Maid by Mistake - Miley Maine Page 0,62

you stop at the pharmacy and I bought a pregnancy test and some prenatal vitamins. I lied to you instead of being honest.”

I wanted to wrap my arm around her and pull her into my lap, but the ripped up stitches in my side were throbbing along with every breath I took. I had to settle for the feel of her lean body leaning into mine. “You have the right to some privacy about something that monumental.”

“Tyler, you are always a gentleman, but sometimes you shouldn't be,” she said.

I laughed. “Alright, keep going with the story.”

“That was the day I thought I saw Christopher in the parking lot. Soon after, Jenny called me on my burner phone. But I didn't tell you all that. I kept it to myself even though I knew it was the wrong decision. Then after you were stabbed, I realized that it was likely she was in town with them. She was texting me and calling me and I wanted to find her.”

“So you have an excuse about taking my sister home.”

“Yes I'm so sorry. I know you probably won't believe me, but I'll never do it again.”

“Why did you do it?”

“I've been thinking about that, and my best guess is that I spent my whole life making decisions on my own, with no one who cared about what happened to me. My parents said they cared, but I didn't ever feel like I mattered to them one way or the other. To them I was an ornament.”

I stood up. “Alright, that's enough beating yourself up. I can't say that I'm happy that you misled me. And we can talk about the rest of it later. I want to get you out of these damp clothes and let you rest. You've had an eventful day.”

I held my hands out to her and when she stood up she swayed. “Are you feeling okay?”

“I'm dizzy,” she said.

“Okay, enough chat. We're going to get you to the ER right now.” I’d already come close to losing her. I wasn’t going to take any more chances.

I left Carl’s body on the ground. I’d usually have wanted to take care of it right away. No matter the crime, it wasn’t right to leave a man’s body lying on the ground. But he’d tried to take my Ava from me, as well as my baby. So I didn’t really give a fuck about him right then. I was going to be a father, and that was my priority right now.

I kept one arm tight around her waist as we walked. I called Barrett and updated him, and he promised to come, along with the backup police officer, to take care of the body and the two cars on the side of the road.

I did not want them to cause an accident for someone else.

“I owe you so many favors,” I said to Barrett as he met us at the edge of the woods.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be ready to cash in soon enough,” he said.

I wanted to tell my best friend about Ava’s pregnancy, but I figured I needed to wait until she was ready. She obviously hadn’t told me for a reason, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it.

After a painstakingly slow hike back, we finally reached my truck.

Jenny had hopped out and was running toward us. She tried to fling herself at Ava, but I held her off. “Hey, be gentle,” I said. “Ava was in a wreck,” I said, not wanting to share the baby news.

“Oh God, Ava I'm so sorry. I was so worried about you. I hate what he did to you through me.”

Ava wrapped one arm around her. “Hey Jenny, it's fine. I've made plenty of mistakes this week, okay?”

“Yeah but you didn't put anybody's life in danger.”

Ava gave her a wry smile, and then looked at me. “You'd be surprised,”

I helped Ava into the front seat. Jenny was just going to have to sit her ass in the back. She crawled in the back of the truck cab without complaining. “We're going to visit the ER and get Ava checked out.”

“I think you might need some help too,” Jenny said pointing at the blood on my shirt.

“Yeah, I'll get my stitches redone.”

As soon as I got to the ER, I pointed at one of the chairs. “You sit there and wait on us, don't move a muscle.” I pulled several one dollar bills out of my wallet and handed them to her.