The Bookstore on the Beach - Brenda Novak Page 0,71
mother and Mimi.
“That’s pretty,” Taylor said. “I like L names. Lacy would be good, too.” She turned her computer to show Sierra a pretty quilt. “If it’s a girl, I’d love to have this. Isn’t it awesome?”
Sierra peered closer at it. “It’s expensive.”
“Maybe Mimi will get it for my baby shower.”
“Maybe. It’s silver and pink? Are those the colors you’d like for the nursery?”
“I haven’t decided. I just think it’s cute.”
“It is cute.”
Taylor slanted her a look. “You’re okay with pink?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Sierra asked.
Taylor leaned against the headboard. “You don’t seem like a pink kind of person.” She was sort of hoping Sierra would use the comment as an opportunity to declare her sexuality. She didn’t typically like feminine things, always chose darker colors, bolder and higher-risk activities. Taylor was driving herself mad, looking for clues, wondering, trying to guess.
“I’m not into pink, but you are,” Sierra said. “And I like you.”
As usual, there was nothing definite there. Taylor almost pressed the issue by asking, “How much do you like me—and in what way?” Sierra had made that comment at the beach, where she’d said that what she felt was as far as she could get from hate. But Taylor was afraid to take that too seriously. Sierra hadn’t mentioned anything like that since.
Her phone buzzed with a text.
“That Oliver again?” Sierra asked.
“No. Thank goodness. I feel guilty not telling him about the baby.”
“Since you’ve got to go through the pregnancy, labor and delivery, you deserve some time to get used to the idea and make certain decisions before you talk to him.”
“You don’t think that’s too selfish?”
“Nope. It won’t change anything on his end if you tell him later, will it?”
“I guess not.” Her phone still in her hand, Taylor read the text again. “It’s my mother. She wants me to invite you over for dinner. My grandmother is going to make lasagna.”
Taylor had been hesitant to let her family meet Sierra. But the more Taylor got to know Sierra, the more she wanted Sierra to meet the people she loved, and the more she trusted the people she loved to see the goodness she saw.
Ironically, as she became more open to it, Sierra seemed to become almost...reluctant. She always suggested they go to her house or the beach or somewhere else—anywhere else. She hadn’t even been willing to stop in at the bookstore.
Was it because she didn’t want to meet Taylor’s mother and grandmother?
“Probably not,” Sierra said. “I can’t eat lasagna. It’s got meat and cheese.”
“My grandma could use substitutes. You told me there’s a great sausage substitute that you get when you’re really craving meat.”
“There is, but I should make dinner for my dad. Nights generally go better if there’s a hot meal waiting for him when he gets home.”
It was Sunday, so Taylor knew he wasn’t at work. Sierra had said he was out with a friend, looking at motorcycles in Richmond. “You don’t mind cooking for him?”
“Not really. He doesn’t have a lot of good things in his life. If I cook, he’s less likely to go out drinking.”
“But he’s in Richmond. How do you know he’ll even come home for supper?”
Sierra studied her for a moment. The skeptical expression on her face suggested she was about to offer up another excuse—but suddenly that expression cleared. “I guess I don’t. Okay. If you think it’s a good idea, I’ll come.”
“Why wouldn’t it be a good idea?”
“I’m not sure your family will like me.”
“Of course they’ll like you. Caden already does.”
Sierra shook her head. “Not anymore. He’ll hardly speak to me.”
“He’s just jealous that I’m spending so much time with you and not hanging out with him anymore.”
“Is that why he took you to lunch today?”
Taylor hadn’t mentioned to Sierra that she’d told her brother about the baby. Maybe this was the perfect lead-in to what she wanted to talk about. She could say her brother had asked about the nature of their relationship, and she wasn’t sure how to answer. Maybe Sierra would clarify how she felt, and deny the suggestion that she was gay.
But once again, Taylor chickened out. As much as she wanted to discuss it, wanted to know, she was afraid to find out. “Yeah.”
“What did you two talk about?”
“I told him about the baby.”
Sierra got off the bed. “Are you kidding? Why didn’t you say anything about that when you first got here? How’d he react? He won’t narc on you to your mother, will he?”