Once Upon A Half-Time: A Sports Romance - Sosie Frost Page 0,162

get married now!”

Problem solved. I arched an eyebrow at Mandy.

There. It should’ve impressed her. She asked for help. I delivered.

That didn’t explain why she groaned and bolted to the bathroom. She really didn’t handle stress well, but it wouldn’t matter once the wedding was over.

I never felt this way about a woman before, and I wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. Nothing was going to change my feelings for Mandy.

Nothing.

17

Mandy

We had two days until the wedding, and that was being generous.

Two days to schedule the ceremony and reception around a funeral, but at least we could post the little flags on the cars and convoy to the party in mass.

After a full day of last-minute details—buying shoes, setting salon appointments, securing decorations, and soliciting the help of anyone with the last name Prescott who wasn’t actively mourning—I couldn’t move anymore.

Slipping away for an hour to go to a doctor’s appointment was like escaping a POW camp, and the only rest I had during the day was that first instant my feet hit the stirrups.

I saw the baby for the first time.

That little spec of static with the wub-dubbing heartbeat made it the best day of my life.

I still had the picture in my pocket, completely secret. I didn’t even call Rick and tell him my blip of a baby was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

I didn’t want to share it with Rick. I wanted to share the moment with Nate…and I was too afraid to pick up the phone and call.

Now my feet ached. My head hurt. My stomach couldn’t heave anymore.

For the first time, pregnancy kicked my butt, and the only thing I wanted was a soft blanket, a bowl of strawberry ice cream, and Nate. I successfully wrapped myself in the blanket, but I was too exhausted to move. The ice cream was a fading fantasy.

And Nate?

Oh Lord.

He would have tasted better than any dessert.

It was only two more days of the secret, and then I could tell him everything…including the other words I might say. Something as scary as the pregnancy beat my heart a little faster, but it was just as amazing and exciting and risky.

I didn’t dare admit it to myself, but every time I saw Nate, every time he touched me or smiled at me or whispered those naughty words to get me into bed, I stumbled that much deeper into my little pit of mistakes.

First, I had to tell him about the baby.

Then, if there wasn’t a Nate shaped hole smacked through my wall and a father-to-be sprinting to the west coast, I’d reveal the real truth—why I was so afraid.

I could handle the pregnancy myself.

But I couldn’t lose him.

My phone vibrated. I groaned, tempted to throw the damn thing against the wall. But I recognized the caterer’s number. I had to take the call.

“Hey Mandy, it’s Jeff.” The caterer talked quick. “Got some good news. We can do your order for Saturday.”

Thank God. And it only took a budget twice what we anticipated.

“You have no idea how glad I am to hear that,” I said. “And you can bring extra tables and chairs?”

“Absolutely. We’ll take care of the set up too if you get us into the venue ahead of time.”

“Is it wrong to say I love you?”

“My wife probably wouldn’t like it—”

“Well, she’s a damned lucky lady.” I rubbed my eyes. “Okay, so that’s dinner for two fifty, the tables, the chairs, the cutlery, the paper products.”

“That’s right. Two hundred and fifty vegetarian dinners—a wild mushroom polenta with a porcini sauce or grilled vegetables with green goddess dressing and a Greek salad.”

I sucked in a breath. Oh, just when I thought I was getting ahead, life had to kick me into the dirt.

“Vegetarian dinners?” I hated to ask the question. “Do you have…non-vegetarian options?”

“Well…no. The bride requested vegetarian selections.”

“For herself,” I said. “Lindsey’s the vegetarian. Everyone else is a straight-up carnivore.”

“Oh.”

“Oh no.”

“Well, we can’t change our options now. Unfortunately, there’s too little time to buy and prep the ingredients for a new menu…” He cleared his throat. “If you cancel…we’d have to keep the deposit.”

Damn. What was worse? No food at the wedding…or no meat? Without meat, my family would assume there was no food. But we had to serve something.

“No,” I said. “We’ll take it. Same plan. We’ll think of something.”

I sorted out the details and hung up. That added a fifteenth item to my to-do list, and probably meant I had no time to sleep tonight. I