a minute later, I heard the water of the shower sputter on. I sighed and sat gingerly on the edge of the sofa and thought about Katie.
If I was really trying to do this on the right foot, didn’t it make sense for her to meet my father? This might be the last chance I had for my old man to meet my girlfriend. If I let this slip through my fingers, would I look back and always wonder what might have been had he been able to meet Katie?
What if I married her? What if she was the mother of my children?
What if I cost my father, myself, and the woman I was falling in love with the chance to all sit in a room together and swap stories and share a couple of laughs all because I was insecure?
That didn’t sit right with me.
Chapter 26
Katie
After Peter left, I was dead to the world. I didn’t wake up again until eleven o’clock, and that was only because my phone had buzzed all the way off the nightstand and landed with a loud crack on the cement floors.
I sat bolt upright with a gasp, rolled over so quickly that my head spun, and snatched my phone up from the floor, thinking it might have been broken.
Luckily, it wasn’t. There were just some dents and dings on my phone case.
With a sigh of relief, I checked my call log and found a missed call from Hailey, who had promptly texted me after the call went to voicemail and told me she and a few others were going down to the oceanside cafe for some brunch and they wanted to know if Peter and I wanted to join them.
My stomach rumbled with hunger pangs as soon as my eyes scanned the word brunch.
Not wanting to miss out on putting an order in, I messaged her back that I was on my way down before I ripped the covers off and ran into the bathroom to throw myself together in a hurry. I splashed cold water on my face while dancing on the balls of my feet because I had to pee so badly. I didn’t bother patting my skin dry before I relieved myself. Otherwise, I might have peed right there on the floor.
I sprayed some perfume on, swiped deodorant under my arms, and threw on a maxi dress and a knit cardigan and a pair of flip-flops before I rushed out the door and down the hall to the elevator. My mind wanted coffee and my belly wanted bacon and eggs and I was hellbent on getting both in my body in as little time as possible.
I caught up with Hailey and the others at the oceanside restaurant within eight minutes of rolling out of bed, which I thought was a pretty noteworthy accomplishment. They had a table on the patio decorated with an unlit candle and a yellow daisy in a small glass vase.
I took a seat beside Hailey and grinned at the others, hoping I didn’t look as haggard as I felt. Perhaps I’d had one too many glasses of wine last night.
Kim looked about the same. She wore big black sunglasses and no makeup, and she had herself wrapped up in what was either a pashmina or a blanket. Rick sat back beside her with his arm draped over the back of her chair, and he was mindlessly rubbing her shoulder.
Hailey beamed at me. “Morning. How are you feeling?”
“Not terrible, not great,” I said honestly. “Nothing a hot cup of coffee won’t fix.”
“Told you she’d be fine,” Kim muttered.
I looked around at Jackson and Rick, the only others at the table, and frowned.
Jackson leaned forward. “Kim is pissy because she’s hungover, and Hailey is in her glory because for once she has an advantage over the rest of us with the whole pregnancy thing.”
“No hangovers,” Hailey said cheerily.
Kim pulled down her sunglasses and set them on the table. “No, you just get the pleasures of morning sickness, back pain, headaches, congestion, and swollen feet.”
“Really?” Jackson grumbled. “Just let her enjoy the morning before the rest of the day goes to hell.”
“I’m not that bad,” Hailey spat.
Jackson shot me an imploring look.
I opened the menu, deciding to keep my nose out of this one. “Have you guys ordered?”
Everyone shook their heads. They’d waited for me.
We all picked out our choices from the menu. I settled on what looked like a delicious breakfast skillet smothered in hollandaise sauce and loaded