AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ll work on getting Shane to come around,” Faith continued. “He needs time to work through his emotions. This isn’t what he’d choose for you, so he’s having a hard time accepting it.”
Gabby heard a scratch against the inside of the front door and crossed the last few yards of gravel until she reached it. “Thank you.” Tears prickled her eyes. She was so glad she had Faith. “I have to go tell my parents now. Wish me luck?”
“You won’t need it.” Faith sounded confident. “June and Dennis will be thrilled to have another grandchild on the way.”
Gabby slotted her key into the lock. She knew Faith was partially right, but she suspected her parents would be scandalized by the fact she wasn’t even dating Logan. She’d always been sensible and level-headed—except when someone messed with her family—so she doubted they’d ever expected her to end up in this situation. Hopefully, they wouldn’t focus on the negatives.
“Talk soon,” Gabby said. “I’ll update you on how it goes.”
“Great. Love you lots.” Faith blew her a kiss and then ended the call.
Gabby rested her forehead against the door and groaned. She really wasn’t looking forward to this. One of the dogs barked, so she opened the door and bent to greet them both. “Hello, you two.”
She spent a few seconds plying them with love, then tossed them each a couple of treats and opened the back door in case they needed to answer the call of nature. She made herself a mug of lemon tea and settled on the couch with her drink. Thomas climbed onto her lap and rested his paws possessively over her chest, his nose only inches from hers.
She chuckled. “How am I supposed to drink my tea now?”
He held her gaze steadily, clearly communicating that it wasn’t his problem. Knowing it couldn’t be put off any longer, she selected her father’s number from her phone and made a video call.
An hour later, she’d gone through all the same questions about their relationship status that she’d already faced with Shane, followed by muttering along the lines of:
“I thought Logan was dating that blonde girl?” This came from her mum. “The one we met last Christmas. Or… wait. Was it a redhead? I seem to remember a redhead with him when we were in town for Hunter’s birthday party.”
“Probably both and neither,” her dad replied, sotto voce. “From what Shane says, I don’t think Logan is the type of man who dates, if you know what I mean.”
Mum frowned. “What do you mean? Of course he dates. He’s always surrounded by women. Oh.” Her face twisted. “Oh.”
Gabby grimaced. She knew Logan had been with his share of women, but the fact that even her parents had noticed made her want to sink into the carpet and disappear. She supposed at least they’d taken it better than Shane had, although they obviously had reservations. She couldn’t blame them. She had reservations too. Especially after having been reminded of exactly how many beautiful women Logan had taken to bed. There was no reason to believe she meant more to him than any of them. She wasn’t anyone special.
Backup option.
Before they hung up, Dad promised they’d visit next weekend. He claimed it was so they could celebrate properly, but she knew the truth: he wanted to size up Logan.
This was going to be so much fun.
11
Logan arrivedat Gabby’s place at six sharp and jogged to the door just as it opened. He stopped, momentarily taken aback. She had gone to the effort of dressing in a pretty purple dress that showed off her figure, and her hair was loose around her shoulders. The sight of her stole his breath. She’d been looking unwell lately and he’d forgotten how gorgeous she usually was. Pregnancy had stripped her of her vitality, but she’d temporarily restored it with the assistance of makeup and a clever outfit choice.
“Do I look appropriate for the mother of Corinne’s grandchild?” she asked, smoothing her hands nervously down the front of her dress.
Logan leaned over to kiss her cheek but stopped at the last minute because he didn’t want to mess with the makeup she’d obviously spent time doing. “You look great.”
Honestly, he thought his mum would be thrilled to have Gabby as her substitute daughter-in-law. She’d be more upset with him for not locking her down in a relationship. After all, Gabby was smart, pretty, kind to animals, and Corinne knew her parents. He suspected that made her ideal daughter-in-law material in his mum’s eyes.
Corinne would certainly take it better than Shane had. He could still remember the way his friend’s expression had darkened right before he’d lunged at him, and it hadn’t improved during the course of their conversation. His reaction had forced Logan to face an unpleasant truth.
“Shall we go?” Gabby asked, and he realized he’d been caught up in his own thoughts.
“Yes. Great idea.” He placed a hand on her lower back and guided her to the car. He opened her door and glanced down as she entered, frowning when he noticed her defined collarbone. She’d definitely lost weight. Shouldn’t she have gained it? He rounded the vehicle and got in his side. “Have you seen a doctor about your morning sickness?”
“Not yet. If it doesn’t stop this week, I’ll make an appointment.”
“Good.” Although in his opinion, she should see one as soon as she could. It was her body though. She knew it better than he did. Hell, she probably knew a lot more about pregnancy than he did too, even if he’d been reading up on it in his free time.
They drove to the home Corinne and her boyfriend, Lawrence, shared a few miles outside of Haven Bay. The house was right on the coast, with walking access to the beach. Lawrence had bought it earlier in the year, and Logan knew he’d probably chosen it because of how much Corinne loved the sea. Like Logan, she enjoyed being out in the surf, and now she had access to a beautiful, nearly unused stretch of sand and water.
Logan had been wary of Lawrence at first. He was the only man Corinne had seriously dated since their father left. But seeing how Lawrence loved to spoil Corinne had soothed Logan’s protective nature.
