The Bookstore on the Beach - Brenda Novak Page 0,92

the restaurant.

“Thanks,” Caden said. “I really appreciate you hanging out with me this morning.”

“No problem. Come in and have another crab sandwich later. You’ve got to be getting hungry. You can bring Taylor again, too, if you want.”

“No way,” he said with a grimace. “I’m not even talking to her.”

“Why not?”

He seemed uncertain for a second, then he said, “Can I trust you?”

Quinn didn’t know how to answer that question. He didn’t want Caden to tell him something he’d feel obligated to relay to Autumn. “You know how adults are,” he said. “Depending on the secret, you probably shouldn’t tell me.”

“I don’t think this is one of those kinds of secrets. My mom’s going to find out about it eventually, regardless.”

Intrigued, Quinn couldn’t help saying, “Okay, then. What is it?”

“Taylor’s pregnant,” he replied.

Quinn felt his jaw drop. “What did you say?”

“Yeah, man. Can you believe it?”

A snippet of conversation from last night went through Quinn’s mind: Even if they did go all the way, at least she didn’t get pregnant. “No, I can’t.”

21

Autumn couldn’t get much out of Taylor. She sat on her daughter’s bed and tried talking to her, but Taylor insisted her latest argument with Caden wasn’t a big deal—even though Autumn could tell it was much worse than usual.

“What does this have to do with Oliver Hancock?” she asked, trying a different tack.

She could feel her daughter stiffen under the covers. “Nothing. Why do you ask about him?”

“Caden said to tell you that Oliver was his friend.”

“I know that.”

“He’s a year younger than you, anyway.”

“I know that, too. But so what? I’m friends with all kinds of kids—seniors, juniors, even sophomores. What does age have to do with anything? Besides, just because Caden doesn’t like Oliver doesn’t mean I have to hate him, too.”

“Your brother was pretty hurt when Oliver asked Miranda to the prom,” Autumn pointed out. “Caden had made it clear he was going to ask her.”

“So? Maybe Oliver had planned on asking her even before that. Regardless, it was just a stupid dance. No big deal. Miranda isn’t a nice girl, anyway. She’s catty and selfish—no one he should be interested in.”

Autumn wasn’t happy with her daughter’s response, and she made sure it showed in her face. “That may be true from your vantage point, but he should be allowed to decide for himself, shouldn’t he?”

“Then he can decide. I’m just saying he took someone else to the dance so he didn’t miss out on anything. And if he can decide for himself about Miranda, I can decide for myself about Oliver.”

Autumn sighed. Taylor was stubbornly missing the point, but she figured it might help to back off and give her daughter some time to think things over. Pushing Taylor never seemed to work. She’d only dig in deeper. She was like her father that way, Autumn thought. “Okay. I’m going to chalk this one up to the usual teenage squabbles. But I hope you understand that this is more about Oliver’s betrayal of Caden’s friendship than whether or not he got to go to the dance or Miranda is the girl of Caden’s dreams.”

“Mom, it’s over, okay? Do we have to keep going on and on about it?” She broke into tears. “I’m a terrible sister and a terrible daughter! Is that what you want to hear?”

“I didn’t say you were a terrible sister or daughter. I think you could be kinder to Caden, though, and I think he could be kinder to you. That’s all.”

She buried her head beneath the pillow, but confused by this sudden display of emotion, Autumn kept talking. “Taylor? Will you at least try?”

“Okay.” Her capitulation was muffled by the pillow, but figuring she’d gotten all she was going to get, Autumn stood and gave her daughter’s arm a comforting squeeze. “I’m sorry your day started off so badly. Do you want to get up and have breakfast with me?”

“Where’s Caden?” she asked, her head still under the pillow.

“He went to the beach.”

Autumn assumed that meant she would come to breakfast, since Caden wouldn’t be around. But Taylor didn’t move. “No, I just want to go back to sleep.”

“Okay. You do that. Maybe when you wake up, you’ll be in a better mood,” she joked. “How are you feeling about Sierra, by the way?”

Taylor threw the pillow onto the floor and lifted her head. “Why do you ask?”

Autumn hadn’t expected her simple question to elicit such a defensive response. “Because after she was here for dinner on Sunday,