, but her eyes were huge. She was holding her breath at the sight of him. He wrapped her into his arms and rubbed her back roughly.

“You have to breathe, Winnie,” he ordered.

She did, when she cried in his arms. “I’m sorry, Flynn. I’ve ruined our three-year plan.”

“I’m a little confused, Winnie, but I don’t think you’ve ruined anything. Tell me what’s going on.”

Freddie leaned over and picked up the test, handing it to Flynn. “I’m pregnant,” she whispered. “Kate helped me take the test because I was upset.”

He leaned in and kissed her lips in a way I’ve never experienced love in my life. He didn’t speak, just stared into her eyes because he could see everything she was feeling in them.

“I’m so happy right now I’m having a hard time putting my thoughts into words. We made a baby together,” he whispered, his hand going to her belly.

“You’re not mad? We said we were going to wait, but then the accident happened…”

He shook his head. “I’m not mad. I’m scared to death about being a good father, but I’m over the moon excited that I’m going to get the chance!”

I squeezed Freddie’s shoulder and she looked up at me, a smile finally taking shape on her face.

“What did the accident have to do with it?” he asked. He seemed to be processing everything in a delayed fashion, which made me chuckle aloud.

“They didn’t tell me the antibiotics would make my pills ineffective, so we didn’t use any other protection. I didn’t think it was a big deal when I found out about it a few weeks later, because I had been on the pill for so many years, but I guess not.”