Page 89 of One Reckless Night

“What are you doing out in this storm?” I asked. “You’re soaked.”

“I was worried about you.”

“So you put your life in danger?” I scolded.

“It’s fine,” she said. “Not too bad at all. Besides, I was concerned when the power went out.”

“I didn’t even realize it had gone out,” I said.

“Because you’re hiding here.” She smiled.

“See? Looks like I made the right call.”

She noticed the crackers on my desk and laughed. “And clearly you’re ready to survive for days with a package of crackers.”

“And tea,” I corrected. “Plus I can always raid the vending machines.”

“Are you okay?” she asked, her tone serious as she studied my face.

I shook my head, my voice barely above a whisper. “No. But I’m going to be.”

Clair walked to me and put her arms around me. “I know you British aren’t huggers, but you’re going to take a hug.”

“I’m not the queen or something. Hugs aren’t forbidden.” I chuckled a little. “You’ll have to come visit me when I go back. You’ll see we’re not all butlers and Bridgertons.”

“You know, you don’t have to do this alone, Amelia. I’m here for you. Whatever you need.”

My eyes filled with tears once again. “Thank you, Clair. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

She stepped back and smiled at me. “You’d figure it out. But you don’t have to. Not alone.”

I told her about my conversation with Jared and the way things ended between us. She shook her head and made appropriate noises of sympathy.

“You can’t give up on your job yet,” she said. “This is your dream, Amelia. You’ve worked so hard for it. Don’t let Jared or anyone else take that away from you. You are good at what you do. You can change lives. That’s why you started this journey, right?”

“But what if I can’t do it? What if I’m not strong enough?”

“You are strong enough. You’re one of the strongest people I know. And you don’t have to do this alone. I’m here. Shawn’s here. We’ll help you. Screw Jared. If he’s too stupid to see what you’re offering, fuck him. But I have a feeling he will. This is just one of those things. Men are always a little slower to get their shit together, even geniuses like him. We women have been dragging them into happiness kicking and screaming since the dawn of time.”

I laughed. “What if Jared never comes around? What if he never wants to be a part of this?”

Clair sighed. “I don’t know, Amelia. But you can’t let that dictate your life. You have to do what’s best for you and your baby. And if Jared can’t see what an amazing thing this is, then that’s his loss.”

I nodded, my chest tight. “I just… I don’t know how to do this. How to be a mother. How to balance everything.”

“I’m sure every mother before you has had the same thoughts and worries,” she said. “We’re all here, so someone figured it out.”

We sat there for a while longer, talking through everything.

“Come on, let’s go back to my place and eat ice cream while we binge sappy movies,” she said.

“Isn’t the power out?”

“It’ll be on soon. We’ll make sundaes. I’m sure that baby is going to let you enjoy ice cream.”

“Alright,” I agreed.

I packed up my things, put on the rain boots and jacket, and we set out for her place. The wind felt like it was slapping me with rain. We kept our heads down and ran across campus to her condo.

When we reached Clair’s condo, she made us tea. We sat on the couch, curled up under blankets, and watched a movie on her iPad since the power was off. It was nice. Exactly what I needed and a lot better than sitting in the lab by myself.

Maybe I didn’t have to do this alone after all.