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Chapter 13
My boss says I intimidate the other employees. I stared at him until he apologized.
“Are you going to stand on the porch all afternoon or are you coming inside?” Mom yells her question from inside her house.
I groan. It’s Sunday, aka weekly dinner with the family time. I’ve tried to get out of the dinner before, but it wasn’t worth the thirty-minute guilt trip Dad gave me when he showed up at the inn all disappointed I couldn’t carve an hour’s time out of my busy schedule for the family.
The way he says family you’d think we were in the Russian mob – Dad is a first generation American born to two Soviet defectors. But Dad assures me we’re not Bratva, which disappoints Ashlyn to no end, because my baby sister is a nutter.
“I’m merely admiring the last of the sun on this winter’s day.”
I’m also freezing my ass off while I try to gather the courage to enter my childhood home where I need to confess to my parents I’m pregnant. Sigh. Best to get this over with.
I open the door and charge inside, but when my gaze lands on Cole, I freeze.
“What’s he doing here?”
“He’s family since he’s your baby daddy. Because apparently, you didn’t listen to my lecture about using prophylactics.”
“Which one?” Ashlyn asks. “There were a lot.”
I narrow my gaze on my sisters who are sitting on the sofa together as if they’re watching a soap opera. I’m surprised they don’t have popcorn. “Who told?”
Aspen giggles. “Are you serious? No one told. Mom can sniff out any and all secrets within a twenty-mile radius.”
“Do you remember the time she showed up at the police station to bail us out and Lyric hadn’t even rang her yet?” Ashlyn asks.
Juniper groans. “You and your ‘great ideas’.”
“It was a great idea. How was I to know Gratitude was still at the library? It was after midnight.”
“Maybe because she never leaves the place. I think she sleeps in the basement.”
“I don’t know what the problem was. We weren’t causing any trouble. I only wanted to read the book on how to perform a séance and communicate with the dead. She didn’t need to tattle to the police on us.”
“I don’t understand why you dislike the librarian,” Mom huffs. “Gratitude is a lovely person.”
Ashlyn snorts. “Yeah. If you’re the high school principal and paying her for all the gossip.”
Mom sniffs. “I would never pay for gossip.”
“You should probably escape while you have the chance,” I tell Cole who’s staring at my family with his mouth hanging open. At my words, his mouth snaps shut.
“I told you I’m not running. In case you haven’t heard the news, my firm got the contract for the community center. You’re going to be seeing a whole lot more of me.”
Butterflies wake up in my stomach at his words. Knock it off, I tell them. It’s winter. It’s no time for butterflies. They ignore me. Naturally. I place a hand on my stomach to keep them quiet.
Cole’s eyes brighten. “Can you feel the baby? Is she kicking?”
“He’s not kicking.” I emphasize he to be contrary.
Lilac stands. “You’re not feeling the baby yet.” She frowns. “You’re nineteen weeks pregnant. When is your mid-pregnancy ultrasound?”
“Whoa.” I hold up my hands to ward her off. “Did you make a graph of my pregnancy?”
“Of course, not.” Phew. “It’s a chart.” I retract my phew.
“Lilac,” I growl.
