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The surprise bit of Aggie that seemed so present in the room with us made us laugh, despite the weight on our chests. Zander made quick work of tucking Gracie in and tapped her nose. “Aggie’s a very smart woman. She knows what she’s talking about.”
“I know. She told me.”
I was still torn between laughing and giving into the need to drink myself numb when we got downstairs. The house was too much like the tomb Jamie had called it those days. Once Gracie was out of earshot, we all resorted back to letting the silence and missing Aggie win.
Not even the pleasure of firing the man who’d caused some of the mess we were in had cheered us up. Our top strategist, Brian Vance, hadn’t been as loyal as we’d thought. All it had taken was Blake flashing a bigger salary to get him to go to the dark side. I still didn’t get it. The man already made more than most of the other CEOs in the state, but greed had led him to betray our company and hurt Aggie in the process.
Sniffing him out hadn’t been hard after I knew to look for the deception. It gutted me to know that it would’ve taken Aggie mere seconds to see it, most likely. Even things like that, thinking of her being better than me, made my gut churn with a deep ache for her.
Watching Brian be dragged out by security in a public display of shame after nearly getting his life ended by the three of us hadn’t even brought a smile to my face. The snake was out of the hen house, but the hen was already gone, so what did it matter? If I was being honest with myself, I hadn’t even been able to muster up all that much anger at Brian. He’d laid the trap for Blake, but we’d taken the bait. We’d said those things to Aggie and we’d thrown her out of the house.
I sighed and dragged my hands over my face. Alcohol it was. I needed to numb myself or I’d spent another sleepless night thinking about Aggie’s pain filled eyes.
Halfway to the bar, I stopped short when Mary screamed from the front of the house. Not knowing what to expect, I ran towards her voice. “Mary? What’s wrong?”
She was gripping a sheet of notebook paper in one hand and an envelope in the other. Big tears had formed in her eyes and she looked like she was going to break down at any moment, but then she screamed again and jumped up and down. “It happened!”
Kyrin leaned against the kitchen counter. “Jesus, Mary. You gave me a heart attack. What happened?”
“She’s pregnant!” Realizing she’d blurted out too much, she slapped the paper over her mouth. “Sorry! I just… I open all the mail for the house and I didn’t see that this one was special. I opened it and I couldn’t stop reading it once I saw it was from her. It’s amazing, though. I prayed that she’d stay and it all worked out in a weird way, but she has to come back now!”
Zander grabbed the paper from Mary’s shaking hands and scanned it. The blood drained from his face and he sat heavily on the stool behind him.
“What’s it say?” My stomach was already sinking. If it was good news, Zander was burying the lede, because he looked like death warmed over. “Zander?”
Kyrin took the paper and read aloud. “I couldn’t find a card anywhere that fit this exact situation. Maybe I’ll write to Hallmark next to suggest they flesh out their knocked-up announcement section. How else am I supposed to do this? It seems like I’m clueless when it comes to you three. I’m pregnant.”
I snatched the paper as he stopped reading. “I didn’t mean for it to happen. God knows I’m not ready. That doesn’t matter now, though. Turns out fear and self-pity don’t slow down pregnancy. I don’t need anything from you. I’m not asking for anything. If you decide you don’t want this, your responsibility can end there. I would never take away your chance to know your child, if that’s what you want, though. I won’t pretend like it wouldn’t be hard, but it’s the right thing. I’m due in seven months, give or take. Maybe by then, things won’t be awkward if we see each other.”
Zander absently spoke the next lines, the lines that seemed to be playing over and over in his head. “I’m not sure how to end this. If you decide you want to be a part of this, you have time to prepare. There’s no reason for you three to be involved until there’s an actual living thing to share between us. See you in seven months. Or not.”
“She signed it yours, Aggie, and then crossed outyours.” I slapped the letter down on the island and scowled at Mary. “What about that made you think she would be coming back?”
Mary rolled her eyes. “I know you three. I got to know Aggie, too, and I saw the way she looked at each of you. She loves you. You were all dumb shits, but love can be bigger than anything, if you let it be.”
46
***Aggie***
Iscurriedoutofthe gas station bathroom and scrunched up my face when Dad spotted me. “No. That’s terrible. There’s a smell in there that I can only imagine rivals Donnie’s insides after Taco Tuesday. I’ll just hold it.”
Dad laughed and shook his head. “You’re pregnant, Ag. You’ll piss yourself and then I’ll be forced to sit next to you while you reek of pee. Go on.”
“I’m not doing it. I’ll go on the side of the highway before I go in that bathroom.” I noticed a couple at the gas station counter staring at me and whispering to each other. I glanced down at my outfit and frowned. “Is there something on my butt?”
“Don’t ask me that, Ag. I don’t want to look at your butt.” Dad sighed and did it anyway. “No, there’s nothing on your butt. Why?”
I glanced back at the couple and watched as they pointed at me through the front window. “What the hell? Those people are making fun of me.”
Dad followed my gaze and grunted. “What’d you do?”
I opened the truck door and climbed in. “That’s rude, Dad. I didn’t do anything.”
He finished cleaning off the windshield and got in beside me. “Maybe they just really hate vintage tie-dye and Crocs.”
I put my feet on the dashboard and smiled at the little charms I’d added. They were my first pregnancy purchase for myself. Gone were my sky-high heels. “I know you’re judging me, but wait until you try yours on.”
“Get your feet down. Do you want to break all your bones if we crash?”
