Page 6 of One Salty Beach

She glares at me. “That’s not what I’m worried about, I’m not on any birth control.”

A huge grin spreads across my face as I pull Winnie into my arms and kiss her deeply. A few seconds later she pulls back. “I did not expect you to react that way.”

I shrug, she just gave me the best news. “I hope you’re pregnant,” I say, wiggling my eyebrows.

Winnie rolls her eyes. “Of course you’d say that,” she grumbles, throwing her hands into the air and walking back into the apartment.

Following her inside I watch as she plates our food, warming each plate up in the microwave. She grabs a loaf of bread and sticks four pieces of bread in the toaster, then puts it away. Her happy carefree smile is gone, and now she looks stressed.

Walking up to her, I hold her close. “It’s going to be okay, Winnie. If you want, we can use condoms until we find out if you're pregnant or not and then go from there.”

She shakes her head. “It’s not just that,” she says as the toast pops up out of the toaster. She grabs the toast and puts two on each plate. Then she moves the plates onto the placemats at the bar and pulls out some apple butter and butter and sets it in front of our plates. I grab her hand, stopping her from moving around, and hold it, waiting for her to look up at me.

“Talk to me, darlin’.”

Her eyes fill with unshed tears. “What about Ella? She’s going to think we were sneaking around behind her back. It would gut me if she thought I betrayed her.”

“She’s not going to think that. Trust me, love, she’s going to be okay with us,” I say, knowing my sister.

Winnie shakes her head. “I’m not sure about that. Look, just give me a little time to figure out how to tell her.”

“Okay,” I say, taking a bite of bacon.

“I mean it, Brody, you’re the worst when it comes to keeping secrets.”

I hold my hands up, palms facing Winnie. “I won’t say anything until you’re ready, you have my word.”

Winnie smirks and grabs a butterknife. “Good,” she says, smirking mischievously.

“Hey, point that thing somewhere else,” I say, pulling the knife out of her hand and putting it safely next to the butter dish.

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