AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She nods. “Yes. He’s the one.”
“Then I guess you have my blessing.”
Might as well tell him the rest.
“Frankee and I are talking about getting engaged. That’s probably going to be a conversation I’ll be wanting to have with you soon.”
He sighs. “Y’all are just dropping all kinds of bombs on me today.”
“They’re good bombs, Daddy. We’re happy, and we want you to be happy about us being together.”
“I’m not unhappy. I’m shocked. But I suppose I shouldn’t be. Not after you went off to Texas together for days. And then you went to Mobile together. And those are just the trips I know about. I suspect there have been more spend-the-nights.”
Frankee’s mom places her hand on Scott’s leg. “Don’t.”
“Did you know about this?”
“I knew a little bit.”
“Ah, hell, Tara. You knew more than a little.”
She chuckles. “Maybe I did, but it wasn’t for me to blab about. Porter and Frankee needed to be the ones to tell you.”
“Well, it’s done now.”
One down. Two best friends and a whole brewery to go.
Should be fun.
I roll up in Stout’s office and sit in my usual chair, putting my feet on his desk. Love pissing the fucker off by doing that. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. You’re messing with a felon now.”
“A felon?”
“Yeah. I spent some time in the pokey while I was in Savannah.”
“What?”
“I got locked up while I was over there for Christie’s funeral.”
“For doing what?”
“Fighting in a funeral home.” Maybe it’s morbid but that instantly makes me want to laugh.
Stout’s been in Savannah because his birth mother died. His sorry, lowdown, no-good birth mother. “You go to a funeral and end up in jail. That sounds like a bad episode of Cops. What the fuck happened?”
Stout’s birth parents are pieces of shit so this ought to be good.
“Jimmy-motherfucking-McCollum happened.” Stout despises his birth father with a passion. Can’t blame him. The asshole always taunted Stout.
“What did he do?”
“The McCollums were being McCollums when we got to the funeral home. All of them were high on something and acting like jackasses. Especially Jimmy. That motherfucker started in on me the minute I stepped foot in that place. It went on the whole time we were there for the visitation, but I put up with his shit for Lawry. I figured I could be the bigger man for a couple hours.”
“Until you couldn’t be anymore?”
“I thought I was home free. The funeral was over, and we were leaving. I was so close to never seeing those people again that I could taste the freedom. And that fucker couldn’t stand it. He couldn’t let me go without poking for one last fight.”
“And you gave it to him.”
“I damn sure did. Right in the funeral home. I hated that, but I had no choice. He grabbed my mom’s arm and told her that she was an uppity bitch who stole his kids and raised them to be assholes just like her and her husband.” Stout’s jaw is clenched so tightly that the muscle is rigid. “My mom was there to pay respects to her children’s birth mother, and Jimmy put his hands on her and then insulted her.”
“Any legal repercussions?”
“Probably a fine. Not sure yet.”
Stout’s smiling like a big douchebag. “What’s with the grin?”
“The whole trip and funeral may have been a clusterfuck but something good came out of it. I asked Adelyn to marry me, and she said yes.”
“Congratulations. When’s the big day?”
“Haven’t gotten that far yet but I sure hope it’s soon. I’m ready to give that girl my last name.”
I know the feeling. I want Frankee to have my last name too.
“I have a bit of news myself. You weren’t wrong about my having a secret woman. Frankee and I are together.”
“I knew you were fucking that girl. Knew. It.”
“I’m not fucking her. I’m in love with her.”
“What are you planning to do when Scott finds out?”
“He knows. Frankee and I told him yesterday, and he’s cool with it.”
“That’s a hard one to believe considering that he knows how you are.”
“You too, motherfucker.”
“I don’t matter. I’m not dating his daughter.”
“We touched on the topic of my past, and I told him that part of my life was over. There will be no more women coming around the brewery looking for me. Frankee is the only one for me. And that’s why I told Scott that he could expect me to come to him soon so we could have a conversation about me proposing to his daughter.”
“The hell you say.”
