I glanced at Aspen because, hell, seeing Reese and Mason’s connection simply drew me to her, wanting a taste of the same bond they shared.
She glanced at me as if she felt the same pull. Her eyes glittered with tears. Then she turned back to the grieving couple. “I’ve had a lot of experience with people like this...Mrs. Garrison, is it?”
Reese turned toward Aspen, wiping her wet cheeks. “That’s right.”
“Right,” Aspen murmured on a soft note. “And I’ve come to learn they give away certain tells when they’re lying. Each person’s may be different, but they always do something to denote the lie. And from her behavior, I don’t even believe she was pregnant, much less honest about the child’s paternity.”
Lowe blew out a relieved breath. “Really?”
She shook her head.
“But her fucking belly was out to here.” Ten held out his hand and pretended to waddle. Next to him, Ham nodded, thinking the cougar had looked pregnant too.
“It wasn’t shaped quite right, though,” Aspen insisted. She pointed at the blonde. “Her stomach looks almost perfectly round, while the other woman’s was more...oblong.”
Propping his elbows on the bar, Pick leaned over the counter to check out the blonde’s belly. “You do have the most adorable baby bump I’ve ever seen.”
“And the other woman’s breasts didn’t look nearly as swollen as hers,” Aspen went on.
Pick snorted. “I’d say.”
The blonde shot him a glare. “Who the hell are you, anyway?”
He grinned at her. “Pick.”
She blinked. “Pick what? I’m not picking out your name.”
“No, that’s my name, Tinker Bell. Pick, short for Patrick Jason Ryan. You like?”
“Anyway.” Aspen lifted her voice to speak over Pick’s strange flirting with the preggo. “She didn’t have any of the water retention this girl has in her face.”
The preggo gasped, grasping her cheeks as she whirled to Reese. “I have water retention?”
“What? No! No, sweetie. Barely any at all.”
“So I do then?”
Gritting her teeth, Reese sent Aspen a scowl. I thought I was going to have to jump over the bar to defend her, but the front door opened again.
Mrs. Garrison had returned.
“Hamilton,” I growled. “Go lock the fucking door before someone else wanders in here, will you?”
If Jessie learned we had this many non-employees in the building after hours, she’d flip. But then, I guess she wouldn’t have to worry about it so much if she bothered to come in once in a while. She could deal with this scene instead of leaving it to us to handle.
“Anyone have a hatchet handy?” Reese growled, stepping away from the bar to face off with Mrs. Garrison. “Because I’m feeling the compelling need to hack a bitch.”
“Dude.” Ten bumped his elbow into Hamilton’s, looking jazzed as he bounced on the toes of his feet. “Chick fight. Awesome.”
Lowe hurtled the bar and was at his woman’s side in a microsecond. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he tugged her back against his chest as he glared at the newest arrival. “I told you not to come back. And I made it crystal clear before I even left Florida that I never wanted anything to do with you again. Why are you doing this?”
She ignored him, smiling almost pleasantly at Reese...almost being the key word because there was nothing pleasant about the glitter in her eyes. “Reese,” she murmured, nodding her head in acknowledgement. “It’s been too long since I last saw you.”
“I know, hasn’t it?” Reese answered with the same fake pleasantry before she sneered. “My hand’s stopped ringing from the last time I bitch-slapped the shit out of you.”
“Ohh!” Ten cried, smacking his knee and hooting. “Burn.”
Mrs. Garrison narrowed her eyes. “You need to release him, dear. He doesn’t belong here.”
Reese cracked off a laugh. “Me? Release him? Are you kidding me? You’re the one who—”
Lowe covered her mouth with his hand, muffling her words. “We’re not getting into this,” he told the old crow. “The only person who needs to leave Illinois is you.”
Mrs. Garrison’s voice broke as she asked, “But what about our baby?” just as her lashes did their fluttering thing.
Visibly shuddering, he shook his head. “You’re not even pregnant. I don’t know why you’re making up this lie or what you think it’ll accomplish, but nothing you can do will get me to leave my life here or split me away from Reese.”
