Rogue Beast (The Rourkes #12) - Kylie Gilmore Page 0,79

She picks up another potato, peeling efficiently.

“I did. You’re getting up there in maturity.”

She eyes me. “You resent him.”

I sigh. “I don’t. Not anymore. It was the heat of the moment, and I didn’t know…” I stop myself and stand, not ready to share my big news yet. “I had a lot of stuff going on at the time.”

She grabs my arm in a tight grip. “I thought he was more than a user.”

“You did?”

She looks up at me. “How many young men do chores for their girlfriend’s grandmother? None of your past boyfriends gave me the time of day, let alone offered to do work for me.”

My eyes sting with hot tears. “I don’t know what to tell you. He doesn’t want to be with me. He left, and I haven’t heard from him since. He doesn’t respond to my calls or texts.”

“So go to him.”

“You don’t understand. It’s a closed set. He wouldn’t have time for me.” And I’m not ready. I pull away and get the cranberries out, rinsing them at the sink. She doesn’t say another word. My thoughts tumble over each other, replaying the last time I saw Garrett, and all my worries and fears about the future for me and my baby. I can manage on my own if I have to. I know I can. But it won’t be easy. I have to tell him, and I have to tell my grandmother too. No one else needs to know the particulars.

Once we’re settled for Thanksgiving dinner, my grandmother asks me about my future job prospects.

“I don’t know. I might have a lead on directing something.” I still need to set up a meeting with Claire Jordan. Hopefully, something will come through. It’s been difficult to think of anything beyond my pregnancy. It was such a shock. And now a secret joy.

“What about movies? I know you want to do them.”

“My agent takes care of that. If something comes up I’m right for, he’ll let me know.”

She sets her fork down and wipes her mouth with a napkin. “So no more Princess Harper, huh?”

I stare at the table. “No.”

“Didn’t suit you anyway. You’re much stronger than any wimpy princess flaunting their silly gowns.”

I’m not so strong. I’m afraid to tell you about the baby. My eyes get hot, and I will myself not to cry. Grandmom could never stand the sight of tears.

“If you miss him so much, call him.” She jabs her finger toward the phone on the wall. “Go ahead and use my phone. I’ll pay for the long distance.” She must sense I’m near tears if she’s willing to cover the long distance.

I want to laugh and cry at the same time. As if everything could be fixed with a phone call. He’d probably answer, thinking it was my grandmother, and then hang up on me. I know our next conversation has to be face-to-face. “It’s complicated.”

She harrumphs. “Doesn’t have to be. Tell him what’s what. You want him back. You can both be actors. The world is big enough for the two of you.”

I take a deep breath and blurt it out. “The three of us.”

“What?”

I look down at my stomach. “I’m pregnant.” I risk a look at her, expecting judgment. Instead she just looks shocked, her hand over her mouth.

My gut churns. “I know my mother sprang the same news on you in the same stupid accidental way—”

She drops her hand. “This is nothing like your mom. She was a rebellious teen. You’re nothing like her.” She takes my hand. “I’ll help you raise the child. You’ll stay here.”

Tears leak out. “I thought you’d be mad or disappointed or something.”

“Honey, this is a much different situation. You’re mature with a good head on your shoulders. You can handle this. Your mother, well, that was my fault. I failed her.”

“What?”

She shakes her head, her lips twisting. “She was the last of my four kids, a surprise baby at forty, and my only girl. I spoiled her, we all did. She became ungrateful and entitled. And when she was a teen, rebellious. We let her think she could do no wrong. But then she did. She got together with an older man she met at a bar, getting in with a fake ID.” She exhales sharply. “When I think of what could’ve happened to her going around bars. Turned out she’d been doing that since she was seventeen. No matter what your grandfather and I did, we couldn’t get her under