“I’m not fucking with you. I want to marry her.” As soon as possible. “Maybe we plan a double wedding.”
“I don’t recommend that; Adelyn is an event planner. She’s going to blow up a fucking wedding budget.”
“I don’t even care about a wedding. I just want to be married to her.”
Maybe we should elope.
I’m not opposed to that idea at all.
It’s been three weeks since Charlotte’s visit. She hasn’t been back, probably thanks to Porter’s warning, but that hasn’t stopped her from calling every few days to talk about the baby and what a great father Porter is going to be to the baby and how much the baby is going to love Porter.
The baby. The baby. The baby.
Shit goes on and on.
Today is her sixteen-week appointment. Not even halfway through it and she’s doing everything within her power to suck Porter into her web.
This is going to be the fucking longest pregnancy in history.
“Fuck, I don’t want to do this.”
“I don’t want you to do this either. Mostly because it’s going to make her so damn happy but as the baby’s father, it’s the right thing to do.”
“I wish you’d go with me.”
That would go over like a turd in a punchbowl. “It doesn’t make sense for me to go. I’d have to sit in the waiting area while you go to the exam room with her.”
“You’re my support system. I want you there.”
“We both know she’ll throw a damn shit fit if I’m there. It’s not worth it.”
“Fuccck.” Porter kisses my mouth. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”
“We can when you get back. Take a long lunch if you want.”
“Yesss. I want that.”
He kisses my mouth again. “I’ll be back as soon as it’s over.”
“I’ll be here.” Working. I have plenty to keep me busy. But I’m not complaining. I need something to take my mind off the clusterfuck named Charlotte.
I busy myself with Lawrence’s new design series for a line that she and Lucas are planning to launch in the spring. I absolutely love working on Bohemian Cider Company’s artwork. Such fun designs with their cool hippie vibe.
I’m excited to see what Lawrence thinks of my ideas, so I give her a buzz. “Hey. I have some initial designs for the new line if you want to come over and have a look.”
“Will you be there in about thirty minutes?”
“Planning to be.”
“Okay. See you then.”
I’m glad Lawrence is coming. That will help to take my mind off Porter being with the pregnant clusterfuck.
I print off samples of my work and arrange them on Porter’s desk so we can use mine for a workspace. I smile when I see the framed photo of us on the shelf behind his chair. I’m so glad we no longer have to hide our relationship. Makes life so much easier.
I look up when I hear the light tap on the door. “Hey girl. Come in.”
I know the minute I see Lawrence that something is wrong. Her eyes and nose are red and swollen. “Goodness, I wouldn’t have bothered you if I’d known you were sick.”
“I’m not sick.”
“Everything okay?”
Tears swell in her lower lids. “I’m sorry. I thought I was done crying.”
I don’t know Lawrence incredibly well, but we’re on our way to becoming friends. “Is there something I can do?”
“No.”
I take her hand and tug. “Come sit.”
I take the seat beside her at Porter’s desk. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Nothing’s wrong per se. It’s just that Lucas and I are trying to have a baby, and I thought I was pregnant. But it turns out that I’m not.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Have you been trying for long?”
“Not long but we’ve already been told by doctors that it will probably take a while. It was silly of me to think it had already happened.”
“You never know. It could happen quickly.”
“It’s just very disappointing to think I was and then find out differently.”
See, this kind of thing pisses me off. You have a couple who wants to have a baby and either can’t or will go through problems achieving it, and then you have clusterfuck—supposedly on birth control—who gets pregnant during a one-night stand with a condom. Totally unfair.
She wipes her tears away. “I don’t need to fixate on that. I want to see your designs.”
Lawrence takes my mind off my baby problems, and I take her mind off hers. We’re still talking and laughing when Porter returns from clusterfuck’s doctor’s visit.
“Sounds like y’all are having a party in here.”
“Maybe.”
Porter goes to Lawrence and kisses the side of her face. “I haven’t seen you in a while. Whatcha been up to?”
“Not much. Just staying busy at the cider company.”
“Busy is always good for business.”
