Grace was the one woman I couldn’t forget. I was trying, but it wasn’t working. And she was pregnant? With my baby?
How the fuck was I supposed to stay away from her now?
What the fuck was I supposed to do at all?
“S-so, what do you want from me?” I asked. And how did I figure out how to give it to her without losing all I was? Icouldn’tstep away from who I was.
And she was the one person who made me want to.
But my question made Grace’s eyes narrow. I replayed what I’d said in my mind and knew I’d gone about this the wrong way.
I didn’t have time to correct it, though.
“I don’t want anything from you,” she said. “You deserved to know, so I’m telling you.”
“And you waited over three months?” I asked.
“I just found out yesterday myself, actually,” she hissed. “So my last twenty-four hours has been filled with more stress and panic then I’ve ever felt in mylife. And you’re not—” Shestopped herself, but I had a feeling I knew what she was going to say.
You’re not helping.
Grace took a breath. “If you don’t want this, I understand. I can do this as a single mom. I know that my community will help, and I can do this.”
“Your community?” I couldn’t help but huff out a humorless laugh. “You mean the ones who think of you as the good girl who never does anything wrong?”
“Well, it’s at least someone!” she snapped and then shook her head. “I’ll figure it out. You just figure out if you want to be a father or not.”
“I didn’t mean it like that, I?—”
But she was done listening to me. She pulled out a napkin and a pen from her purse and scribbled down her number.
“When you do, call me. Or don’t. I’ll be fine either way.”
She left so fast that I barely had time to catch the napkin she threw my way, but something else fell out of her purse. It was a long piece of photo paper. Slowly, I knelt and picked it up with shaky hands.
When I turned it over to look at it, it was a side profile of a baby.
Grace’s name was at the top of it, and there was an estimated date of sixteen weeks listed.
A quick Google search told me that sixteen weeks was exactly where she should be if she’d gotten pregnant by me.
And as I looked at the outline of a head and upturned nose, I knew I was looking atmybaby.
Fuck.
9
GRACE
Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch
Kerry Winsor: @Hu Gh, why is your tractor parked at the square? It’s taking up two spots!
Comments:
Hu Gh:Car wouldn’t start and I drove it in. Where else am I supposed to park it?
Kerry Winsor:Fix your car!