Page 22 of Found By You

“I’d invite you to dinner, but it’s for my brother’s fiancée’s birthday,” he starts. “But, uh, after, there’s a band playing at Tavern Nine. It’s a local bar. Anyway, yeah, the party—if that’s what you’d call it—is moving there afterward. Didn’t know if that’d be something you’d be interested in or not.”

I raise a brow. “What time?”

“Band usually starts around eight,” he says, turning into the motel parking lot. “It’s country night, so it’ll probably be pretty packed.”

I nod, biting my lip and wondering if this is a friendly invite or a weird, Montana way of asking me out. Do I want him to ask me out? You’re pregnant with someone else’s baby, why would he? I’ve quite literally got baggage growing inside of me.

And now I’ve hurt my own feelings.

He parks the truck. “Anyway, if you’re interested, let me know beforehand and I can swing by to pick you up.”

“Okay,” I say as he gets out and comes around to my side.

When we step into the motel room we’re greeted with a warm gust of air and a solid working heater. Duke stays close to the door so as not to track snow in the room. I feel his eyes on me as I kick off my boots and set my purse and jar of peanut butter onto the table.

“Thanks for tagging along with me today,” he says.

I laugh, facing him. “You didn’t give me much of a choice.” I smile. “But thanks for letting me come with you. It was fun.”

He watches me for a long moment, studying me in a way I get the sense he’s…looking for something. He clears his throat. “All right, well, I better get going. If you need anything—”

“Let you know. Yes, I remember.”

He grins wide, dark eyes alight with humor. “I’ll talk to you later,” he says, leaving with a close of the door behind him.

I plop onto the bed, a bundle of nerves and butterflies.

What am I doing?

I can’t be doing…whatever the heck this feeling is. I need to focus. I’m only here because my car broke down on my way to a new job and a new life. I need to regroup and work out my next move.

Besides, a guy like Duke doesn’t want a damaged, needy, pregnant woman up his ass. I can be his friend, though, like he said. Because that, I do need. One person I can turn to when I need to vent, or…bounce life-changing decisions off of other than a growing bump.

Gosh, I sound depressing.

Don’t you mean lonely?

It’s nearing six when I finally place an order for a grilled chicken wrap and fries from a local pizzeria. That’s when I start to weigh my options. And the more I do, I realize I might only have one. Because when I tried to search for a transmission to fit my car…I came up short. Flipping through sites using words like ‘backorder’ and ‘out of stock.’

A ding from my phone brings me back from a near mental breakdown.

Duke: You were right.

I smile at the message as the next one comes through.

Duke: My mom is chewing me out tenfold for ignoring her earlier.

Me: I hate to say I told you so, but…

Duke: Very funny.

Duke: I’m still waiting on my picture of your dinner.

Me: It should be here any minute. I ordered from some place called Perry’s.

Duke: They’re pretty good. What’d you get?

There’s a knock at my door a second later. I pay the delivery guy, tip him, and take my food with gusto, not realizing how hungry I was until I smell the mouthwatering aroma of fresh food. I set the containers on the table and snap a quick picture. I send it to Duke as I sit down to eat.

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