Page 69 of Upon an April Night

Could she move on? She didn’t know how that would be possible while she was pregnant.

She thought about how attentive Max had been to her all day. He’d been visiting from the east side of the state, and they’d all gone to church together that morning. She found it easy to talk to him, and he made her laugh. Nobody had mentioned the baby yet, but she was pretty sure Max would be saying not interested faster than she could say stepdad.

In the kitchen, she found Shannon, Micah, and Max talking.

“Hey, do you want to go see the Captain America movie with us?” Shannon asked.

“Who’s us?” she asked.

“Me, Micah, and Max,” she replied.

“And me,” Duncan interjected as he entered the room.

Shannon raised an eyebrow. “I thought you didn’t want to go.”

He shrugged. “I changed my mind.”

Jamie noticed a nonverbal exchange between siblings, and she wondered what that was all about. “Uh, sure.”

The five of them climbed into Max’s SUV and headed to Celebration Cinema. When they arrived, Max opened the car door for her just as Duncan ran around to do the same. Duncan grabbed the outer door to the building, then Max held the inner door. Max ushered her into the line with a hand on her lower back and let it linger there. Duncan bought her popcorn and a drink. And when it was time to sit down, she ended up between the two men.

She looked over at Shannon, who was seated on the other side of Duncan. She must’ve noticed their behavior too because she rolled her eyes and started laughing, which made Jamie laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Duncan asked.

“Nothing,” Jamie replied as she settled back into her seat.

When the movie started, Jamie couldn’t focus on the story, even though Chris Evans was not hard on the eyes. All she could think was that Duncan had no right to act the way he was acting. He was engaged, for heaven’s sake.

She reached into the popcorn bucket that was resting on her knee just as Duncan did, and their fingers brushed. He kept his hand there, gently rubbing his pinky against hers, and she yanked her hand away, nearly knocking the bucket over. Her eyes were glued to the screen, fury pulsing through her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him toss a handful of popcorn into his mouth, losing a few kernels down his front.

She shoved the bucket into his lap. “I have to go to the bathroom,” she declared as she stood and excused her way along the row and headed for the restroom.

Her mind was reeling, and she stayed in the stall longer than necessary to calm herself. What was Duncan doing? He was a twenty-six-year-old man, engaged to be married, but he was acting like a jealous teenaged boy. And why? Because of the baby? That had to be it. Because he was in love with Dréa. Wasn’t he?

Duncan eyed her when she returned, but she didn’t care. She took the empty seat on the other side of Max, which Duncan seemed none too pleased with.

“Everything okay?” Max whispered.

She nodded. Max really was a nice guy, but it could only be friendship between them. It would be an awkward situation to put him in the middle of.

When the movie ended, they headed home, and Jamie was quiet. She made sure to sit far away from Duncan and avoided talking to him. Back at the house, she said goodnight and hugged Shannon before heading to her car. She noticed Duncan moving toward the door, glancing over his shoulder at her and Max, who had hung back from the others.

Max approach her once everyone had gone inside. “Hey, it was fun hanging out with you today. Do you think I could get your number? Maybe we could do it again sometime.”

Jamie was about to tell him she couldn’t when she spotted the curtain in the front room window move to the side to reveal Duncan. “You know what, yes. Let me see your phone.” She entered her number for him and handed it back.

“Thanks.” He typed on his screen and hers lit up. “There, now you have mine too.”

“Great.” She opened her car door. “Goodnight, Max.”

“Night.”

Jamie got into her car and started the engine. She glanced at the window and saw the curtain drop into position as Duncan moved away.

Chapter 27

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