“Oh, I can guess why she’s doing it.” Reese pulled Lowe’s hand off her mouth. “I bet her fiancé left her, and she had no one left to torture.”
By the way the older woman glared, I figured Reese must’ve hit the nail on the head.
“If I’m not pregnant, then how do you explain this?” Again, she made a dramatic performance of ripping open her coat and showing off her stomach.
“Oh, please.” The blonde Reese had called Eva laughed. “That’s the fakest pregnant belly I’ve ever seen.”
When Mrs. Garrison pierced her with a frown, she pooched out her own stomach. “This is the real deal, honey. So why don’t you stop picking on Mason and my cousin Reese, crawl back home to Florida, and find someone new to harass. In fact, look up Madeline and Shaw Mercer why don’t you? They actually deserve your brand of attention.”
The woman merely sniffed at her. “I should’ve guessed you were Reese’s snooty little Mercer cousin. Eva, isn’t it? The one who tried to trap Alec Worthington into marriage by getting herself knocked up—”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Reese snapped. “Why are you still here? No one wants you.”
“And no one believes you either,” Lowe added.
“So, you’re really going to bank on the chance that this bump might be fake?” Mrs. Garrison lovingly rubbed her belly. “Are you sure you can live with the uncertainty of knowing whether you have a child out there or not?”
Lowe’s eyes grew tormented. He tugged his girl in closer to his chest. Reese impressed the fuck out of me when she rubbed his arm soothingly. It made me wonder what would happen if I were ever put into this situation. After nearly raising Caroline, Brandt, and Colton, I knew I could never turn my back on the likelihood of being a father. But now that Aspen was in my life, it’d kill me think of having anyone else’s child.
Realizing what I’d just thought, I sliced her a startled glance. But had I really just—? Did this mean I wanted no one’s babies but hers? Whoa. I think I had just thought that.
That was whacked out.
“Hey, I’ll volunteer to find out if the bump’s real.” When Ten rubbed his hands together with a leering grin and took a step toward Mrs. Garrison, she yelped and hopped away from him, raising her finger threateningly.
“Come near me, and I’ll call battery so fast your head will spin. No one touches me.”
“Then I’m not convinced you’re pregnant.” Lowe nestled his face against Reese’s, seemingly emboldened by her presence. His skin tone was no longer ashen, and now he looked more pissed than scared.
“It’s a boy,” the persistent woman went on. “I bet he’ll have your eyes and your beautiful hair. I’m thinking of the name Christopher Mason.”
When Lowe once again went sheet white, I decided I’d had enough. Someone needed to take control of this situation and nip it in the bud.
“Stop already,” I said, glaring down Mrs. Garrison.
“You’ve already gone too far,” Aspen added, slipping off her stool and opening her purse. “Because this is one lie you can’t support. We can stand around here, bantering all night and accomplishing nothing. Or we can prove whether you’re telling the truth within minutes.” Pulling a small brown paper bag out of her purse, she opened the end and extracted a box. When I squinted to focus on it, I realized it was a home pregnancy test.
What the—?
Stunned speechless, I gaped at it, my mouth dropping toward the floor. Lifting my ga
ze, I met Aspen’s apologetic cringe just as Ten exploded, “Shit, Gamble. You knocked up Dr. Kavanagh?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“With enough courage, you can do without a reputation.” - Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind
~ASPEN~
Noel wouldn’t stop staring. Unable to answer the blaring question in his eyes, I turned toward Mason and Reese. “Here. Get your answers.”
They looked about as shocked as Noel did, though. Finally, Reese shook her head as if to clear it and slipped the box from my hand. “Thanks.” Her jaw setting with determination, she faced the woman who was too freakily like my mother. “Well, alright then. Where’s the bathroom in this place?”
“I’m not taking that thing.” Mrs. Garrison took a horrified step back.
“Yes, you are,” Mason said, his voice determined and hard. When she looked as if she was going to object, he smirked. “I’ll tell you what. You take that test, and if it comes out positive, I’ll go with you right now.”
