Page 25 of Rim Shot Rebound

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Seven

 

 

By noon on Monday, Kelsey couldn’t wait another second to get out of the record store. She’d stayed home all day Sunday polishing her lyrics. It had been nice to have a quiet day at home, just her and Michelangelo. The weather was so gorgeous lately, she’d been able to open the windows and play some Stevie Nicks while she cleaned and did laundry and nibbled on cheese and crackers. She hadn’t taken an entire day to herself like that in a long time, and it was so nice to feel good again. So for the first time in forever, she felt trapped in the dark record store and couldn’t wait to break out of there.

“I’m taking my lunch now,” she called to her boss in the back room.

The delightful breeze from the mid-March cool front blew across her face as she stepped outside and headed toward the library. Downtown still smelled like…well, downtown, but she could smell its energy today. Its vibrancy. Its life.

Pregnancy was fucking weird sometimes.

Like how sex with Eric had been a million times better than ever before. And not just because she’d missed him or because he’d said all the right things. All that helped. Sure. But it was like every nerve in her body had been on high alert, exploding with sensation at every touch.

Her mind and heart were pretty damn happy with Saturday, too. But she was trying not to think about her heart right now.

She’d spent most of Saturday night wide awake and second-guessing herself. Just as predicted. She’d replayed and analyzed every second of their afternoon together. Every word Eric said to her. The tone and meaning of every statement. Every facial expression. Every pause.

By Sunday morning, she wasn’t sure what to think anymore. She couldn’t find any warning signs in her memories from that day, but something was still holding her back.

She instinctively placed a palm against her stomach. She took a deep breath, then removed her hand and kept walking.

Of course, something was holding her back. Their situation hadn’t changed because they’d had sex. Amazing sex even. If anything, that just complicated things more.

But Kelsey refused to regret the act. She only needed to protect herself going forward. Or at least her heart. Because losing him again, the same way she lost him last time, would kill her.

Tires screeched, then a horn blared as a flash of silver shook her out of her thoughts. Maybe the horn sounded first. It took her brain way too long to piece together what was happening. To realize she was standing frozen in the road, several feet from the curb where she should have still been waiting for traffic to clear.

Another horn blared as a driver swerved around her on the little side street that ran in front of the library. Kelsey looked at her feet again, then the road, unable to move forward or back.

“Kel, are you okay?” Natalie sprinted across the library parking lot, her normally vibrant face pale and fraught.

“Yeah.” Kelsey looked down at herself, placed her hands on her stomach to smooth the front of her shirt and to reassure herself that everything was indeed okay. When she removed her hands from her belly, they shook with tiny tremors as she held them out in front of her.

As soon as Natalie crossed the road, she took Kelsey’s arm in her hand and did her own inspection. “You don’t look good. Have you eaten?”

“I…yeah…peanut butter crackers…and a banana this morning.” She’d discovered recently that if she could get enough protein in her stomach first thing in the morning, she could squash the morning sickness before it got out of hand. Then it was just a matter of maintenance during the day. Little bites here and there between small meals. Nuts. Peanut butter. Cheese. Anything with protein helped.

“When was that?” Natalie asked, still looking at Kelsey’s eyes trying to see if she was going to pass out.

“A couple of hours ago. But I’m not hungry or lightheaded. I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine.”

“I’m shaken up, that’s all,” Kelsey insisted. “I just wasn’t paying attention.”

Natalie frowned, then hooked her arm in Kelsey’s. She turned her around and began guiding her down the sidewalk in the opposite direction. “I was going to take you to lunch anyway. I want to check out that new pizza place.”

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