TROUBLE, A New Adult Romance Novel (The Rebel Series) (27 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

I BLINK MY EYES A few times as I reorient myself to my current situation.
 
I’m in my room, in my bed.
 
But I’m fully clothed?

The memories come rushing back.
 
Colin slept with me!
 
I look over my shoulder, but no one’s there. It makes me both relieved and sad.
 
I’m glad not to be sharing my morning breath with him, but sad that he left me.

Just that idea makes me mad at myself.
 
As if Colin would sleep with me and get up with me in the morning.
 
It’s not like we’re a couple or anything.
 
It’s not like he was being anything more than a good guy last night.

I struggle into a sitting position and realize that I need to pee probably worse than I ever have before.
 
I barely make it to the bathroom, and end up staying in there to take a shower.
 
I have no idea what time it is, but the sun is on its way up and I have things to get done today.
 
One of the first things is to contact Geraldine and find out what other little surprises she might have in her gallery that I don’t know about.

My lack of planning becomes evident when I get out of the shower and realize I don’t have a towel big enough to cover myself in here.
 
My eyes scan the room and come with one washcloth and one regular sized bath towel that I used the day before on my face.
 
I know for a fact that this puppy is only good enough for about half my body being covered.
Dang.

Doing my best with what I have, I open the door and streak out, tiptoeing as fast as I can over to my bedroom.
 
Luckily, no one’s in the hallway.

Flinging the door open, I jump inside my room, and then turn around, pressing the door closed behind me.
 
Phew!
 
Made it.

“Good morning.”

I squeak in fright and spin around, the flap on my towel opening up for a moment to reveal my giant belly.

“Colin!” I say, out of breath, scrambling to grab the edges of my towel.
 
My breasts are barely covered but my belly … not so much.

“Yeah.
 
Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare ya.”
 
He’s staring at my stomach.

My towel has taken on a life of its own.
 
Every time I try to grab one side, the other slips through my grip.
 
I bend over, hoping to make it easier, but all that does is split the two edges farther apart. When I stand back up and finally have the two of them under control, the top starts coming undone, so I give up on hiding my belly in favor of covering my chest.
 
I’d turn around but the very last thing I want to do is give him a view of my bare butt with this ultra short towel.
 
Holy big back yard alert.

“Stupid towel,” I grumble.
 
My face is already flaming red and I can feel the blush coming up my neck now too.

“Hungry?” he asks, gesturing to a tray of food on the bed.

I freeze in my efforts to organize myself.
 
“You brought me breakfast?”

He grins.
 
“Yeah.
 
Breakfast in bed.
 
What do you think?”

My eyebrows are pretty much up in my hairline now.
 
“I think … that I’m lucky?” And confused.
 
Definitely confused.
 
Why is he being so nice? And so … un-Colin-like?

“Good. Come eat it before it gets cold.”

I look over at the selection on the tray.
 
There’s a bowl, a box, a spoon, and a glass of milk.
 
“Uh … it’s cereal.”

“Yeah.”
 
He grins.
 
“I’m just trying to get you back into bed.”

I know he’s just playing around, but for some reason it makes me mad.
 
Maybe because I have a tender heart that should not be played with.
 
Turning my back on him, I readjust my towel and go to my dresser, digging out clothes to wear.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“No.
 
You’re fine.
 
Just eat without me.
 
I need to get dressed.”

He jumps out of bed as I start to walk towards the door, blocking my path.
 
“Don’t go.”

I can’t look at him so I settle for staring at his shoulder.
 
“Colin, move.
 
I need to get dressed.
 
I have phone calls to make.”

“But you have to eat.”
 
He gestures towards the food.
 
“I’m going to leave you in peace so you can relax and eat without worrying about your towel.”
 
He leans in before I can guess what he plans to do and kisses me quickly on the cheek. Then he throws open the door and walks out into the hallway.
 
“I’ll see you later today.”

He’s on his way down the stairs before I’m over my shock of being kissed by him and have the presence of mind to respond.
 
“Later today?
 
What for?”
 
Did I forget something?
 
Is there a meeting I arranged and then promptly forgot?
 
My pregnancy brain is in full gear, liable to forget anything; that’s why I have a whole purse full of sticky-notes.
 
But I don’t recall a sticky note with the word
meeting
on it.

“Lunch!
 
My treat!” he yells from the front door.

I back into my bedroom and shut the door behind me, wondering what exactly is going on between us.

Before I can muddle through all the conversations and analyze his every facial expression, my phone rings.
 
I’m still half naked, but as soon as I see it’s Charity, I answer it.

“Alissa!” she shouts.

“Yes,” I say, smiling.
 
It’s impossible not to with the tone of her voice like that.
 
“It’s me.
 
You sound happy.”

“I am.
 
I really, really am.”

“Is this about the adoption?”

“Yes.
 
And other stuff too.
 
Everything is just going perfectly right now.”

I reach over and knock on the top of my dresser.
 
“I just knocked on wood for you.
 
Do me a favor and don’t tempt Fate like that.”

“Oh, right.
 
Okay.
 
Things are going reasonably well.
 
How’s that?”

“I liked the other way better.”
 
I wander over to my bed and sit down on it.
 
“Tell me what happened.”

“Well, I went over to Barbara’s house.
 
It’s pretty fancy.
 
Not too much, though, which is nice.
 
