“Do you know where I can get something to eat here?”
“I’m heading there now.”
“Scarlet, this is my sister, Helena,” Hadley said. “Hel, this is Scarlet O’Malley.”
“Hello, I love your show. And I have to be honest—you’re gorgeous in person,” Helena said.
“Thank you,” Scarlet said. “Your fiancé is playing with the Velasquez team?”
“Yes,” Helena said. “He grew up hanging out with the Velasquez brothers.”
“There was tons of food left from the brunch. Come on, I’ll show you the kitchen.” She followed Hadley and found Bianca was already in there eating a plate of enchiladas.
“Busted,” Bianca said. “I’m going to be on a water and carrot stick diet after I give birth but right now I don’t even care.”
Hadley, Helena and Scarlet laughed with Bianca as she took a huge bite of her food. Scarlet made herself a plate.
Hadley left the kitchen to take a call. Bianca wiped her mouth as Scarlet and Helena sat down next to her and started eating. She was so hungry she ate too quickly, and she didn’t realize it until she felt the food start to come back up.
Crap.
Glancing around trying to find the bathroom, she got out of chair, pushing it back too forcefully. Bianca glanced over at her as she tried to be cool and walk out of the room, but she felt the bile in back of her throat and no amount of swallowing was going to keep this down. She looked around and saw the sink. She ran toward it, getting there just as she threw up. This was the worst. She rinsed her mouth and straightened, taking the towel that Bianca was holding out to her and Helena had gotten her a cup of water.
“So... How far along are you?” Bianca asked.
“What are you talking about?” Scarlet knew there was a slim chance that Bianca was going to let her get away with pretending she wasn’t pregnant.
“Okay. I guess it was the pork. Sometimes it doesn’t agree with me. Especially when I’m meeting new people,” Helena said.
“No,” she said, not wanting to add another lie to her life right now. “You were right. I’m six weeks...maybe seven. When was that gala in Houston?”
“No wonder you were so upset when you found out he lied,” Bianca said.
“Yeah. I’m not sure if I should tell him or not,” Scarlet said. “I know you don’t know me, but would you mind keeping this between us for now?”
“You have my word,” Bianca said. “And my ear if you need a friend.”
Scarlet nodded. She hadn’t expected tofind women like the ones she’d met here in Cole’s Hill. No one wanted her social connections or felt the need to be catty; instead they seemed to just accept her as she was.
For the first time in her life, someone else was really depending on her. Not for a paycheck or entrée into another world, but for something way more important. She needed all of the emotional support she could get as she tried to figure out what kind of man Alec was and if he’d be a good father to their unborn child.
Chapter Four
This day wasn’t going at all the way he planned. And when he felt someone tugging at the hem of his blazer and looked down to see Penny, his five-year-old niece, he knew the surprises weren’t over.
“What’s up?” he asked as he stooped down to bring himself to her eye level.
“Tio, can girls play polo?” Penny asked.
“Yes, they can,” he answered her. “Why do you ask?”
“Daddy said girls can’t.”
Oh. Polo was a dangerous sport and he could understand why Nate wouldn’t want his daughter to play, but he had a feeling Kinley would lose it if she heard that Nate had saidgirlscouldn’t play.
He figured Nate for a smarter man than that.
“Let’s go find your daddy and I’ll show him some of the safety equipment that’s available. I think he just wants you to be safe,” Alec said, standing and taking Penny’s hand in his as he walked over to where Nate and Kinley were talking to Bart and some of the other players.