“So, what kind of daddy is Dean? Daddy ... orDaddy?”
I wished I could have laughed at her sentence, but there was no humor in me while I was under the weight of this. “I have no clue. He doesn’tdorelationships. He made that very clear.” I’d even promised him he wouldn’t hear from me after our tryst.
What a fool I was.
“Well, a baby is different than a relationship. Maybe he’ll surprise you?” She said it as a question.
“You don’t have to sugarcoat it. This is bad.”
“It’s not ideal, but we’ll figure it out. One thing at a time.”
“I need to call my doctor to confirm this.”
“Henry could?—”
I glared.
Jade’s eyes went wide. “Nope. Not anyone in town. Your gyno is somewhere else, right?”
“Knoxville.”
“So, this appointment. Want me to close my shop?”
“No, both of ours being closed will only make it worse. Youknow how people talk around here. I’ll go by myself. Then once I know things are ... more real, I’ll find Dean to tell him.”
I had a headache blooming behind my eyes, and all I wanted to do was sleep.
Jade picked up on it. “All right, you have a plan. So now you need to go home and rest. I’ll put a message in the Facebook group that you pooped yourself and you’ll be out for the day.”
“Does it have to bethatreason?”
“Do you want me to say the real one?”
That was worse. “No, but make it classy.”
“Oh, you know me.” She adjusted her fishnets to remove what I could only assume was a wedgie. “I’m the epitome of class.”
I told myself I wouldn’t look into Dean until after my appointment, but it was a lie. I didn’t do well with sitting idle while my life changed. I wanted to have some sort of way to contact him if the time eventually came.
It took me far too many Google searches to find Dean’s business. I’d had to dig deep into Wren’s show that she worked on to find him, and when I did, that relaxed, carefree smile stared back at me in one of his pictures on his website.
And I was terrified.
He’d said no relationships, but we would always have one now. Whether he wanted me or not.
And I didn’t know how to tell him.
In the strangest way, it felt like I failed. I wanted to be the easygoing woman who could match his energy. I wanted to have one night and then move on.
But that wasn’t me. I didn’t do well with surface-level talk,and things ended. I wanted them to last. I wanted to get to know someone fully.
Dean didn’t, though. And I respected that. I let him leave.
And now I had to find him again.
“Are you looking that guy up?” a voice asked. “God, you’re a terrible one-night stand.”
I jumped. “Brooke? I thought you were back in Nashville.”