Page 64 of Ghosted By Texas

“Don’t worry, I’m not surprised. I ran into Mrs. Mercer and her eldest wildebeest while grocery shopping one day and Momma Texas had to apologize for her daughter’s behavior. Apparently, Victoria is still team ‘Jordan loves Austin’ all the way.”

“I still don’t understand why she’s so invested in them ending up together. All their other siblings, including Dallas, can see right through Jordan’s shit and don’t want her anywhere near Austin. And for the record, Austin cut her out of his life, and I don’t think she’ll ever be welcomed back again.”

“That’s all a little too late, isn’t it?”

“It doesn’t have to be, Becs.”

I finished my muffin in silence while my best friend sat and watched. I knew she felt like she went a step too far by telling me that, but I couldn’t assure her that she hadn’t. Clea meant well and she still believed in happily ever after.

“He came here specifically to buy you a muffin this morning, since he was too late to pay for your latte.”

“And how did he know to come here?” I asked, mad at her for giving him that information.

She held her hand up. “That part wasn’t on me, but Houston knew where I was going, and he feels the same about at least making sure you guys are friends again before the baby comes. We’re not saying you ever have to date him or anything.”

“I know,” I groaned. “You want everyone to get along so it’s not weird around my baby.”

“Exactly. Babies can pick up on stress and people’s discomfort.” She was stretching her argument to appeal to the irrational fear side of my brain, and I knew it. Still, my best friend had a point that I couldn’t avoid much longer. The baby would be here before the year was out and I didn’t want to always have awkward handoffs and resentment bringing everyone down. It sucked that I was the one who had to be the bigger person, though.

Later that day, I received a text from Austin.

Dickhead Baby Daddy: How was your breakfast?

Becs: Surprisingly, fifty percent off since I didn’t have to pay for my second muffin.

Dickhead Baby Daddy: That must have been a nice surprise.

Becs: Something like that.

When he didn’t send anything else back, I bit the bullet and decided this would be the moment where I started trying to be the better person, for my baby.

Becs: Thank you.

Dickhead Baby Daddy: Any time, Becs.

That was the beginning of me no longer ignoring the majority of Austin’s texts. It was also the beginning of reestablishing a friendly relationship with him. We didn’t see one another in person until the end of April, when my next doctor’s appointment was. While that had been a little disappointing, it also made perfect sense. Our friendliness was strictly texting business.

Baby Daddy: Can I pick you up to take you to your appointment today?

I chewed on my lip as I thought about that. While our relationship had been repaired on one level with the friendlier texts, it was still fractured. I didn’t think that was something that could be fixed. Just seeing the man could send me into a tailspin of mixed emotions. I never stopped loving him because my heart seemed incapable. Then again, I also didn’t trust him at all anymore.

Waiting for the other shoe to drop seemed inevitable. Honestly, my irrational fears had me searching for Jordan to pop up at a moment’s notice. In my crazy pregnant mind, she knew we had been texting one another and would eventually show up to put a stop to it. The bad thing was, I didn’t trust Austin – even in a made-up scenario – to do the right thing.

Still, we had to move past texting eventually. It wasn’t like I’d be able to hand him a baby emoji a few months down the road and call that our ‘baby swap’. I’d have to see and interact in person with him eventually, too.

Becs: Sure. Can you be here about thirty minutes earlier than the appointment, just in case the stupid parking lot gets blocked off again?

Baby Daddy: Anything you need.

If only. What I needed was never anyone else’s priority. I’d learned that the hard way, repeatedly. I groaned at my own negative, though true, thought.

A few minutes later, forty-five minutes earlier than necessary, there was a knock on my door. I opened it to let Austin in.

“Sorry, I wasn’t quite ready.” I tore through my house with one shoe in hand, searching frantically for the other one. Dammit, the thing had pulled a runner on me. I wasn’t even sure how one shoe ended up next to the door while the other was missing. A mystery for the ages.

“Can I help?”

“Not unless you can magically produce my other shoe,” I explained. Austin immediately moved into my living room and lifted the chair, then the front side of the couch, where my other shoe magically appeared. “How in the hell did you know?”

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