Page 17 of His Bittersweet Regret

“Yeah, Opal. Neither of you did anything wrong. There was never anything you did to deserve the way he’s treating you both. All you ever did was love my brother. I used to go to sleep and dream about finding someone like you. There aren’t any Opals in school with me though. Marsh doesn’t even know how lucky he was and he threw that luck away.”

The teary-eyed image I got of Ryker made it almost feel like the younger Marsh – the one I’d fallen in love with – was standing beside me again. I had to shake off that feeling because that man no longer existed. He was also more of a man when he was younger than he was as an adult. I hoped Ryker didn’t ever change in the same ways.

“Have you told my mom yet?”

I shook my head. “I thought that should be Marsh’s responsibility, but considering he doesn’t want anything to do with us, I guess she was never told.”

“Would you do me a favor and tell her? She needs to know that she’s going to be a grandmother. It’ll be one more person on your side in all this. You might not have Marsh there, but I swear to you, Opal, you’ll have a family for your son.”

“Ryker, one day, some girl is going to be incredibly lucky to have you as her boyfriend.”

He smiled at me. “Thanks, O.”

“Not you too!” I groaned.

“What? That’s what Bethany calls you sometimes.”

“Yeah, but her calling me that is an inside joke.”

“So, tell me the joke, and then it’ll be okay.”

I blushed furiously in response because there was no way I could tell Marsh’s baby brother, who wasn’t even out of high school yet, that my best friend started calling me that after walking in on me mid-orgasm. She hadn’t been able to get my full name out. Just “O”, and oh, how appropriate that had been.

“I see,” Ryker offered as he sniggered. “I’ll just have to ask Beth myself.”

I groaned again. “Please, never do that. It was traumatic for all of us.”

“Will you think about staying, or at least give me plenty of warning before you leave?”

“Of course, I will. No matter what, I could never be so cruel as to leave without telling people in advance.” We both knew I was referring to the way his brother hadn’t given me the same courtesy.

“It probably isn’t healthy or wise to travel that far at this point anyway,” Ryker carried on, making his case. When we got to the apartment building, Mr. Pendleton, or Gary, as he asked to be called, was sitting on the stoop.

“That boy still hasn’t come to his senses?” He asked. My only answer was the same shake of my head I always gave him. The man glanced at my ever-growing belly and then back up to me. “If you need anything, I’m just downstairs. Never be afraid to ask. Raised three of my own. They’re all gone now. A person should never lose their children first, but those were the cards I was dealt. They might be gone, but that doesn’t mean I don’t remember what it was like to raise them.”

“Thank you,” I whispered to him before looking at Ryker. “I think you were right about telling your mom.”

“If you want to go now, I’ll go with you.”

“That’s a wise choice, Ms. Opal,” Gary said as he stood and stretched. “Be seeing you later.”

He left, and Ryker and I got into his car. I hated that I didn’t have a vehicle of my own. It was something that Marsh must have conveniently forgotten when he left me high and dry. I had no transportation. Before I was pregnant, it was nothing for me to walk to work since it was a little less than a mile up the road. He’d always been there to drive me, if it was raining though. Not to mention, we had always taken his truck on grocery store runs. Now, I could only buy what I could carry and bring back without completely wearing myself out. Unless I was too worn out and asked Bethany to help me out with a ride.

“Would you be more comfortable taking your car, so you can have a quick getaway if needed?”

I shook my head. “I don’t have a car.”

Ryker had just turned the car on and his hand dropped from where he’d turned the key as his head swiveled around. The shock on his face turned quickly to something akin to horror as he realized I wasn’t joking. “How in the hell have you been getting around?”

I tapped the sides of my legs, as if I’d been wearing boots. “These boots were made for walkin’.”

“Holy shit! I’m really going to kill my brother now. You’ve been walking to and from work all this time? The doctor’s office?” He asked. I nodded my head, knowing he was going to lose his shit. “That’s two miles from your house. That’s a four mile round trip, Opal!”

“I am well aware.”

“You can’t keep doing that!”

“Well, I can’t exactly afford a car right now. Marsh paid the rent up until now, but I have to take over the whole thing starting next month, plus get all the baby’s supplies, and I’m paying all those copays for the doctor visits. There’s nothing left over for a car.”

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