The Bookstore on the Beach - Brenda Novak Page 0,57
He doesn’t want to hear that he’s going to be a father at seventeen. Why ruin his summer?”
“What’s your other option?” Sierra hugged her knees to her chest. “Let him think you’re not pregnant and then shock him with the truth when you go back to school?”
That didn’t sound very fair. But wouldn’t he rather have two more months to believe he had a bright future? “I don’t know,” she said. “I need to give myself a few days to figure it all out.” She dropped her head into her hands. “God, I’m such an idiot—and now I am so screwed.”
Sierra slid closer to her. “Hey, it’s going to be okay.”
“For you!” she snapped. “You’re not the one who’s going to have a baby.”
“I’m sorry you’re so upset. But...”
“What?” Taylor demanded.
“I’ll be there for moral support during the pregnancy, even if we don’t live near each other.”
“Oh, thanks for that,” she said sarcastically. “And once I have the baby and the real work begins?”
“We’ll both be out of school.”
“So?”
“I’ll help.”
“How? You live here, and I live in Florida.”
“Like I said, we’ll both be out of school. I could move there.”
At this, Taylor sat up straight. “You’d move to Tampa?”
“Sure. Why not?”
“Because that’s a big deal.”
“Nothing will be holding me here, so I plan to go somewhere. Might as well be there.”
Taylor dried her eyes. “But...where would you live?”
“We could get an apartment together and share the rent. Then I can help with the baby.”
“I can’t believe you’d even consider that.” Taylor wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “What about college?”
“You have a community college where you live, don’t you?”
“There’s one that’s not too far.”
“Then we could both take some classes while we work and care for the baby. We could manage. Other women have done it, haven’t they? And some have had to do it alone. At least we’d have each other.”
Sierra was willing to stand by her despite the pregnancy? To help her with a child? “But...why would you do that?”
“Because I care about you,” she said simply.
Taylor was so relieved she could’ve kissed Sierra. It felt wonderful to have someone say what she’d just said. Taylor realized then just how much she was coming to love Sierra.
But in what way?
* * *
“This place okay?” Quinn asked.
Autumn had insisted they drive all the way to Richmond for dinner. Even then she wasn’t completely confident that no one would recognize them. As they waited to be seated, she kept looking around, searching the shadows as though she might see someone she knew—and cringed at the thought of her children learning she’d gone out with another man.
Quinn had done nothing to make her uncomfortable on the drive over. They’d chatted about his college years, his job as an engineer, the fact that he hoped to go back to that line of work eventually, the details of his mother’s treatment and prognosis, the fundraiser, The Daily Catch, Autumn’s kids and what she’d done over the years—all innocuous subjects she might discuss with any friend.
They avoided any mention of Nick. She didn’t want to think of her husband while she was with Quinn, and she knew Quinn didn’t want to remind her of him. But her attraction to Quinn made it difficult to feel as though she wasn’t cheating.
“It’s fine,” she said. “Looks great.”
He’d chosen a steakhouse, a small mom-and-pop establishment that had almost five hundred positive reviews on Yelp. But she wasn’t overly concerned with the quality of the food—probably wouldn’t even be able to taste it. She was just glad it was dim inside, lit almost exclusively by a candle on each table. The darkness helped her feel less conspicuous. The only thing she had to worry about now was what she was going to tell her mother when she got home late because they’d driven so far.
She was still mulling that over—she certainly wasn’t going to tell anyone she’d been with Quinn—as the hostess led them to a little round table in the corner.
Quinn ordered a bottle of wine. The one he chose wasn’t very expensive, but she guessed it would taste good. With his experience in the restaurant business, he knew a lot about that sort of thing.
“Oh, this is nice,” she said as soon as she took her first sip, thinking she’d been right to trust him.
“So you’re okay hanging out with me?” he asked, a teasing glint in his eyes.
Determined to play along until the night was over and then to ignore him if