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“What you are doing to yourself. You drink way too much.”
“Are you serious? You’re going to get on me again about that?”
He put his hand on my arm. “Look, you’re my little sister. I love you to death, but I am worried about you. Ethan is too. You need to go see him and say goodbye before he leaves.”
“Why? He didn’t even bother to tell me that he was leaving.”
“He told you when he told everyone else.”
“He should have told me sooner. I’m his best friend.”
“No, I’m his best friend. You’re the woman he loves.”
I closed my eyes and groaned. “Ethan does not love me, Hen.”
“He does, Ry. How can you not see it?”
I burst off the couch. “Maybe I don’t want to see it. Or maybe it doesn’t matter to me how he feels about me.” I walked away to get my phone.
Henley laughed. “If it didn’t matter to you what he felt, then you wouldn’t be so bent out of shape. Riley, all of us have been waiting for you to wake up and realize how much you care about him. There is not one person in either of our families that doesn’t think you two shouldn’t be together. You are the only one.”
“Why does everyone think we need to be together? Everyone needs to just get it through their stupid head that I am not in love with Ethan, and I never will be.”
He shook his head as he stared at the floor. “Fine, I give up. Have it your way. Be miserable. Whatever.” He tossed his hands into the air.
I watched him leave and then frowned at the closed door. I grabbed my phone to tell Joe I wasn’t feeling well, but I realized that I felt better. Maybe it was all in my head.
* * *
Or maybe itwasn’t all in my head. After the movie, we went to get pizza, and the minute I tried to bite into my slice, I dropped my food to the plate and excused myself. I rushed to the bathroom where I barely made it to the commode before I barfed again.
I was running cold water over my wrists when Sandra, our waitress, stepped into the bathroom. “You okay? You looked a little green out there.”
“I guess I have picked up a stomach bug.” I laughed.
“Oh, those are going around. I thought maybe you were pregnant. I saw the way you reacted to the food. I was like that when I was pregnant with both my boys. Could barely eat at all the first trimester.”
I forced out a laugh as my mind suddenly went into overdrive. Pregnant? No, no, no, no, no!
Sandra went into one of the stalls, and I touched my breast. It was tender. Hadn’t I wondered why my breasts were so sore just yesterday?
The world started to spin around me, and I clung to the sink for a moment. There was no way. I was on the pill! I pulled my shoulders back and stared at my reflection—it wasn’t possible. Oh my god, it couldn’t be possible. I shook my hair back and left the bathroom to return to the table.
I nibbled on my piece of pizza but found that it caused my stomach to roll, so I ate a breadstick instead. As the kids ate, they talked nonstop about the movie, and Joe listened to their every word.
He was a good father. My hand landed against my lower belly. Was I pregnant? Was it possible? Oh crap! I was trying not to panic as I started counting back in my head to my last period. My periods were always light, and I never paid much attention to them.
Joe put his hand on my knee under the table, and I smiled at him. “You okay?” He asked. “You didn’t eat much.”
“Yeah, I guess I filled up on pretzels.” I laughed to make light of it.
After dinner, Joe dropped me off and walked me to the door. “You sure you are okay? You were awful quiet tonight.”
“I’m not feeling all that hot. I think I might be coming down with something.”
He cupped my cheek and kissed my brow. “Well, then I hope you feel better. Get some rest, and I’ll talk to you later.”
I let myself into my house and went straight to the calendar where I kept track of my monthly cycle. I flipped back another page. Holy crap! I had missed my period!
