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“Oh. Will they be back soon? I thought we would be leaving today. I’m getting a little homesick to tell you the truth. Plus, as much as I am dreading it, I need to tell my mom about the baby.”
“You have time. If your mother is anything like mine, God forbid, there’s no point rushing that one.”
“I don’t really know how she’ll take it. I know she’ll be disappointed in us. She considers Ash part of the family. My brother and Ash—well, me too—were best friends since childhood. Ash’s mother and mine were very close.”
“You saidwere. Did you decide to end your friendship with Ash?” Gabby asked.
“No. I saidwerebecause my brother just died a few weeks ago.”
“Oh, God. Mel, I’m so sorry. Forgive me. I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay. How could you know? I’m not sure Ash mentioned it. I know I didn’t. Ash and I haven’t even talked much about Ted. Well, we haven’t talked at all since we found out that I’m pregnant.”
“Yes. I know.”
“I bet you all think I’m being silly about it, but I’ve known Ash my whole life and I can’t tell you how much it hurt that he thought this baby was someone else’s.”
“I know I’ve said this before, but maybe hewasjust shocked about it. You were shocked, right? In fact, you didn’t want to believe it at first.”
“Yeah, I was. But that’s different.”
“Maybe. But it’s pretty clear to all of us how much Ash cares about you. I think he asks where you are every hour of the day.”
“I know he cares about me.” As a friend. My mind raced to the first time we’d had sex in the cottage upstairs, how vague Asher had been about where our relationship was headed or where it was at that moment. “I’m just having a difficult time forgiving him for the way he acted when I told him I was pregnant. I never imagined he would think it was Alex’s and not his. That just hurts, that’s all.”
“Hey, ladies. What am I missing in here?” Lena’s all too cheery voice sang out as she entered the kitchen. “Hmmm…there are two too many gloomy faces in here. What’s going on?”
“We’re just talking about Ash’s lack of tact,” I supplied.
“Ohhhhh. That again. Well, I have a super idea that might help change the mood.”
“Anything would be an improvement,” I said.
“Since you’ve been here, you really haven’t had a chance to see much of Turtle Lake. I thought since the sun is out and the temperature is up in the high 60’s, maybe we could go shopping or have a picnic down by the lake. We could even take Jackson’s small fishing boat out if you want. If we hit it around dusk, there might be a cool sunset.”
“I think I should wait and talk to Ash first. I thought we were going home today.”
Lena shook her head. “That’s not what I heard. In fact, the boys are planning another jam session at the bar tonight.”
I sighed. Fuck. That was just like Asher lately. Never bothering to ask me what I would like. Just going ahead and making his own goddamn plans without even consulting me. I was fuming mad, I could feel the steam coming from my nostrils.
“Don’t be mad, Mel. We don’t want you to leave yet. Come on. Let’s go shopping and forget about Asher.”
I shook my head. As fun as shopping with them sounded, I just couldn’t. “I can’t. I don’t have any money.”
“You won’t need money to window shop. Most of the stores are just little souvenir type stores anyway. It’s a cute town. We’ll do some window shopping, then stop in at the corner grocery store and get some cheese and stuff for a picnic.”
“That sounds fun,” Gabby said, “I haven’t really looked in those stores since I’ve been here.”
It did sound like fun.
“Okay.” I guess there really wasn’t much I could do about leaving anyway. Not if I couldn’t even ask Asher for the money for the bus. I looked down at my yoga pants and t-shirt. “Do I need to change my clothes?”
“No. What you’re wearing is perfect,” Lena said. “I’m wearing the same thing.”
We strolled down the sidewalk on Main Street looking in all the little shop windows. There weren’t very many. Nothing like San Francisco. But the few that were there did have some interesting pieces and trinkets that were made locally.
Lena hadn’t been joking when she mentioned the corner grocery store. It was literally on the corner and about as big as a liquor store in San Francisco. We picked up some cheese, crackers, and some salami, along with some lemonade and headed out toward the lake.