“Excuse me?” Reese spun to gape up at him. He clasped her shoulder as if begging her to trust him.
“But if you refuse, I want you to leave and never enter this state again.”
A moment of indecision crossed the older woman’s face, but she finally nodded.
“Okay, then,” Reese said. “I’m watching every step you make until this is over.”
“You’re not going with her,” Lowe insisted at the same moment Mrs. Garrison bristled and said, “You’re not coming with me.”
“I’ll go.” Eva, the true pregnant woman, raised her hand.
But Pick grasped her elbow. “I don’t think so, Tinker Bell. If Lowe doesn’t trust his woman alone with that broad, then you sure as hell aren’t going near her. Not in your condition.”
I had a feeling Mrs. Garrison would try to trick Eva into peeing on the stick for her. So, I drew in a deep breath and took matters into my own hands. “Give me the box.” When Reese readily handed it over, I glanced at Mrs. Garrison. “This way.”
“And who do you think you are?” she sneered, not moving.
“She’s Dr. Kavanagh,” Reese answered for me, emphasizing the doctor part as if she wanted Mrs. Garrison to think I was a medical doctor, not an academic one.
Mrs. Garrison merely narrowed her eyes. “Well, isn’t that nice?”
“Pleasantly so.” Well acquainted with how to treat her kind, I gave a stoic nod, demonstrating my stiff indifference. “Now, shall we?” I turned away, not waiting for her and not surprised when I heard her fall into step behind me. “Mr. Gamble,” I called, notching my chin high. “Would you please escort us?”
He was out from behind the bar before I could blink, taking my elbow gently. Without saying a word, he directed us into the hallway. No one else followed. We were halfway down the dark corridor before he leaned in close and whispered into my ear. “We are so going to talk about this.”
I nodded. “It’s the reason I came to see you tonight.”
He blew out a long breath. “Shit. Do you really think you’re—”
“I hope you don’t expect me to pee on a stick in front of you, Doctor?” The grating voice behind us caused Noel to dig his fingers a little deeper into my arm. I could tell he was about to say something degrading, so I quickly spoke up.
“Oh, you won’t be going near the stick. But I do think you can handle the rest on your own.” I paused in front of the bathroom door and held out a cup I’d swiped off the bar. “All we need is a sample.”
Mrs. Garrison glared at the cup a moment before snatching it from my hand. Then she threw it against the wall, seething. As the cup shattered, she demanded, “Where’s the fucking back door in this place?”
Noel just chuckled. “Sorry, we don’t have one.”
She glared at him for a moment before spinning away and stalking off.
Sharing a glance with Noel, I lifted my eyebrows. “Well, I guess she was bluffing.”
He looped an arm around my waist and kissed my hair. “She might not be pregnant, but what’re the odds that you’re not?”
When his hand settled low on my stomach, a wash of heat spread through me. “I...I’m not sure. I’m only a few days late, but...”
“The closet,” he said. “No protection. I remember.”
“Yeah.” I closed my eyes and breathed through my teeth. “I’ve never been regular. So it might not mean anything. I just...needed to know.”
Noel cradled me close, burying his face in my neck. “It’s strange. But I’m not nearly as freaked out as I thought I’d be.”
I lifted my face as his fingers lightly traced my jaw. “What’re you saying?”
“I’m saying if you are, it’ll be okay. Maybe better than okay. A little premature, but I’d be...okay with this.”
My breath caught in my chest. But had he just told me he actually wanted to have babies with me? I didn’t know how to answer. An immediate joy bubbled in my chest just knowing he felt that way, but I knew the idea of a baby right now would be bad. Worse than bad.
And yet...a part of me wanted it to be true, wanted Noel and me to stay together and make a family. Someone to love and love me in return.
“So,” Noel prodded, catching my chin and lifting my face until I was forced to look at him. “Would you be okay with it?”
