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“Yep. Just when I thought Amber was my friend, she sort of acted like an asshole yesterday.”
Gus snorted as they reached the cottage. “She’s gotta history, that one does.”
He unpacked the bags, all kinds of goodies from Spencer’s deli. Maggie wouldn’t be cooking for a few days.
“You brought all this wonderful food.”
“We’ll have brunch, and then I’ll leave. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“I am now. Thank you so much, Gus.”
They had a wonderful brunch, and then he had to get back to the public dock, where he was dockmaster. After he left, she went into the bathroom. Her period appeared to have stopped since the night before. Her body had a mind of its own lately. Maybe the ride on horseback yesterday shook things up a little bit. Back out in the kitchen, she got her phone out to record the episode in Period Tracker.
A hot flash of epic proportions flooded over her; scrolling through the app, it looked like she hadn’t had a period since, well, a while. If this wasn’t her period, she hadn’t had one in a couple of months.
Her body trembling, she closed her eyes, and the first thing she thought of was the alcohol she’d consumed. Whimpering out a little sob, she tried to remember what had happened. Had she missed one in December? There was the boating accident right before Christmas when she tried to get into town in the fog. She’d missed her period in January but figured it was because of the accident’s assault on her body. It was mid-February now.
Relief flowed over her. That evidence yesterday was proof she wasn’t pregnant. The ridiculous conversation with the horse people had unhinged her. Going to her laptop, she’d figure out the horse thing herself. But after she googled it and read about it, Bubba was right. Raven might know Maggie was pregnant.
The thing to do was just wait. Wishing she could buy a test, the drugstore in town was off-limits; she imagined the gossip if she went in and bought a pregnancy test. If she really wanted to know, she’d have to take Katrina into her confidence to either buy her a test out of town or take her to buy one. She hadn’t been out of Cypress Cove in six months. It might be time to go to a department store. Maybe she could get Katrina to take her and not tell her the reason.
She sent her a text.If you get any time off work this week, I’ve got a yearning to hit up Walmart.
Sitting with her computer in her lap in her rented room above Café Delphine, Katrina saw the text and called Maggie.
“Come now. We’ll take a ride to Saint John’s Parish.”
“Are you at Alphé’s?”
“No, I didn’t stay last night because Lola comes in when Alphé leaves at the crack of dawn. But I’m working from home today and can take a break. I’d like to show you what’s going on at my cottage, too. They are working on the kitchen this week. I might move in in a week.”
“Okay, I’ll leave now if that’s convenient. I’ll see you in about twenty minutes.”
Twenty minutes later, Maggie was at the village dock.
“Didn’t I just see you?” Gus asked, teasing her.
He took her rope and tied up the skiff.
“You did, and it was so helpful I called Katrina to take me for some retail therapy.”
“Oh wow, you goin’ to New Orleans?”
“Oh, no. Not that kind. We’re going to Walmart.”
Gus barked out a laugh. “All righty then! Well, have a good time.”
Walking up Main Street alone felt good to Maggie. Suddenly, she realized she’d felt suffocated. She didn’t feel like she could call Justin and tell him she was going to buy a pregnancy test kit because of his admission yesterday that he wasn’t ready to have a child. She had a secret from him, a detrimental secret that had the potential to end honest communication with him. And it was her fault. She’d allowed her pride to interfere.
“Shut up!”
Reaching Café Delphine, she didn’t want to go inside. She sent a text.I’m outside. Katrina needed the truth. With Katrina she didn’t have to worry about her pride. And she knew the information wouldn’t go further. It wouldn’t be pillow talk with Alphé because the poor man didn’t have the time to listen to Katrina’s girlfriends’ problems.
The door opened, and Katrina came out. “You’re funny. Why Walmart?”
“I need to get a pregnancy test.”
She looked at her friend sidelong. “My car is around back.”
