The Bookstore on the Beach - Brenda Novak Page 0,109
to end this pregnancy or put our baby up for adoption?”
The phone went silent. She couldn’t even hear him breathe.
“Oliver? Are you there?”
“God, this is crazy,” he muttered so softly she could barely make out the words. Then, louder, “So what are we going to do?”
“We’re going to wait until I get back before we tell anyone. That’s one thing. Can you do that?”
“What good does it do to wait? Why do you care about that?”
“Because you won’t have to face the humiliation I’ll have to face, that’s why. How would you like to be me and know that everyone in school is talking about you?”
“They’ll be talking about me, too.”
“Not in the same way. I’m the one they’ll call a slut or a whore.”
More silence. Then he said, “Okay.”
She gripped the phone tighter. “No. Promise me. You will tell no one, and I mean no one, until I get back.”
“I promise. It’s not like I’m eager for word to get out, either.”
Neither one of them said anything after that until she asked, “What will your mother say?”
“She’ll cry while my father kicks my ass,” he said flatly.
Sierra scooted closer and took her hand. Grateful for the support, Taylor glanced up and smiled through her tears.
“You’re shaking,” Sierra whispered. “Relax. It’s going to be okay.”
“I don’t want you to...to go through that,” she said into the phone.
“You won’t be able to stop it. Neither will I. My father will say I’ve screwed up my entire life and he won’t help me because he warned me against something like this happening.”
She closed her eyes as she tried to block out the mental picture of that. “He’ll soften after...after he gets used to the idea, won’t he?”
“No, he won’t. He’ll wish me good luck making minimum wage for the rest of my life and kick me out of the house.”
“At sixteen?”
“He’ll say if I’m man enough to have a baby, I’m man enough to make it on my own.”
“You don’t think he’ll change his mind?”
“Maybe. Eventually. Or maybe not.” She heard what she thought was a tremor in his voice. “I’m so dead.”
Taylor hated that she felt responsible for the consequences he’d suffer. He’d participated, too! “I’m sorry,” she mumbled.
“I can’t breathe right now. Can I call you back?”
“Of course.”
“Will you answer this time?”
She flinched at the sharp edge to his voice. “Yes.”
He disconnected, and she dropped her phone in her lap. “As if things weren’t bad enough, now I have to worry about him.”
Sierra curled her fingers through Taylor’s. “You’ve already got enough to deal with. Let Oliver worry about Oliver.”
“I will,” she said and rested her head on Sierra’s shoulder. But his words were still echoing in her mind hours later: My father will say I’ve screwed up my entire life and he won’t help me because he warned me against something like this happening.
Would Oliver get kicked out of the house?
* * *
When Melissa Cunningham asked Autumn if she and Quinn were now an item, Autumn looked up from the salad the waitress had just placed in front of her. She’d agreed to meet her old friend for lunch at a small restaurant next to the nail salon, and she’d known they’d probably dish. Thanks to Melissa’s line of work, she was privy to most town gossip. But Autumn hadn’t expected this to be almost the first thing out of her friend’s mouth. “We’re...seeing each other,” she hedged.
Melissa used her long, fake nails to flip her hair, which had been short and blond a week ago but was now long, thanks to hair extensions. “And? Do you think it might get serious?”
It was already getting serious. Quinn had been over every night since the fireworks show. After her mother and kids went to bed, he’d park down the street and come to the garage. She’d thought sleeping with him for the first time in the apartment she’d shared with her husband would be difficult. But she was almost embarrassed by how easy it had been. She was falling in love so fast that propriety didn’t seem to matter—nothing mattered except touching and tasting the object of her desire. She was deliriously happy. Eager to see him whenever she could. And she couldn’t help grinning like a fool every time he texted.
It felt like they were having a torrid affair—mostly because they were sneaking around so her kids wouldn’t realize how much time they were spending together. While he was at work, she couldn’t wait for him to get off.