struggled for an explanation. “It was an accident. But I’ve decided I want it. It’s my baby and I want it.”
It was the first time I had said the words out loud. I cursed the tears that accompanied the declaration.
“I know that it is rotten timing. This job, your book, is the greatest opportunity of my life. But, if that means I must choose between you and my baby, I’m going to choose my baby. And if you want to hire someone else, I totally understand. I haven’t even signed the check. Maybe… maybe I always knew that that’s the choice I would make.”
He said nothing. He just watched me behind those stoic green eyes that gave nothing away.
“Thank you for everything. You’ll never know how much it meant to me that you trusted me with your story. I know that any one on my team at Headliner Pulse can do it justice.” I backed out of the room. I had just thrown a grenade onto my dream, and I certainly didn’t want to be there with the dust cleared. I touched my hand to my lips, which still throbbed from his commanding kiss. “I’m sorry,” said at least, figuring there was nothing else to lose.
I ran from his studio. The pathway in the garden lit my path as I retraced my steps, running back into the purple parlor and through the foyer.
My driver was already standing there by the Alda, the door open and waiting.
I shut the door behind me for myself.
Back to being a normal human being it was. I thought of the check. His body. His kiss. For one second, I held the world in my hands, but I had given it all away. I put my hand on my tummy, where my lil Peanut was dividing and multiplying and turning into a real person I would meet in a few short months.
“Worth it,” I sighed as I rested my head on the back of the seat and headed for home.
Chapter Eight
Though I didn’t get home until well after midnight, Mom was waiting up for me when I got back to the farm. She dozed in one of the chaise lounge chairs just outside the pool house, near the front door so she could hear me when I got back. I sat on the chair with her and she gazed sleepily up at me.
“How’d it go?”
“I think I’m unemployed now,” I answered, leaving all the unnecessary details about the kiss out of my story. “I just kind of blurted it out and that was that.”
“He didn’t say anything?”
“He didn’t have to,” I pointed out.
She leaned up to take me into a hug. “So, you come home for a while. There’s always room for you here. And anyone else that comes along.”
I hugged her extra tight for that one. “Thanks, Mom.”
She pulled away with that impish look in her eye. “That’s Mimi to you.” I laughed as she cupped my tummy with both hands. “And Mimi cannot wait to meet you, little peanut,” she said, ensuring the nickname would stick.
I had to laugh. Honestly, I couldn’t wait for this new chapter to begin. The more I thought about it, the more I embraced it.
I slept in the next day, ravaged by the events of the past week. Mom and Fern both doted on me, making sure I had my handy crackers and flat ginger ale. “Why does it have to be flat?” I grimaced.
“The bubbles agitate your stomach acid,” Fern had said.
“I’ll get some fresh ginger when I head to the market,” Mom promised. “Make you some ginger tea.”
I nodded as I snuggled back into the bed. That sounded lovely.
I stayed in bed till well past two o’clock in the afternoon, which was horrendously late for me. I opted to blissfully sleep the world away, but that plan was vetoed the minute Dash got home from school. He made a beeline for the pool house because he thought we should have a picnic and watch the horses.
It a beloved ritual between us. He loved watching the horses, though he had yet to muster the courage to get on any of them. Instead, we’d go and find a nice grassy hill under a shady tree and watch the riders from a safe distance. It was one of his favorite things to do, next to dancing.
When he came calling, I didn’t have the heart to tell him no, even though my enthusiasm to do just about anything other than sleep