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“Big surprise, huh?” Brad said.
I got the impression he was trying to sound jovial, but instead he sounded a little nuts.
“We know it’s really soon, but the thing is…” I took another drink of Coke. “I’m pregnant.”
This time Patty’s glass had made it to her mouth, and she spat soda all over Ennis. “Oh, God,” she said, grabbing a napkin. “I’m so sorry.”
“No problem,” Ennis said. “I’m used to beautiful women ruining my shirts.”
He was alluding to the first night in the dorm, when I’d gotten sick all over him. My cheeks warmed.
“Obviously, we didn’t plan this,” Brad continued. “We used protection, but sometimes it doesn’t work.”
“So when you went to the health center last week…” Patty said.
“Yeah. That’s when I found out.”
“Do you feel okay?” she asked.
“So far, but the nurse practitioner said I’m too early for morning sickness yet.”
“Maybe you won’t get it,” she said. “My mom says she didn’t have it for my brother at all. With me only a little.”
“My mum said she was sick the whole nine months,” Ennis said. “But maybe it’s a British thing.”
I adored Ennis, but I wished he’d kept that to himself. I didn’t want to think about nine months of nausea.
Patty swatted Ennis on the arm. “What a thing to say! That won’t happen to you, Daph.”
“I sure hope not.”
“You’re really getting hitched, huh?” Patty said. “So you’ve discussed all the…you know…options?”
I nodded. “We have. This is what we both want. Right, Brad?”
Brad had been so quiet, letting me take the lead. “Yeah. We’re going to the ranch next weekend to tell my parents.”
“What kind of wedding are you going to have?”
“We haven’t discussed it,” I said. “I can’t think about that until we tell Brad’s folks. But there isn’t a lot of time for a wedding anyway. Plus, my parents can’t afford anything big.”
“Mine can,” Brad said. “If you want a big wedding, you’ll have it.”
I shook my head. “I don’t.”
“Sure you do,” Patty said. “I’ll help you. This should be your day to shine.”
“I try to shine every day,” I said. No truer words. I was determined to get the most out of life. “I don’t need a big wedding for that.”
“Come on,” she urged. “I want to see you get married.”
“Well, you can come, then. You and Ennis. And Sean. Our parents. And whoever else you want, Brad. But it doesn’t have to be anything big.”
“I’ll help you plan it,” Patty said. “We’ll have— Oh, no!”
“What?” I asked.
“You won’t be living in our room anymore, will you?”
“No,” Brad said. “After we’re married, she’ll move into the townhome with me, and we’ll finish the school year. Then we’ll move to the ranch.”
“I’ll miss you,” Patty said.
“I’ll miss you too, but you’ll probably get your own room, at least for the rest of this semester.”
Her green eyes gleamed. “That could be fun.”
Ennis turned and met Patty’s gaze.
Was that a spark that just shot between them? Ennis wasn’t dating anyone that I knew of. He’d made out with a blonde during orientation week, but other than that, I hadn’t seen him with a woman.
Patty and Ennis…
I liked the idea.
I hoped they would too.
Quiet descended on the table again when the server delivered our pizza. Now that our news was out in the open, I was happy not to talk.
I bit into a slice of Colorado’s second-best pizza with mushrooms and peppers. No pepperoni unless I knew it had come from humanely raised animals.
My mother never left my mind.
I couldn’t help thinking I was the cause of her suicide attempt. I wanted to press “pause” on this whole thing and wait until my mother recuperated.
But I couldn’t.
My little dove wouldn’t stop growing just because my mother had done the unthinkable.
Thank God she hadn’t succeeded.
I needed my mother, now more than ever.
Chapter Fifteen
Brad
The week went by without incident. Knowing Wendy couldn’t show up at my place unannounced put my mind at ease. Daphne had made arrangements with the school to live off campus, but she didn’t want to move in until we told my parents.
Which we would do shortly.
I drove up the long driveway to the ranch house. My home.
I’d called earlier to tell my mother we were coming. She was excited to meet Daphne. I hoped she’d continue her excitement after we told her our news.
Daphne was biting her lower lip, and her rosy cheeks were paler than normal.
“Nervous?” I asked.
She nodded. “Aren’t you?”
“No. Not really. We’re both over eighteen. What can they do?”
“Cut you off?”
I laughed. “Is that what you’re worried about? Listen, I’m their only child plus the only person who knows how to run this operation as well as my father does. But even if they did cut us off, I’d find a way to support you and our baby.”
She smiled. “I know you would.”
“So no worries, okay?”
She nodded again.
