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I stared at her pointedly until her eyes nearly popped out of her head. “Yep, it’s me. I’m knocked up.”
When she got done strangling me in a hug, she hauled me behind the counter and we both sat in her padded, ladylike chairs. “Tell me everything,” she said. “Why are you being so secretive? I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone.”
“I’m not seeing anyone,” I admitted morosely. “It was a one night stand. And not even one night. It was like a quickie.” An amazing quickie I had the opportunity to recreate the night before and tossed and turned with regret because I didn’t jump at it.
“Was it that guy from New York? Silas’s partner? What was his name?”
“Jax. And yes.” I felt tears welling. “I’m sorry it took so long to tell you. I guess I was embarrassed. Ashamed, I don’t know.”
“That’s crazy. You don’t have to feel anything like that. Well, where is the piece of crap now?”
“It’s a mess, Lyn. At first he said he didn’t want us and tried to buy me off, but last night he showed up at my house and tried to apologize and ask me out on a date and we made out for a few minutes. But I don’t know what to do.”
She stared at me, trying to process my mess. “Do you like him?”
I shrugged. “The fact is, I don’t know. I mean, we barely know each other. I think I love him, though, isn’t that stupid? It’s got to be pregnancy hormones.”
“It’s not stupid, you’ve never been stupid about things like this. I know I just called him a piece of crap, but hear him out while he’s here.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because we know what it’s like to grow up without a dad around. I’m not saying to jump in with both feet, just listen to what he has to say and try to forgive him and start fresh from there.”
“I can forgive him, I’m sure,” I said. “But can I trust him?”
Lynette shook her head and leaned over to hug me again. “Only time will tell, but you’ve got the same shot as everyone else. Fifty-fifty.”
“That’s not very comforting,” I moaned.
She burst out laughing. “That’s what mom told me when I got cold feet about marrying Jimmy.”
“I never knew you got cold feet.”
“Everyone gets cold feet. You just need to dig deep and decide if it’s worth it to... I don’t know, warm them up.” She jumped up and logged onto her computer. “I’ll order you some cute maternity stuff. Just leave it to me.”
I thanked her and slid out her jewelry display, looking over her new stock while trying to decide if I should go to the resort and face Jax or wait and see what his next move would be. My phone rang and when I saw it wasn’t Jax I almost ignored it, but the number looked familiar to me, so I answered. Anything to distract me from making a decision.
“Luna, this is Ray Higson. Listen, there might be a problem over here.”
The mayor was calling me out of the blue after the sale of the theater had already gone through? This wasn’t the distraction I was looking for. He was a kind man, not at all the type to gloat, but his voice was tight, borderline angry.
“Is something wrong?” I asked tentatively. I slid the jewelry tray back into place and stared anxiously at Lynette’s back as she tapped away at her keyboard. Hearing the tone of my voice, she turned to glance questioningly at me and I shrugged.
“Well, I’m hoping you can tell me if there is or not. Looks like Mr. Rossi over at the development company backed out of the project this morning. I just heard about it from Nancy at the real estate office, and she says she just got a bunch of rush paperwork that puts the theater building in your name. Is this some kind of joke? Because—”
“No,” I interrupted, my stomach turning over. “I don’t know anything about it. It’s got to be a joke.”
“Well, it’s not a funny one, because now I don’t know who owns that building or what we’re going to do with the plans for the shopping center. Nancy says whoever bought it off the development company paid them twice what we got for it and the only name I’ve got is yours.”
I waved at Lynette and headed out of the shop toward my car. “You know I didn’t pay Rossi twice of anything,” I said, feeling as sick as he sounded. “It’s obviously a joke, but I didn’t—” I bumped into someone on my way out of the shop. A very tall, firm someone.
I looked up to see Jax taking up all the space on the sidewalk and without another thought for the mayor, I ended the call. Here I’d been stressing about whether I should go find him or not, and now he was right in front of me, but all I could think about was this distressing new situation with the theater. If someone really was playing a joke at my expense, it was unfunny and cruel.
“Look, I’m sorry,” I said, skirting around him to get to my car. “But you picked the wrong time to stalk me.” I tried to temper my irritation with a light tone and the best smile I could squeeze out.
He backed up as I strode forward, until he bumped into my car, blocking the door. “I am kind of stalking you this time,” he admitted, his face serious. “I just came from Harper’s salon to ask where you might be if you weren’t at work or at home. The lady at the pediatrician’s office refused to tell me a damn thing except that you were off until this afternoon.”
“Good for Helen,” I said, knowing it was futile to try to push him out of the way. I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest. “I guess you found me.”
