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My heart fell into my stomach as I stared down at the two pink lines, clear as day. I was too shocked too cry. I felt nothing. No joy, no sadness. Nothing. Just when I thought my life couldn't get more complicated.
“I'm pregnant,” I said, finally pulling myself together and looking up at Jenn.
“It appears so,” Jenn said.
She grabbed my hand and pulled me back into the bedroom, and together, we sat on the bed facing one another. She held my hands as she looked deep into my eyes.
“Hailey, do you know who the father is?”
I nodded, feeling nauseous and not even wanting to admit it to myself.
“Good,” Jenn said. “Now, we need to talk about the next steps.”
“Next steps?” I choked out.
“Yes, like telling the father, and –”
“No, I can't tell him,” I said. “I won't tell him.”
Jenn cocked her head to the side. “Why not?”
“Because it's Leo,” I said.
Jenn missed everything that happened the night before. She didn't see the way he acted. She didn't know the things he'd done to me. The harmful, hurtful things.
“Jenn, Leo is-”
She waited a moment and then looked at me, encouraging me with her eyes. “Leo is what, hon?”
I tried to tell her he was abusive, but the words were lost on me. Instead, I lifted my shirt and showed her the bruises which were healing on my body. At last.
With her eyes full of tears, she hugged me close, not saying a word. Not needing to say anything at all.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - QUINN
I'd left Driftwood a little early. Nate, one of the cooks we'd hired, had it handled, and it was a slow night. Besides, it would give Cason a chance to get over here. When I opened the door to the house though, I found it empty. Or at least the living room was.
I walked down the hallway. “Hailey? Cason?” I called out.
“We're in here,” a small, feminine voice called out from the master bedroom.
I poked my head in the door and found Hailey sitting on the bed with Jenn. Hailey was curled in a fetal position, sleeping. Jenn stared up at me with tired brown eyes.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, she's had a rough day,” Jenn said, stroking her best friend's hair.
My heart raced. “Did Leo –”
“Oh no,” Jenn said, trying to keep her voice low.
She didn't elaborate, however, and I had a feeling she wouldn't talk no matter how many questions I'd asked. Jenn had always been a good friend to her and a stalwart guardian for Hailey, so I knew better than to press.
“Do you need anything?”
“I have to head home soon, my kids need me,” Jenn said, but she didn't move from the bed. “I just don't know what to do.”
“I'm here,” I said. “I'll keep an eye on her.”
