The Bookstore on the Beach - Brenda Novak Page 0,21
stay that way. That it doesn’t have any bearing on the present. She also mentioned that Autumn has been through enough and insists that talking about how you came to be who you are, and she came to be who she is, won’t serve any good purpose. There’s no reason to look back.”
Mary desperately wanted to agree with Nana, but... “Did you mention how easy it would be for Autumn to find out the truth without me?”
“Of course. She said to let that make the decision for you. If Autumn finds out, then you’ll have to address it.”
Mary tried to imagine how her daughter might react to the news. “She matters more to me than anything, Laurie. She always has.”
Laurie put the car in gear but hesitated before backing up. “You’ve proven that time and again. You’ve done an amazing job as her mother, have always tried to protect her.”
“Maybe now what I have to protect is our relationship. That’s what frightens me.”
“Does that mean you’re going to tell her?”
“It does. I just... I want to enjoy one final summer with her and the kids first—one summer in which everything still feels the same. Do you think that’s too much to ask?”
Laurie glanced at the newspaper as though it were a ticking time bomb. “I hope not.”
* * *
When Taylor’s phone rang, all of her new friends were swimming with her brother except Sierra, who’d come out of the water and was lying on a towel beside her. Sierra must’ve heard the buzzing, because she opened her eyes, leaned up on her elbows and gazed out to sea while Taylor dug her phone from her bag.
The caller had a Tampa area code but didn’t have a number Taylor recognized. It could be Oliver—Danielle had told her he might call—but it could also be someone else, like her high school with news about the yearbook, which hadn’t been ready on time this year, or registration dates for fall.
She’d been monitoring her calls and would’ve waited to see if whomever it was left a message. But Sierra glanced over as if she was surprised Taylor wasn’t answering, and that made Taylor impulsively hit the talk button.
She regretted doing so the second she heard Oliver’s voice. “Hey.”
Conscious of Sierra watching her, she tried not to show her sudden panic. “Hi.”
“What’s up?”
“Not a whole lot. I’m at the beach with some friends.”
“Did Danielle go to Virginia with you?”
“No. These are just...some people I met.”
“For the first time?”
“Yeah. Two of them are twins.” She wasn’t sure why she added that unnecessary detail, except that she was nervous. “They live here year-round.”
“I live here year-round, too,” Sierra volunteered. “My dad and I moved in just after Christmas.”
Taylor glanced over. “Three of them live here. The rest are visiting for the summer, like me.”
“How’d you meet them?”
“They were here at the beach when Caden and I arrived.”
“Oh.”
He didn’t say anything else, so she scrambled to fill the silence. “What are you doing?”
“Babysitting my little brother. He’s such a pain in the ass,” he added under his breath.
“How old is he?”
“Eleven.”
“My brother’s quite a bit older than that, but he can be a pain, too.” She said that automatically, with a laugh, but regretted it right away. Oliver knew Caden—they used to be friends—so he might have something negative to say, too, which she already knew she couldn’t tolerate. She could say what she wanted to, but if anyone else put Caden down, she’d defend him to her dying breath.
Luckily, Oliver didn’t comment on Caden, and managed to gain a little of her respect.
“When will you be back?” he asked.
“Not until school starts.” She was glad she had almost three months before she had to face even the possibility of running into him. Except...if she was pregnant, she would almost be showing by then.
She grimaced at the thought of going through her senior year carrying a baby. What had she done? If she was pregnant, her mother was going to be so upset.
“Okay. Well, call me if you get bored,” he said.
“I will.”
“Um, Taylor?”
She caught her breath at the more somber tone of his voice. “Yes?”
“That night at the party...”
Knowing Sierra was watching her closely, she tried not to react. “What about it?”
“I keep thinking...”
She waited.
“We didn’t use any protection, did we?”
“No,” she replied and heard him sigh heavily through the phone.
“I didn’t think so.”
They’d both been a little drunk.
“Is that going to be a problem?” he asked.
She could hear the anxiety in his voice, and it almost