Wicked Ever After (Wicked & Devoted #2) - Shayla Black Page 0,22
him, except… “What if the news kills Daddy?”
Maybe if she sat him down, braced him before she explained, made sure she had a phone and his medication nearby… Wasn’t it worth a try? She loved him so much and hated being dishonest.
“Are you going to tell him you’re planning to raise your baby on your own?” Cutter added.
And that was where she stumbled. Even if her father accepted the truth—that she’d bear the fruit of her love for Pierce come May—the town wouldn’t.
To outsiders and city folk, Sunset probably seemed backward and small-minded. But Daddy loved it here. They both had deep roots. This was the only home she’d ever known. She’d already accepted that she’d lost Pierce. But she didn’t know how she’d cope with losing everyone else she’d known all her life, too.
Brea hated adding more lies, but this plan would only work if she got ahead of the narrative, announced her engagement to Cutter, and convinced the townsfolk they were just another happy couple pledging their lives to each other. Of course, once she started showing and the baby came, everyone would deduce that she’d been expecting when they’d married. But they would assume Cutter had fathered the baby, and he’d never say otherwise. It would be a minor scandal, but they would weather it. Daddy could keep the town’s respect, and she could keep her clients. Gossip would die as soon as the next drama hit town.
“And what if he disowns you?” Cutter went on.
Daddy wouldn’t. She might have worried, but he wasn’t a cruel man. Yes, he would be shocked and disappointed she’d gotten pregnant by a man he’d never met…but now that she thought about it, maybe he’d already guessed. And he still seemed to love her. God willing, he would love her child, too. They would get through this as a family.
“You know if he does, the folks in Sunset will do the same,” Cutter went on. “We’ve covered all this. You either have to leave Sunset alone to raise the baby in secret or—”
“I’ll marry you. I-if you’ll still have me.”
It was time to stop hiding her head in the sand and face the inevitable.
Brea had expected Cutter to be relieved that she’d finally seen reason. Or impatient that it had taken her so long to reach the logical conclusion. Instead, he paused.
His silence was rife with resignation.
“Of course, Bre-Bee. I’d be honored.”
But he wouldn’t, not at all. Clearly, he wished she’d made any other choice. But she didn’t have a better one. If Daddy had noticed her off moods and behavior, there was a chance some of the ladies at the salon had as well. She had to act now for this plan to have any chance of working.
“Thank you. A-and like I said, I’ll never infringe on your personal life. I want you to be as happy as you can in the midst of this mess. If you want children of your own, we’ll figure something out. Artificial insemination or—”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. That’s years away, and we’ll address that if I get the urge. You just worry about you and the baby right now. Unless plans change, I’ll be back early next week, and we’ll go to the Justice of the Peace.”
“We can’t do that. Daddy will want to marry us.”
He would insist, just like he would want the ceremony in his church—a big shindig the whole town would attend.
Cutter cursed softly under his breath. “How soon can you plan a wedding that doesn’t look slapped together?”
“In Sunset? January sixth.”
“That’s too long. Your pregnancy will likely be showing by then.”
“Maybe not, with the right dress. But everything is booked up with the holidays. Out of curiosity, I called Norma Kay and asked if she could cater food for an event in December. She said she promised her family she’d do pre-Christmas parties, then take a vacation until the first of the year. Who else in Sunset can do the event except Violet? She just had a hip replacement yesterday in Baton Rouge.”
“Brea, you’ll have to bend a little or run the risk of everyone finding out.”
“If I bend a little, as you call it, people will guess that something’s off right away.”
“What if we took a cruise out of New Orleans and got married in the Caribbean, told your father and the rest of the town we eloped because we didn’t want to wait? You’ve always said you wanted to sail to paradise. Everyone knows it.”