Page 89 of Scores Of The Heart

We haven’t been together in six months. So she can’t have had the baby yet, unless she was pregnant before and I didn’t know it.

I run a hand over my head in frustration, but keep descending downstairs.

I need that fresh air like I need oxygen right now.

I dial again. Giving her the benefit of the doubt that maybe she just stepped away from her phone.

My heart lurches when she picks up, finally.

“Stacey?”

“Ty.”

“What the hell is this?”

“Look, I’m sorry you had to find out this way…”

“By text!” I stammer. Trying hard to keep my cool.

I hear her take a breath.

“So, you are pregnant?”

“Yes, I’m pregnant, Ty. And before you ask, yes, it’s yours.”

“You’re sure?” Okay, so maybe that’s a dick question, but I need to ask it all the same.

“It’s yours,” she says a little haughtily. I don’t know what she expects me to say.

“Stacey, why are you telling me this now?”

“I’ve tried, Ty. So many times.”

“Clearly, not enough times.” Jesus fucking Christ, is this really happening?

“I get your upset. I didn’t know you were away from Seattle. I tried to talk the other week back, that was me in the car park that night.”

My mind thinks back to what she’s talking about, but there’s just too much running through my brain to put the pieces together. “What night?”

“The night you won the cup. I was waiting to talk to you, so I followed you out to the car park. You were with that girl, so I backed off.”

So that was her. I wasn’t going insane when I thought I saw her in the dark, after all.

“Sounds kinda stalkery, even for you.”

That’s probably the kettle calling the frying pan black, perhaps, but I don’t get into the semantics of it right now. This isn’t about me and Cind and the fact I have been watching her from the cafe for months.

“Stalkery? How else could I broach it?”

“You just broached it in a text message tonight, Stacey. How about a phone call?”

“I couldn’t see any other way. I’m scared. I don’t know what to do.”

“Scared about the pregnancy?”

“Yes, and how you’d react. Ty, I didn’t know how to navigate this. I found out when I was around three months along, I had no idea.”

Wait, what the hell? She’s further along than six months?

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