She and her husband bought a fixer-upper and remodeled it.
 
The neighborhood is really nice.
 
There were kids playing outside.”

“I can picture it.
 
It sounds nice.”

She sighs happily. “It was.
 
I mean, I know it’s crazy, but I took it as a good sign that there were kids playing.
 
Is that nuts?”

“No, it’s a good sign.
 
What else happened?”

“Well, she took me on a tour of the house.
 
She already has a nursery totally set up with a crib and everything.
 
The closet is full of clothes for a boy and a girl. She said she just buys stuff and was hoping someday there would be a baby there to wear it.”

“She has a ton of baby food, huh?”

“Oh my god, yes.
 
A pantry full of it.
 
All of it is organic too.”

“That’s good.” I hesitate to say my next thought, but decide to express it anyway.
 
Friends don’t let friends just do things like this without exploring every nook and cranny.
 
“Was it a little weird?
 
I mean … to see her house all set up for a baby but without a baby there?”

She hesitates before answering.
 
“Well … I’d say it was more sad than anything.
 
She told me some stuff … but I guess I can tell you since I know you’ll keep it to yourself and you would understand.
 
She’s had a few miscarriages.
 
One of them was really late in the pregnancy.
 
So she’s gotten to the point that she’s kind of really sad and really desperate for a baby.
 
She’s worried that if she gets too much older that it will be too late.”

“She isn’t that old.”

“She’s forty.
 
I told her it wasn’t old either, but you know … you can’t tell that to a woman.
 
I know when I’m forty I probably won’t listen to teenagers either.”

“I get it.
 
Well, I guess you found the perfect situation.
 
Have you met her husband?”

“That’s the only glitch.”

My heart sinks.
 
“How so?”

“Well, I haven’t met him.
 
But he seems … harsh.”

“In what way?”

“Well, I guess he told Barbara to stop looking and to stop talking about adoption.
 
He just got tired of it, I guess.”

“Oh. That’s really sad.”

“I know, right?
 
I mean, I know Barbara is crushed over it.
 
But she’s telling me that he’s going to be fine with this.”

“You need to find out for sure before you commit,” I say.

“I know.
 
She invited me to dinner tomorrow.
 
Can
 
you come?”

My mouth drops open.
 
“Uh, yeah.”
 
I can just picture us, two pregnant girls showing up at this guy’s house and him flipping his lid.
 
It flashes in my mind that I should ask Colin to come with us, but just as quickly I dismiss that thought as ridiculous. He’d think I’m nuts just for asking.
 
Just because we had a nice moment or two together, fueled by my confession, doesn’t mean we’re suddenly together or anything.
 
I ignore the slight pang in my chest that appears over that thought.

“Phew!
 
Good.
 
I was so scared you’d say no.
 
I just don’t want to go alone.
 
I’m sure it’s safe, but I just need some moral support, and I don’t think asking my grandpa to go is the right thing now.
 
Not yet anyway.”

“No, it’s okay.
 
I’m good with it. What time?”

“Six o’clock.”

“Okay.
 
Are you picking me up?”

“Yep!
 
See you around five forty-five.”

“Okay.
 
Bye.
 
And congratulations!”

“Save that for after the dinner,” she says, just before hanging up.

As I finish dressing and get ready to start my day, I think about Charity and the risk she’s taking.
 
She’s a brave girl, giving up her baby so he can have a better life than she can provide.
 
A piece of me says I should probably do the same thing, but then I can’t imagine living without my child while someone else raises her.
 
It’s true that there are plenty of people in a better position than I am to raise a baby.
 
But that doesn’t mean for me that it’s the right answer to walk away from her.
 
I just need to figure out how I can support myself and my child and make it work.
 
I owe her that at the very least.

I leave my bedroom with my cell phone in hand, ready to make a few important phone calls and take the steps I need to in order to start making this life better suited to having a baby on board.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

MY FIRST CALL IS TO the gallery.
 
I make an appointment to go view the pieces that Geraldine intends to show to her clients.
 
Hopefully there won’t be any more surprises in there, but I plan to minimize the damage if there is. I’m allowing myself to have this irrational thought that Randy will keep my big secret and all of my troubles are now going to go away since he’s been run off by Colin.
 
I know it’s not very realistic, but I’m going to keep on believing in my fantasy world until reality shows me it’s futile.

I do an hour of research online about art shows before making another phone call. The next appointment I set is with the accounting firm that’s working with Teagan’s lawyers.
 
Quin said that they’d offered her a job based on the work she did for Teagan’s case, so I figure it wouldn’t hurt to go in there and give them a copy of my CV.
 
Maybe they have two positions open.
 
Quin and I have the same major and I’ve got grades as good as hers.
 
I could start working part time after the baby is born and finish school at night or on weekends.
 
Hopefully.
 
Fingers crossed.
 
If I can find someone to watch her while I’m not home, that is.
 
Ugh
.
 
Another bridge to cross.
 
Another obstacle to surmount.
 
Stop worrying about it.
 
Just get your work done.

Digging around in my purse for my sticky notes, I come out with one attached to my hand.
 
I read it out loud into the empty kitchen as I peel it off my skin.
 
“Ultrasound.
 
Wednesday.
 
Ten a.m.”
 
My eyeballs bulge out of their sockets.
 
“Ten o’clock?”
 
My phone says it’s nine thirty already.
 
“Dang it.”