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Laura lifted her chin. “I didn’t ask him to. He made it clear this isn’t what he wants. This is his place, not mine.”
Eli was already shaking his head. “I don’t think that’s true. You fit here perfectly. I’ll talk to Sunny—”
“No,” she said cutting him off. “I…I appreciate it, but I think it would be better for everyone if I left.”
“Is there anything I can say to convince you to change your mind?” he said, and she heard a note of desperation in his voice that made her feel warm inside. Like maybe there really had been a place for her here. She shook her head. No that wasn’t how this was going to go. She had to leave.
Eli hesitated for a minute, glancing between the other two men before he nodded slowly. “Alright. If you insist. Can you stay on for two weeks, since I’m leaving in a couple of days?”
“Yes, I’d already planned to.”
“Ok,” he said his shoulders falling. “I’m going to head up to the house and have Sadie put up a new job posting for a barn manager. I’ll make sure you leave with a good reference too.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
She left the barn and drove their battered car back to the cabin on the lake where Harper was waiting for her. The new life inside her seemed to weigh her down. Every step felt heavy and difficult. This wasn’t something she’d ever wanted.
She went right to Harper’s room inside and found her sitting on her bed. She put aside the book she’d been reading. “How did it go?”
“Eli asked me to stay on until they get back from their trip.”
Harper nodded. “That sounds reasonable.”
“No, it sounds uncomfortable. Rafe is furious.”
She snorted. “Well isn’t that just special for the man who doesn’t have to change anything about his life?”
Laura just shrugged. “I can’t blame him. It’s not like I planned this, but he didn’t either. There’s never been anything more between us than sex.”
Harper stared her down until Laura had to ask, “What?”
“You might be able to lie to all of them, but I know you like him.”
Laura glared at her for a moment before she deflated. “So what if I do? Did. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter now. He thinks I tricked him.” She shook her head. “I wish I’d told him before. It just never seemed like a good time and I…” She trailed off, unable to finish. She dropped her head in her hands for a moment overwhelmed. The reality of being responsible for another life was just too much.
She took a deep shuddering breath and looked up at Harper. “I know that a lot of people out there could give it a good home. I owe it that much.”
“Owe it?”
“Yeah. I messed up.”
“Laura, the birth control failed. You probably didn’t wait long enough since your period was already irregular.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll do what I can to give the kid the best chance at life possible.” She was quiet for several long minutes. “I still have to leave, though.”
Harper stiffened. “No, you don’t. You’re choosing to, though. Why? For Sunny?”
Laura nodded.
“That’s stupid,” Harper said, and Laura flinched at the harshness in her voice.
“Maybe, but I won’t have someone staring daggers at me for the next seven months for something I couldn’t control. I know I promised no more moves, but this time—”
“I’m not going with you,” Harper said, and her words were like a dagger.
“What? But I thought you said—”
“I said I’d help you with the baby. But if you aren’t keeping it and you’re only walking away to save him trouble, I can’t do it. I have a job here and friends. Where else am I going to find that again? This is…this is the first place to feel like home since I was fifteen.”
“But what will I do without you?”
Laura truly couldn’t fathom the idea. They’d been inseparable for ten years. There was no way she’d make it through a move, pregnancy, and childbirth without Harper.
“I don’t know. And I’m sorry, but I can’t give this up. Not when you’re being foolish.”
She wanted to be angry, but she couldn’t. Not when she understood the desire for a place to belong so well. This just wasn’t her place.
And then she couldn’t help it anymore. She broke down and sobbed. For everything she was going to lose. Her home, her job, her best friend, and the man she…the man she what? Couldn’t get out of her mind?
Why of all the things did that feel like the worst even though there had never been anything there to begin with?