I opened my mouth, but I still wasn’t sure how to respond. My initial gut instinct was to scream yes and jump into his arm so we could hug and live happily ever after. But every time I tried to picture our future, it just looked doomed.
“Dr. Kavanagh!” Reese Randall’s ecstatic voice hurtled down the hall before she raced to us and hugged me tight. “You did it. You were right. She was totally lying. Oh, my God. Thank you.”
I was too startled by the contact to hug her back before she was pulling away and pushing her hair out of her face. “I don’t think we could’ve handled that so diplomatically without you. You’re such a lifesaver. Oh, and thanks for, you know, going along with me when I made it sound like you were a medical doctor.”
“Not a problem,” I told her, trying to sound gracious and teacherly, even though I totally ruined it by grinning and adding, “It was kind of fun.” There was just something eternally perky about Miss Randall; she always filled my World Masterpieces class with a cheerful vivacity and drew out the carefree goofball in me.
But then she completely killed my glow by leaning in to whisper, “And good luck on your own test, however you want it to go.” When she glanced conspicuously toward Noel, I realized she knew...everyone here knew he and I were together.
And Noel didn’t help the situation in the least when he walked me out of the hall a minute later, calling across the bar to his roommate that he didn’t need a ride home while he proprietarily set his hand at the small of my back to lead me toward the exit.
Mr. Hamilton waving us goodbye and politely calling, “Good night, Noel. Night, Dr. Kavanagh,” only made the situation worse.
If I ended up being pregnant, everyone would know my student was the father.
***
“You don't love someone because of their looks or their clothes or their car. You love them because they sing a song only your heart can understand.” - L.J. Smith
***
“So why do you think she did it?”
Biting my bottom lip, I pulled out of the parking lot of Forbidden. In the passenger seat, Noel nervously drummed his fingers on his knee. He did that a lot when he wasn’t quite comfortable. Well, I wasn’t exactly ready to put on my fuzzy, bunny slippers and curl up with a good book myself.
After the anticlimactic departure of Mrs. Garrison from Forbidden, I was ready to move past that scene though, while Noel obviously was not.
“I mean, what the hell?” He glanced across the interior of my car toward me. “I don’t get it. The woman came all the way from Florida to tell Lowe a lie he would’ve caught on to eventually. Why even bother?”
I focused on his question because I didn’t l
ike thinking about how perilously public our relationship was becoming, and that was the only thing zooming through my mind right now.
“Women like her use whatever they can to manipulate people,” I told him. “She knows she’s a quick thinker. Maybe she was hoping Mason would blindly follow her back to Florida so she could bank on the chance she could come up with something else to use against him to keep him there.”
Noel snorted. “Yeah, but...why go through all that trouble for someone who wants nothing to do with you?”
I shrugged, picturing my mother. “It’s all about control. She thrives on managing the people in her life. And every little thing they do.”
“I like control,” he argued. “I’m the freaking quarterback of my team, and I consider myself the head of my family. Hell, I’ve practically taken over at Forbidden. But I’ve never—”
Reaching out, I set my hand on his to stop his drumming fingers. “That’s because you know the difference between leadership and dictatorship. And you have a rational functioning brain. She does not. I doubt either of us could understand the way she thinks. She’s gotten so used to manipulating, blackmailing, and doing whatever she wants to get her way, she has this whole ego trip going on and thinks she can’t fail at anything. In her own mind, she’s invincible.”
Turning his hand over so our palms were facing, he laced our fingers together and gave a warm squeeze. “You sound like you have some experience with people like her.”
I nodded and paused at a four-way. “I do. Mrs. Garrison is the spitting image of my mother. I know her type well.”
He brought my knuckles up to his mouth to kiss them. “I knew there was a reason I already didn’t like your mother.” Then he changed gears, holding up the bag containing my pregnancy test and shaking it. “You’re still taking this when we get home, right?”
A rush of air exited my lungs. “Of course.”
His fingers returned to tapping. Silence filled the car. I was actually tempted to reach out and turn on the radio to kill the tension.