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Lottie’s gaze flicked to Shawn, who just sighed. If she wasn’t currently terrified at the idea of being pregnant, she might take a deep dive into what exactly was going on between her friend and their bartender. But Lottie simply grabbed her arm and dragged her to the ladies’ room. Five minutes later, Bridget’s hands shook as she walked back to the table. Her heart pounded, and she hadn’t even glanced at the test in Lottie’s hands.
“So, me first,” Lottie said, looking at the test in her right hand. “Aww, sad face. Not pregnant.”
Sonya snorted. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Now Bridg.” Lottie looked at her left hand and her lips lifted into a small smile. “Congratulations?”
Bridget dropped a hand to her stomach, and her eyes flitted shut as reality set in.
“You have to tell him,” Jo said. “He’s pitching in two hours, but you can catch him if you call.”
Bridget sighed and then turned to Shawn. “Would you want to know before you went out to pitch, or would you rather find out the next day?”
Shawn’s jaw locked, and he spoke through clenched teeth. “Not being an ass here, but I would’ve wanted to knowbeforeyou bought the box. So yeah, call him now.”
She swallowed but reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. Turning, she headed onto the balcony that overlooked the lake. This was the part that stressed her. She was going to ask Ryan for a timeline adjustment. Up until this moment, their relationship had flowed along on his schedule. But this moment would define what they would be. Neither had planned for anything like this, and she couldn’t see how they could raise a child half a country apart. Nor could she expect Ryan to just quit baseball and move to Tahoe.
With two words, though, she would forever change his life.
But Ryan wasn’t Eddie. He wasn’t going to blame her or lash out. The summer sun reflected off the royal blue water, giving her a calm as she hit Ryan’s name.
“Hey, baby, I only have about five minutes. What’s up?” Ryan’s voice soothed her nerves a fraction.
But she couldn’t do this in five minutes. And probably not even on the phone.
“Um.” She swallowed. “Can you come home?” She shook her head. “Come to Tahoe, I mean.”
“Aww, is my girl missing me?” Ryan chuckled. “I have an off day at the end of next week. I can take the first flight out and then the red eye back.”
“Next week?” Maybe she should fly out there.
“Yeah, next Thursday. Does that work?” he asked before mumbling. “Give me one second, doc.”
“Would you have time if I came to New York?”
“Bridget,” a long sigh came through the line, “we’re coming up on the end of the season, and with Corey driving the coaching staff crazy with his diva demands, no way they’re letting me take time off to dick around too. They’re pushing hard on the team to be distraction free.”
“Oh.”
He sighed again. “Look, Ican’tdo this right now.”
The familiar words hit hard. Her eyes welled, but she blinked furiously. Dicking around, distraction, didn’t have time. She wasn’t sure which statement hurt worse.
“Don’t worry about it. Just let me know when it’s a good time for you.” She pulled back and made sure her voice was calm.
“Great, thanks.” Ryan hung up.
Bridget put a gentle hand to her stomach again. Adults could work around each other’s schedules. But kids—especially babies—didn’t care about what worked for anyone.
That conversation couldn’t have gone worse. And she just wanted to go home. She walked back into the room where her friends were gathered and braced herself when they threw questions her way like the sports reporters who surrounded Ryan after a winning game.
“How did it go?”
“What did he say?”
“How’d he take it?”
“What are you doing?”
